Draft Sixth Power Plan Comment

As a citizen of Washington State who is concerned about my children's future, I helped collect signatures for the green energy initiative. I also grew up attending a school that sat in the shadow of a coal-fired power plant. I had to brush sulfur ash from my school papers when it drifted in through the windows. Now my children will face a world of pollution-induced climate change that brings with it threats from severe weather, displacement of people and food shortages. I understand that the Council's draft plan does not seek to reduce global warming emissions, merely stabilize them. This is not good enough. We must reduce pollution in order to avoid the most severe effects of carbon emissions. We have been told repeatedly by businesses with vested interests in the status quo that reducing pollution will have a negative economic impact. I do not believe this to be true for our region as a whole. An investment in clean, renewable energy now will pay economic dividends immediately with jobs and a cleaner environment. Those dividends will accrue into the future with cheaper energy and avoidance of the worst effects of pollution-induced climate change. Locking in pollution at current levels is not enough. Please do your utmost to significantly reduce our region's global warming emissions.