Inslee highlights Washington’s advances in the climate fight at United Nations General Assembly

Gov. Jay Inslee had a busy week in New York City telling the Washington story of climate action to world leaders, business leaders, and environmental advocates during Climate Week NYC.

At the same time as Climate Week NYC brought environmental advocates and public officials to New York City, world leaders were also gathering there this week for the United Nations General Assembly with a focus on climate change. Washington state was one of only 10 subnational entities invited.

That privilege was earned by the state's demonstrated leadership in climate action. Gov. Jay Inslee represented Washington state at the summit, and he was afforded the rare honor of addressing the assembly as a governor.

"The road to destruction is paved with long-term aspirations," said Inslee. "Today is one hundred times more important than tomorrow on what we actually need to do to solve this problem."

The governor highlighted Washington’s advances in the climate fight. This includes the state’s Clean Energy Transformation Act to transition to 100% clean electricity by 2045, and the Climate Commitment Act’s cap and invest program for slashing pollution and reinvesting in cleaner options for transportation, energy, buildings and more.

Inslee also joined fellow governors from the U.S. Climate Alliance and the Biden administration Thursday to announce ambitious plans to quadruple heat pump installations nationwide by 2030. 

Collectively the Biden administration and the 25 states in the Alliance will install 20 million heat pumps in the next seven years. Heat pumps can heat and cool homes without releasing carbon emissions and with more efficiency than most heating and cooling systems, reducing energy use and saving consumers money.

Read the full story on Gov. Jay Inslee's Medium