Community advisory group tells Thurston County commissioners region is off track on greenhouse‑gas goals, urges more staff and funding

Members of the Thurston Climate Mitigation Collaborative’s Community Advisory Work Group presented a letter to the Thurston County Board of County Commissioners on Feb. 19, 2025, saying the region is not on track to meet its greenhouse‑gas reduction targets and asking the county to increase staffing and funding for mitigation work.

The advisory group told commissioners its interim greenhouse‑gas inventory shows the region’s emissions are “5% above that baseline level,” and members asked the county to provide more resources for staffing, grant management and cross‑jurisdiction coordination to accelerate implementation of the Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan adopted in 2021.

The letter and presentation stressed why county action matters: the group argued that without added capacity the region will not meet the adopted target of a 45% reduction in countywide greenhouse‑gas emissions by 2030. "We are actually 5% above that baseline level so that's not really good news, right?" Tom Crawford, president of Thurston Climate Action Team and a member of the Community Advisory Work Group, said during the presentation.

Rebecca Harvey, identified in the presentation as Thurston County’s climate mitigation senior program manager, told commissioners the county has funded the program since 2018, including a 2021 Board commitment of $337,500 and the creation of a climate mitigation senior program manager position in 2022. Harvey said she has secured more than $1,200,000 in grants to support plan actions and that the county is leading a regional Energize Thurston program and a commercial property assessed clean energy and resiliency financing (CPACER) program.

The advisory group’s recommendations included hiring a dedicated grants manager (or grants manager/administrator) to write and manage awards, strengthening internal climate‑lens coordination across county departments, and expanding community outreach — particularly to South County and overburdened communities — to increase participation in programs such as Energize Thurston. "We really need more resources," Crawford told the board.

Commissioners asked clarifying questions about how the climate lens is supposed to operate in permitting and development decisions and whether the county is meeting actions enumerated in the mitigation plan. Commissioners and staff drew a distinction between the county’s completion of assigned actions and the regional greenhouse‑gas inventory, with Assistant County Manager Josh Cummings noting inventories are an imperfect and resource‑intensive measure and that many emissions drivers are outside the county’s direct control.

Board members also pressed for practical steps: one commissioner asked staff to report back on CPACER applicant activity after being told that applications had been slow and that the county was processing its first application. Commissioners expressed interest in comparing Thurston County’s climate staffing and program scale with larger counties such as King and Portland to benchmark capacity needs.

The presenters emphasized equity and outreach: Nathaniel Jones, representing the League of Women Voters of Thurston County, said the League supports policies “consistent with the best available climate science” and urged the county to ensure mitigation measures are implemented in an equitable way. Panelists described planned Energize Thurston outreach, including five in‑person workshops, partnerships with Habitat for Humanity and targeted work with community organizations to reach households that lack information about electrification and energy‑efficiency programs.

No formal board action or votes were recorded during the presentation. Commissioners indicated the topics would inform upcoming budget discussions and suggested staff follow up with more detail on grant and staffing needs and on program uptake data.

Why it matters: The advisory group framed its letter as a regional wake‑up call rooted in the Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan and the county’s 2021 climate emergency resolution, arguing that additional staff and stable funding are required to translate policy goals into measurable emissions reductions.

What’s next: Commissioners asked staff to report back on CPACER applications and expressed interest in staffing/capacity benchmarking; the board did not take formal action at the meeting.