,
25 tweets,
5 min read
Read on Twitter
I imagine that people in the future will ask “why didn’t they act when they heard the climate change warnings? What were they thinking?” So I decided to visit the tunnel ribbon cutting to report what they were thinking.
Seriously, given that transportation is about half of our global warming emissions, I wonder if anyone will mention climate change during their remarks.
My fantasy is that Jay Inslee will say “given climate change, the tunnel is our last highway megaproject. From now on, every spare dollar will go to walking, biking, transit and affordable communities.”
I’m not counting on that. The legislature recently funded more climate-busting highways, and they’re working to fund even more.
First up is WSDOT head Roger Millar. No mention of climate. But he did say “the best way to predict the future is to build it”. Chilling. We’re building a future of incredible hardship
Some background - both our state and city have committed to deep cuts in global warming emissions. Scientists tell us to meet the Paris climate goals we have to go net negative. We can’t get from here to there without transforming transportation.
I’m joined here by Jess Wallach of @350Seattle who recently helped pass King County’s moratorium on fossil fuel infrastructure. Here getting interviewed by @ChrisDaniels5 
Jay Inslee is talking now. he is “celebrating the tunnel.” Honestly with everything we know about climate, I don’t understand what we are celebrating.
Ironically, the audio system broke when Jay was speaking. Kind of a metaphor for how the project has been plagued by breakdowns.
Jay said nothing about climate. BTW, I’m glad that Jay is considering running for President on a climate platform. It should be front and center. But his silence today is revealing.
Seriously, in the fight against climate change highways are a huge blind spot for elected officials. R’s deny climate change is real, D’s deny the role of highways and transportation generally. It’s their brand of climate denialism.
Audio fixed. Jay gets up to say “when the drilling gets tough we keep drilling”. Not really a good look there!
Senator Hobbes says the tunnel was won against “tough opposition and misinformation”. Well, he’s half right! We would need another thread to review all the misinformation about the tunnel - starting with “there will be no cost overrruns”
Senator Hobbs was followed by state representative Jake Fey. The streak continues - no mention of climate yet as they celebrate the tunnel.
Also, climate is not a new concern. Before I was mayor I was appointed to state and local groups to advise elected officials on how to reduce emissions. The scientists told us about the role of transportation in causing climate change, and about the damage it would cause.
Dow Constantine says nothing about the climate implications of the tunnel.
Everybody was worried about Viadoom. But it turned out to be a remarkable pilot on how to reduce emissions from transportation. Prelim data is that driving went down, and transit, walking and biking went up.
Even with the success of viadoom in reducing emissions, we now have WSDOT and our mayor encouraging people to drive through the tunnel. No kidding.
Steinbrueck mentioned “carbon”! Kudos for that, but no real explanation on how the tunnel helps.
Bagshaw says “green over gray.” Jess says “so why the heck are we building a big gray tunnel!”
Btw, I was invited to sit on stage today and participate in the tunnel ribbon cutting. Umm, took a pass! But seriously glad to be in audience - the denialism runs so deep, the congratulations so thick.
The ribbon was cut. So here’s what they were thinking, summing up everything I heard: “we can come together to face a crisis, raise billions, and overcome adversity to move cars!” Dang folks - could you please bring that energy to fighting climate change?
Jess and I signing off - after doing our little bit for climate accountability.
BTW, the Washington Post covered this as well washingtonpost.com/local/traffica…
As did the Seattle Times. "None of the ten speakers mentioned climate." And yes, I forgot to untie the piece of string around my pants leg. I should know by now - that little detail is like catnip for reporters seattletimes.com/seattle-news/t…
