Gov. Jay Inslee to visit Tri-Cities. But U.S. energy secretary cancels 1st trip to Hanford
The U.S. energy secretary has canceled her visit to the Tri-Cities on Friday, but Gov. Jay Inslee will visit on Tuesday.
The Washington governor plans to discuss solutions to homelessness, learn about artificial intelligence research at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland and discuss climate change priorities with Washington State University Tri-Cities students and faculty.
Inslee will meet first on Tuesday with Tri-Cities area officials and community leaders working on affordable housing and homelessness issues.
In December Inslee proposed policies to reduce and prevent homelessness, including investing state money in affordable housing, such as tiny homes, for those who are now homeless or camped in public spaces.
He also wants to encourage more middle-range housing with statewide policies that allow for more duplexes and townhouses.
He also proposes more help for youth aging out of foster care, finishing behavioral health treatment and completing juvenile rehabilitation.
At Pacific Northwest National Laboratory he will learn about the Department of Energy’s clean energy and energy storage research.
His final stop of the day at WSU will continue the discussion of the importance of clean energy and Washington state’s climate priorities.
Inslee has proposed investing $100 million for rebates for people buying electric vehicles to encourage their purchase rather than gas-powered vehicles. He also wants state agencies to be using zero-emission vehicles by deadlines of 2035 for lighter vehicles and 2040 for heavier vehicles.
Another $100 million would be used for solar installation and energy storage grants for electric utilities, tribal governments, school districts and other local and state government agencies and nonprofits.
Inslee also has proposed legislation that would increase energy performance standards for large buildings
Energy secretary visit
New Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm had planned to make her first visit to the Hanford site and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory on Friday.
However, the visit was canceled on Monday out of an abundance of caution due to the global security situation.
Russia has tens of thousands of its troops on Ukraine’s northern border, and U.S. leaders fear a planned invasion, according to The Associated Press.
Granholm’s visit to Washington state was planned to start in Western Washington with a look at clean energy leadership innovations in the state. She was to meet with Inslee and Washington Maritime Blue to discuss maritime clean tech innovation.
She also planned a discussion on electric grid modernization and cyber security at Puget Sound Energy.
In Eastern Washington, she planned to meet with the Yakama Nation and to tour Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland and the Hanford nuclear reservation.
Granholm, the former governor of Michigan, was sworn in as energy secretary for the Biden administration a year ago.
She said during her January 2021 Senate confirmation hearing that cleanup of the Hanford nuclear reservation is “urgent.”
And she committed to requesting larger environmental cleanup budgets than those of the Trump administration, under questioning by Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.
She told Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., that Hanford cleanup is a complex project and steps need to be taken every year to address waste issues there. But progress is being made, she said.
The 580-square-mile Hanford site adjacent to Richland in Eastern Washington was used from World War II through the Cold War to produce nearly two-thirds of the plutonium for the nation’s nuclear weapons program.
Granholm also said during confirmation hearings that she was excited about the Grid Storage Launchpad, a $75 million facility planned at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland. Design and construction contracts for it were awarded last spring.
This story was originally published February 21, 2022 at 12:10 PM.