WA State Patrol 'employer of the year', New climate corps, Transforming methane into fuel, Australia trade mission



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State Patrol recognized as leading veteran employer

WSP members have served a combined 2000 years in the armed forces

The state?s Employment Security Department named the Washington State Patrol as Hire-A-Vet?s Large Employer of the Year.??

?We are honored to win this award. It?s always great for our agency and people to be recognized. But the true honor for us is that so many of our nation?s military veterans choose the Washington State Patrol for employment," said Chief John Batiste. "Men and women from across the nation bring the problem-solving and leadership skills they learned in the military as well as their demonstrated commitment to serving others to WSP. Our agency and this state are bettered by their continuing service.? ???

This year, 15% of WSP's new hires have been veterans. Veterans and members of the military reserves now comprise 12% of the agency's workforce.

ESD created the Hire-A-Vet awards to call attention to unemployed veterans in Washington and to recognize companies with a strong track record of hiring, retaining and supporting veterans in their workforce. This year's honorees also included Form 100 Consulting and Atkinson Construction.

To learn more about joining the Washington State Patrol, please visit:?Be A Trooper - WSP [ [link removed] ].

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Applications now open for young people and veterans to join new Washington Climate Corps

Gov. Jay Inslee speaks from a podium.

Gov. Jay Inslee was on hand Friday to help celebrate the launch of the Washington Climate Corps. "The antidote to climate anxiety is climate action," said the governor.

On Friday, Serve Washington announced the kickoff of the Washington Climate Corps, a program to help young people and veterans channel climate anxiety [ [link removed] ] into climate action. The Climate Corps program will put people to work all over the state to help their neighborhoods and communities manage the effects of climate change.

Friday?s launch event spotlighted projects to conserve water in Gold Bar, conduct heat health education in Yakima, blaze trails in Kent, reduce wildfire fuels near Lake Quinault and more.

Last spring, the governor successfully requested?legislation [ [link removed] ]?to create the Serve Washington Climate Corps Network. The Legislature budgeted $7.5 million towards the effort, including?$4.5 million from the Climate Commitment Act [ [link removed] ]?matched by $3 million in federal AmeriCorps funding.

"My very first vote in Congress was to establish a federal AmeriCorps. And now in my last term as governor, we're starting this new program to get folks into helping their communities and fighting climate change. It's a full-circle moment," said Gov. Jay Inslee.

Young adults ages 17-31 and veterans are eligible to participate. All open positions will be posted on the Serve Washington [ [link removed] ] and MyAmeriCorps [ [link removed] ]websites.

"With the Washington Climate Corps network, we are planting seeds today to grow a clean, green and inclusive economy for all working people - and a thriving planet for future generations," said Rep. Vandana Slatter.

In September, the Biden-Harris Administration launched its?American Climate Corps [ [link removed] ]?to encourage climate-related service nationwide. The climate crisis demands an urgent response and now, nationwide, there are new opportunities for people to be part of the solution.

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Climate Commitment Act logo

The Climate Commitment Act is funding climate action, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and creating a healthier future.

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Methane is a menace; Tacoma shows how landfills can use it for good

A garbage truck passes by with Mount Rainier in the background.

The City of Tacoma captures methane from wastewater, converts it to compressed gas, and powers some of its garbage trucks with it. They're preventing a harmful gas from reaching the atmosphere, and making good use of it.

Methane is 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide when it comes to trapping heat in our atmosphere. It?s a menace, and landfills produce a lot of it. A new rule, the result of legislation proposed by Rep. Davina Duerr, requires landfills to stifle methane and other harmful greenhouse gases. The state?s Climate Commitment Act is funding $15 million in grants so that landfills can install proper infrastructure.

Gov. Jay Inslee was in Tacoma this week to see how well that infrastructure is working at the City of Tacoma?s solid waste facility and how Climate Commitment Act funding will support similar efforts in other cities. The site hosts a landfill that was closed decades ago but methane is still produced by the underlying waste. For years, the City of Tacoma has captured and made use of it. Some of Tacoma?s fleet of garbage trucks run on compressed gas made from the captured methane. The city also sells credits as a renewable fuel supplier, making the effort to capture methane profitable. The landfill is now aging and the quality and volume of its methane has waned, but the city has a new trick up its sleeve.

