King County Climate Change
The Future Ain't What it Used to Be

King County, Washington hosted a Climate Change Conference in late 2005, delivering an initial road map for local governments with information, analysis, and ideas to anticipate, mitigate, and adapt to changes in:

• Agriculture
• Coastal areas
• Fish and shellfish
• Flooding, stormwater and wastewater
• Forestry
• Hydropower
• Water supply

Conference results short list:

• 2006 Conference Reports
• 2007 "Preparing for Climate Change" guidebook
• 2007 Levee repair plan and funding
• 2007 Global Warming Action Plan
• 2007 King County Energy Plan (280 Kb Acrobat document)
• 2007 Clean Vehicles Now! Conference
• Climate Protection Performance Measures

Ron Sims, King County Executive and conference host

Goal and results
On October 27, 2005, King County and its conference partners engaged a broad cross-section of Washington State governments, businesses, tribes, farmers, non-profits, and the community-at-large in a dialogue about climate change impacts and potential adaptations. With over 650 in attendance and follow-up activities underway, the conference goals were achieved. See "Conference Related News" for media coverage. Now the focus is on state-wide preparedness planning for climate change impacts. For more information, see the Detail Conference Reports for contacts and links.

Conference Follow-up

King County is responding to global warming as a high priority, developing strategies to reduce and adapt to global warming in each of these areas:

• Land use - combating sprawl and building healthier communities.
• Public transportation - getting more people onto leaner, greener busses.
• Innovative environmental management - turning waste into energy.
• Developing a clean energy future - stimulating climate-friendly fuel and technology markets for a prosperous, sustainable economy.

King County continues to pursue response strategies aggressively, to reduce and adapt to global warming in each of these areas. Please refer the following work produced as of December, 2007:

• "Preparing for Climate Change" guidebook
• Levee repair plan and funding
• Global Warming Action Plan
• 2007 King County Energy Plan (280 Kb Acrobat document)
• 2007 Clean Vehicles Now! Conference

Ron Sims' 2005 Letter to Conference Participants
"As we move forward into implementation of the cross-sector strategies discussed in October's conference, I would like you to know that we are now working with the UW's Climate Impacts Groups to produce a "how-to" guidebook for regional governments across the country on how they can best prepare for climate impacts. We hope to have this guidebook complete late this summer."

Detailed Reports from the 2005 Conference

Review supporting data, read the latest reports reports and view presentations by clmate change experts from from the 2005 Climate Change Conference in King County, WA:

• Conference results - presentations, reports and plans

Highlights of the October, 2005 Conference

• Governor Christine Todd Whitman (pdf), former New Jersey Governor, former US EPA Administrator
• Dr. Stephen Schneider *, world-renowned climate expert and lead author for international consensus documents on climate science.
• John D. Cox, author of "Climate Crash: Abrupt Climate Change and What it Means for Our Future" *
• U.W. Climate Impacts Group (pdf), newly updated climate impact data and local impact scenario
• Break-out Sessions with Report Back to State Ecology Director: Agriculture, Coastal areas, Fish/Shellfish, Flooding/Stormwater/Wastewater, Forestry, Hydropower and Municipal Water Supply
• Conference Agenda (Adobe Acrobat)
• Conference Sponsors

*External Link

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