Washington governor tells mountain town leaders in Vail to reframe the climate action argument

The Mountain Towns 2030 conference closed on the evening of Thursday, Oct. 19, with speeches from Jenna Johnson, the president of the clothing brand Patagonia, Inc., and Jay Inslee, the governor of Washington. Following their speeches, Johnson and Inslee participated in a question-and-answer session with an audience of climate experts, local legislators, and representatives from the mountain business industry.

“This is Mountain Towns 2030. I think of it as ski bums that grew up,” Inslee said. A self-identified ski bum himself, Inslee told the audience that he was raised by conservation-minded parents who instilled a love for the natural world in him early on.

It’s the desire for his grandchildren’s grandchildren to have the same experience as he did growing up that drives his passion for climate action.

“When I have arguments with people who refuse to assist us in this noble cause, I look at them threatening my children, and that’s how motivated I am,” Inslee said. “When somebody threatens your children, you come at them with all you’ve got.”

The need for climate action, Inslee said, can be framed in terms of its impact on people.

Support Local Journalism

Donate

“This is about human experiences. As much as we love polar bears and penguins — and I do, I have a really emotional attachment to it — this story is about humans,” Inslee said. “We want humans (in the future) to enjoy the same lives we have.”

Patagonia, Johnson shared, has been an industry leader in protecting the Earth since it was founded. Recently Patagonia’s actions have included helping to protect national monuments, using more sustainable processes in clothing production, and embracing repairing older Patagonia gear for reuse.

The apparel industry is responsible for 8 to 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to Johnson. Patagonia’s goal is to lead the industry toward a more sustainable future, even if the required changes occur at some cost to the company.

“We know that everything we make takes something from the planet that we can’t give back — scarce water and resources — and it produces emissions and waste, and that’s why we’re doubling down at our core to making higher quality products, even if — or, maybe, especially if — you buy fewer things from us,” Johnson said.

“We know that fast fashion fuels a high consumption, low-quality world, and we want to be the antithesis to this destructive trend,” Johnson said. “We look at every aspect of our business as an opportunity to prove that there’s a better way,” she said.

The power of action-oriented solutions

“When you go to U.N. (United Nations) conferences, they refer to cities and mayors and city council members and governors and states as sub-nationals,” Inslee said. “We are not sub-nationals. We are super nationals. And there’s a reason for that: We are super nationals because, by the structure of democracy, we can always go farther, faster and harder than our national government.”

By Inslee’s logic, mountain towns like those in Eagle County have the power to make necessary changes to everything from transportation to building codes ahead of the state of Colorado. Local leaders showcased the positive changes that have been made in Eagle County recently at the conference, from pioneering climate-friendly building codes, to creating a new transportation system, to setting new expectations for the electrification of new construction.

While most people have accepted that the climate is changing, many still advocate for the delay of immediate action.

“I believe the reason that folks are still in that camp (of delaying climate action) is that they are afraid. They are afraid that we can’t solve this problem,” Inslee said.

“The antidote to despair is action,” Inslee said. “We have been nothing but action in the state of Washington,” Inslee said.

“The most powerful thing we’ve done (in the state of Washington) is to adopt the best, most aggressive, and most ambitious cap and invest bill in the United States’ history,” Inslee said, taxing industries that overproduce greenhouse gas emissions, and giving the money back to local communities to provide environmentally friendly resources. Washington will also stop selling gas-powered cars after 2035, Inslee said.

Patagonia is leading by example, Johnson said. The company has already “committed to using 100% renewable energy in brick-and-mortar offices, our service centers, and stores by 2025 — we’ll actually be there sooner than that. We’ve also set a goal to reach net zero emissions by 2040,” Johnson said.

The biggest challenge Patagonia currently faces in its climate efforts is the product itself.

“We hope that someday, we’ll reach absolute zero (emissions), but the trickiest obstacle standing in our way is actually the clothes that we sell. Our product line accounts for 90 percent of our total carbon emissions,” Johnson said.

Patagonia is piloting moving from coal to electric in its production plants, which would significantly reduce the company’s clothing production emissions. Johnson said Patagonia hopes that other companies will see success in this pilot program, and be eager to follow suit.

“If we’re going to do this, we’ve got to do it fast, and efficiently, and we’ve all got to be in this in the same boat,” Johnson said.