Afternoon Jolt: State Rep. Dave Upthegrove and Transit
State Rep. Dave Upthegrove (D-33, Des Moines) was named legislator of the year by the state’s biggest environmental lobbying groupm, Washington Conservation Voters. (They made the announcement to membership on Friday.)
State Rep. Dave Upthegrove (D-33, Des Moines) was named legislator of the year by the state’s biggest environmental lobbying groupm, Washington Conservation Voters.
The green group picks an environmental MVP every year; last year state Sen. Sharon Nelson (D-34, W. Seattle, Vashon) got the honor, primarily for her work securing money to buy a Maury Island strip mine from Glacier Northwest so the land can be preserved and converted to a park.
WCV cites Upthegrove, who chairs the house Environment Committee, for his work ushering through the legislation that transitions Centralia’s TransAlta coal fired power plant off coal; his work on regulating yard fertilizers; and his stand heading off the annual assault on the voter-approved renewable energy guidelines for utilities.
Certainly all heavy lifts—and while many people deserve credit for the TransAlta legislation (particularly Sen. Phil Rockefeller and Rep. Marko Liias) Upthegrove does deserve a customized shout-out for strengthening the bill down the stretch.
It should be noted that a lobbyist from another environmental group that’s in the trenches during the legislative session says Upthegrove was a “rock star” on transportation issues. Jolt couldn’t agree more: Upthegrove was adamant during crunch time about making sure the transportation budget included transit funding.
