Planning commissioners direct staff to identify Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan actions for inclusion in comprehensive-plan implementation

Thurston County Planning Commission members on March 19 voted to ask staff to review and recommend which actions from the Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan (TCMP) should be incorporated into the county comprehensive plan implementation appendix and to add language in the public‑hearing draft expressing the commission's support for implementing TCMP actions.

The commission took the step after an extended public‑comment period in which organizing groups and residents urged the body to make the TCMP a visible, enforceable part of the county's comp‑plan update. Paris McCluskey, community organizer for Thurston Climate Action Team (TCAT), told the commission that the TCMP lists 72 community‑wide actions, and that the current comp‑plan draft includes only a small fraction of items the county previously agreed to pursue: "The current draft includes only 10 TCMP actions that are clearly represented in Thurston County's implementation appendix climate policy actions. There are 40 TCMP actions that are compatible with those listed...but are not included," McCluskey said.

Why it matters: Speakers from TCAT, Black Hills Audubon Society, Restoring Earth Connection and other groups told the commission the TCMP and the county's 2021 climate emergency declaration together create an expectation…