Thurston County commissioners review new climate element for comprehensive plan

Thurston County commissioners on Aug. 27 received a detailed briefing on a new climate element proposed for the county comprehensive plan, a change prompted by state law and local vulnerability studies.

Ashley Rye, director of community planning and development, told the board the climate component will cover two main categories required under state law: greenhouse‑gas mitigation and climate resiliency. "This is a big topic, and it's a new topic for our comprehensive plan," Rye said, and staff provided background materials to help commissioners explain those topics to constituents.

The briefing explained mitigation will focus on transportation and building energy use rather than housing unit counts, while resiliency is framed as an umbrella covering preparedness and adaptation measures for risks such as more frequent wildfires, winter flooding and sea level rise. Derek Jay,…