The King County Council recently approved a 2012 Strategic Climate Action Plan, or SCAP, for the county.

The plan is King County’s blueprint to address climate change, outlining the county’s most critical goals and priority actions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and preparing for the impacts of climate change.

Tackling transportation, land use, forests, agriculture and energy, the SCAP integrates moves underway across county government and identifies targets, performance measures and priority actions going forward.

Overall, King County aims to reduce countywide greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80 percent below 2007 levels by 2050.

“Reducing waste will make a significant impact on carbon emissions throughout the lifecycle of a product, from production to transportation and disposal,” said Councilmember Kathy Lambert, who represents the Valley, and was among council members who spoke on the plan.

“Less waste going to the Cedar Hills Landfill means less methane escaping into the atmosphere, now and in future decades,” she added.  
“Climate pledges are good but they’re not enough,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine. “This plan brings together a clear set of actions with the means to hold ourselves accountable for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from our operations, as well as supporting residents to do the same.”