SEATTLE — For most cities in Washington state, cars are the number one source of greenhouse gas emissions. Could a change to the state's zoning policies get more Washingtonians out of them?

Margaret Morales is a senior researcher with Sightline Institute. She said most houses in the Evergreen State are single-family homes, and that's because cities put a lot of barriers in the way of residents who would open up their homes to more people.

She said cities could cut some of the red tape for accessory dwelling units - that is basement apartments, backyard cottages, or other small dwellings in homes - to make neighborhoods more dense, and thus more walkable; and argued the current single-family housing model leads to sprawl.

"Single-family zoning is like this mandate against walking. It's this mandate that kind of requires you to get in your car,” Morales said. “It's this outdated way of thinking about how cities and communities function."

Morales said more dense neighborhoods would attract more local businesses and necessities such as grocery stores. She said people would add more small residences to their homes if they could.

In Vancouver, British Columbia, about 1-in-3 single family homes has accessory dwelling units. In Seattle, it's about 1-in-100. Morales said these cities have similar housing markets, but restrictions for these units are much higher in Seattle.

Research shows there is more driving in urban areas with fewer homes per block, Morales said. Along with making cities more walkable, denser communities could also help build better transit systems.

Morales said there are many reasons why transit is a complicated issue, but ridership is key.

"One of the biggest reasons is that to make public transit viable, you need people to ride it, and that means people have to be able to get to it easily,” she said. “And the way we have our zoning code set up, we make it so that there are very few homes in walking distance of where you could put a bus line or a light rail line."

Morales noted that sprawling zoning policies in Washington cities were put in place at a time when cars were thought of as the future of transit. But with the specter of a warming climate, a change is needed to get more people out from behind the steering wheel.

More information, including Morales' report, is available at Sightline.org.


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As Congress debates a bill to fund climate-change solutions, Pima Community College is doing its own work to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and teach students to prioritize the issue.

The college's new Climate Action and Sustainability Plan includes plans to upgrade the heating and air conditioning systems, add electric vehicles to its fleet and install electric vehicle charging stations on each campus.

Nicola Richmond, chief strategy officer at the college, said they are also training people in all fields to be climate leaders.

"We ensure that all of our learners leave the institution knowing how to bring climate-friendly approaches to the field in which they're trained," Richmond explained.

Pima's goal is to reduce its carbon footprint by half in the next eight years. The moves come as the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote Friday on the Inflation Reduction Act, which puts $369 billion toward the fight against climate change. The bill has already passed the Senate.

Kevin Taylor, U.S. climate action lead for the World Wildlife Fund, said the bill is urgent, and could help the U.S. avoid the worst effects of climate change.

"It's going to enable more energy-efficient appliances, electric vehicles, solar and wind energy," Taylor outlined. "And particularly, those are available for the average homeowner and individual, but also institutions like Pima Community College to take advantage of."

The States at Risk project from Climate Central predicts Arizonans can expect the historic drought, heat waves and wildfires -- all effects of a warming planet -- to become significantly worse in the next few decades.

Calling it a "clear and present danger," President Joe Biden announced new measures last week to make communities more resilient against climate change.

Environmental groups want the administration to declare a National Climate Emergency.

Tracy Sabetta, Ohio state field coordinator for Moms Clean Air Force, said the emergency declaration would allow Biden to use executive powers to combat climate change.

"It's an unprecedented failure to not invest in a safe and healthy Future for our kids," Sabetta asserted. "The Biden administration must use every tool at their disposal to reduce climate pollution that is directly threatening our children's health."

Actions could include halting crude oil exports to reduce emissions and directing federal investments toward renewable energy projects. Opponents of such measures have cited economic concerns.

However, here in Ohio, a new report found the impacts of climate change will cost communities between $2 billion and $6 billion each year by 2050, a 26% to 82% increase from 2019.

A new survey found about half of registered voters favor a climate-change emergency declaration. Sabetta contended this summer's record-breaking heat is just the latest evidence the writing is on the wall.

"Last year alone, there were 20 extreme weather- and climate-related disasters in the U.S. with losses that exceeded $1 billion for each of those," Sabetta recounted. "Those in lower-income and underserved communities were hit the hardest."

She added air quality monitoring, reducing carbon emissions, and ensuring disproportionately impacted communities are protected against climate impacts are all measures which need to be addressed at the local, state and federal level.

Kate Merlin's two children could not play outside for nearly half of last summer at camp because ground-level ozone reached levels considered dangerous for their developing lungs.

Merlin is an attorney with WildEarth Guardians and part of a broad-based effort to push Colorado Gov. Jared Polis to do more to rein in oil and gas industry emissions, the biggest contributor to ozone smog. She said Colorado's children do not deserve to live in a state where they cannot breathe the air outside in the summer.

"The problem is that these regulations have been insufficient to actually reduce the amount of ozone pollution in our state to an acceptable level, where it's not endangering the health of our children," Merlin asserted.

The northern Front Range has been violating EPA thresholds for ozone ever since they were created in 2008, and the agency recently announced it would downgrade the state from serious to severe violators.

The Regional Air Quality Council admitted this week its plan for lowering smog levels, expected to be approved on August 5, will not reach at least one EPA compliance requirement.

Oil and Gas drilling, fracking and other operations release over 120 percent more pollutants, which, when combined with sunlight, create ozone than the state's transportation sector.

Rep. Tracey Bernett, D-Boulder, said companies will need to do more if the state is going to bend the curve to get back into compliance with the Clean Air Act.

"Making sure that the industry is doing their part to reduce things that cause ozone on ozone-alert days," Bernett urged. "We've all been asked, drive less, ride-share and all that. We need to make sure that industry is doing this as well."

Clean-air advocates submitted a letter urging the regional air council to take additional steps to reduce smog, including pausing oil and gas production during the hottest summer days, and adopting stricter vehicle emission standards. Merlin believes the long-term solution will be to transition away from energy subject to tremendous price shocks in the global marketplace.

"We need a transition to locally produced, renewable energy sources," Merlin contended. "In part because these are the sources of energy that will not experience these significant price shocks. And that's how we get to true energy independence."