SEATTLE (AP) - Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan says Seattle will no longer use fossil fuels like natural gas to heat, cool and cook in new and substantially altered city-owned buildings and will come up with a plan by 2021 to transition all city-owned buildings to clean electric systems over time. Durkan included those directives in a “Green New Deal” executive order Wednesday.
“The No. 1 thing we have to do as a city and as a country and as a world is end our dependence on fossil fuels. The science is absolutely clear and we know we must move quickly,” Durkan said at a City Hall news conference.
Neither the new KeyArena now under construction at Seattle Center nor the massive Seattle Aquarium expansion pavilion planned for construction starting next year will be covered by the city’s new fossil-fuel ban, however, Durkan said. That’s because the projects are underway, she said. Both city-owned structures will use a lot of energy.
The $930 million new arena and 50,000-square-foot aquarium pavilion will initially be allowed to include some fossil-fuel infrastructure, though both will be included in the city’s longer-term electrification plans, Durkan’s office said. There’s no deadline yet for all city buildings to be fossil-fuel free.
Last year, the council passed a Green New Deal resolution that said Seattle would seek to eliminate climate pollutants in the city by 2030.
Wednesday’s order also instructs Durkan’s Office of Sustainability and Environment to convene an interdepartmental team, start work on various Green New Deal actions and engage with stakeholders, such as tribal governments, businesses and community organizations.
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