At the Central Wastewater Treatment Plant, the City of Tacoma takes in sewage and creates three byproducts: clean water, its award-winning TAGRO soil amendment, and clean-burning transportation fuel made from methane.

"We're able to prevent methane from escaping and do something with it," said Jim Parvey, the city's chief sustainability officer. "We've saved the equivalent of 25,000 gallons of diesel in just the last 8 months by powering trucks with the [compressed natural gas] we've made."

All of this sophisticated infrastructure is sparing the environment the scourge of methane, and it has covered its own costs. The new rule [ [link removed] ] will compel similar efforts across the state, and continued investments of Climate Commitment Act funding will help with that transition and slash emissions across the state.

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Trade mission ?down under? yields trade and climate partnerships

Inslee and representatives from the Incat Shipyard

Inslee and representatives from the Incat Shipyard in Tasmania pose for a picture beneath the hull of the world?s largest electric ferry under construction. The ferry?s batteries are manufactured in Bellingham, Wash.

On Nov. 2, Gov. Jay Inslee leaped over time zones as he flew to Australia to lead a state delegation on a trade mission. Australia is 18 hours ahead of Washington state, and they are living in the future in another way - they're ending the dirty era of fossil fuels and embracing healthy, clean energy.

The state delegation met Australia's ambitious climate leaders, toured clean tech industrial sites and forged new partnerships to expand the $750 million trade relationship between Washington and Australia.

*Read the full story on Gov. Jay Inslee's Medium [ [link removed] ]*

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News you might have missed:

Enjoy free access to state parks on Nov. 24

Admission to all of Washington?s state parks will be free on Friday, Nov. 24. Washington offers more than 130 parks to choose from. The governor's Medium offers?a few recommendations, [ [link removed] ]?including parks with accessible trails, places to go with kids, and areas for hiking and cycling.

Inslee issues executive order to promote plain language

Inslee signed an executive order Wednesday that requires state agencies to create and adopt a plain language policy. Plain language writing and design ensures information is concise, inclusive and easy to understand.?Executive Order 23-02 [ [link removed] ] directs state agencies to simplify and review public-facing materials on a regular basis to ensure the content follows plain language writing and design principles.

WaTech warns of online scams

WaTech?advised [ [link removed] ] Washingtonians who use SecureAccess Washington (SAW) to be wary of internet ads that pretend to be government links. To avoid becoming a victim, be skeptical of all links on the internet even if they look official. When going to a government agency website, make sure it has a .gov address. The only correct SAW address is?[link removed] [ [link removed] ].?WaTech [ [link removed] ] and the?Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency [ [link removed] ] have additional tips for staying safe and avoiding scams online.

Commerce helps cities plan for middle housing

The Department of Commerce awarded $3 million in?grant funding [ [link removed] ] to 54 cities across Washington to help them plan for increased construction of middle housing, including duplexes and townhomes.?More than one million new homes must be built in Washington over the next 20 years to ensure adequate housing supply. During the last session, the Legislature allocated more than $1 billion to support the addition of affordable housing options.

Commerce invests in local crisis response infrastructure

The Department of Commerce is?investing $4.3 million [ [link removed] ] to develop two crisis and triage stabilization facilities in Lewis and Pierce Counties for people in crisis. The new facilities are a key aspect of Washington?s strategy to provide behavioral health care in small, modern facilities that allow patients to stay closer to their homes and communities, while retaining larger mental-health facilities for hard-to-place civil commitment patients.

Governor?s award recognizes smart community planning and land use

The?2023 Governor?s Smart Communities Awards [ [link removed] ] recognized 11 cities across Washington for their exceptional land use planning and development. This year?s awardees demonstrated their commitments to affordable housing, energy-efficiency, community building and environmental conservation and restoration, among other categories.?

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