PORT ANGELES — Clallam County Commissioner Mark Ozias is calling on U.S. Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell to carefully vet President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees who “deny the reality of climate change.”
In response to a call from members of Olympic Climate Action, Ozias drafted a letter reinforcing that climate change and climate adaptation are important to local citizens.
The letter states that many county residents are “deeply concerned” about Trump’s nominees for high-level Cabinet positions.
“President-Elect Trump’s nominees include individuals who deny the reality of climate change, individuals who have worked on behalf of the fossil fuel industry to weaken or eliminate environmental laws that protect our climate and public health, and individuals who have led companies which have knowingly deceived the American public about the risks of climate change,” according to the letter.
Ozias introduced the letter at the commissioners’ work session Monday, seeking feedback and possible co-signatures from his colleagues.
“I would just like to underscore that I hope that this helps to serve — whether we end up signing it collectively or not — serves as a springboard for additional conversation about climate adaption and what our own plans are here within the organization,” said Ozias, chairman of the board.
Commissioners Bill Peach and Randy Johnson expressed support for climate change adaption projects such as the proposed Dungeness River off-channel reservoir but stopped short of co-signing the letter.
Peach said he was “concerned about the way the language is organized, that we say we represent a larger community.”
“I don’t know whether it’s 51 percent, but it’s sort of implied,” Peach said.
“And that disturbs me. I really don’t know.”
Since he drafted his own letter raising concerns about the Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson, Johnson said he would be “loath” for the collective board to “meddle” in the federal nomination process.
“And believe me, Sen. Murray certainly has a group that’s going to vet everything,” Johnson said.
“Let me, though, add on, Mark, I’m totally behind things that we locally can do, like the reservoir.”
The one-page letter cites climate change impacts that were documented in the North Olympic Peninsula Resource Conservation and Development Council-led Climate Change Preparedness Plan for the North Olympic Peninsula.
Clallam County has developed a work plan for adapting to climate change based on that report.
“This issue is important to our county,” Ozias said. “It’s important to our citizens. The subject of climate change is important to American business, et cetera.”
Olympic Climate Action urged the county board to send the letter to “show that there’s a lot of local concern” about climate change and five cabinet nominees, executive committee member Ed Bowlby told commissioners.
“We think this is extremely timely,” Bowlby said.
“The committee hearings are happening right now in the Senate, and then it will go to the full Senate for the final vote. So it’s pretty-time critical.”
Olympic Climate Action listed the cabinet nominees it was concerned about on its website, www.olyclimate.org.
They are:
• Scott Pruitt, nominated for Environmental Protection Agency director.
• Rex Tillerson, nominated for Secretary of State.
• Ryan Zinke, nominated for Secretary of the Interior.
• Rick Perry, nominated for Secretary of Energy.
• Mike Pompeo, nominated for Central Intelligence Agency director.
“We urge you to vet these nominees with the utmost scrutiny and from the point of view of protecting our local communities from the consequences of failing to act decisively on the issue of climate change,” the letter says.
“We simply cannot afford to stop making progress on preparing for the climate impacts that we won’t be able to avoid.”
Ozias said the five nominees identified by Olympic Climate Action are “on record as denying the reality of climate change.”
“And this group — and I echo their concerns — is very interested in encouraging our senators to consider the implications of those nominations very carefully,” Ozias said.
Tillerson has been criticized in part for his role as the longtime chairman and chief executive officer of Exxon Mobil.
Johnson disclosed that his retirement account likely includes Exxon Mobil stock.
“I can also tell you I wrote a letter saying that that gentlemen [Tillerson] probably shouldn’t be secretary of state,” Johnson said.
“So I’m on both sides of that equation.”
Peach, a third-year commissioner, asked County Administrator Jim Jones whether the board had weighed in on federal Cabinet nominations in the past.
“At least in my 11 years here, I don’t believe you’ve ever done it before,” Jones said.
“In my judgment, we have been very reluctant to tell any other body what we think they ought to do.
“Most times, we’ve asked individual commissioners to please feel free and write themselves to support something like this if they wish, but as a board, we’ve very rarely taken a position,” Jones said.
“But again, there’s no reason not to. It’s just a majority of the board in the past has chosen not to do that.”
Ozias said the letter was worthy of board consideration because it gave citizens a voice.
“Three-fourths of millennials believe climate change is important, and if we’re not thinking about representing young people, then I think we’re making a mistake,” Ozias said.
Nearly 400 American companies, including Nike, Levi Strauss and Starbucks, have called on the president-elect to not abandon the Paris Agreement on climate change, Ozias said.
At the local level, Clallam County’s elected officials and department heads considered projected climate change impacts and adaptation strategies when proposing their annual work plan and 2017 budgets.
“This process is all about adaptation,” Peach said.
“For us to be able to say ‘Here are some specific examples of what we are doing to manage that
adaption’ I think is powerful.”
Ozias said he would send the letter the senators individually.
“As a county, we’re engaging in projects that are directly related to attempting to adapt to climate change,” Ozias said.
“So I think we have a lot of good reasons for at least considering doing this.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
