‘Just transition’: Seattle opens climate portal to track city’s Green New Deal
(The Center Square) – The City of Seattle has released a new One Seattle Climate Portal to “monitor Seattle’s collective progress towards achieving our One Seattle Climate Justice priorities.”
“Seattle’s climate work is firmly rooted in the Green New Deal and the One Seattle Climate Justice Agenda” the site goes on to say.
The stated purpose of the portal is to “track progress towards the just transition priorities.” That phrase, “just transition,” or variations thereof, appears ten times throughout the portal’s copy.
It notes that “emissions affect some people more than others.” The site highlights data from the city’s race and social equity index to show disparities that may arise in different neighborhoods, and draws some “connections between environmental and human health.”
Peppered with quotes extolling the virtues of tracking climate data, and promising “neighborhood-level emissions data to track progress towards healthy, sustainable, and equitable communities,” the climate portal offers several dashboards to track CO2 emissions for transportation, buildings, and waste.
The dashboards will help track progress on Seattle’s Green New Deal, which would include Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell’s recent $6.5 million proposal to reduce CO2 emissions, as previously reported by The Center Square.
The Green New Deal was both a resolution passed by the city council and an executive order signed by then Mayor Jenny Durkan on Jan. 8, 2020. It has the stated goal of “mak[ing] Seattle climate-pollution free by 2030.” Then councilmember Harrell also voted in favor of the resolution.
The portal, updated quarterly, notes that the website is subject to change. It is managed by the Seattle Office of Sustainability & Environment.
