From mighty forests to small oyster hatcheries, the Pacific Coast provides a rich set of natural resources. But many of these resources are threatened by fires, droughts, and other climate change impacts.

So in 2008, the governments of California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska banded together to combat climate change.

Their coalition, the Pacific Coast Collaborative, has established shared goals to reduce global warming pollution 80 percent within 33 years. To reach the goal, they plan to increase energy efficiency and invest in clean energy.

Chris Davis, policy advisor for Washington Governor Jay Inslee, says that the alliance helps them achieve more than if they were acting alone.

Davis: “It really created a forum to advance leadership, enable information sharing, and probably most importantly, coalesce momentum across the west coast to take action on climate.”

And, he says, the fact that the region has some of the nation’s fastest growing economies sends an important message to others.

Davis: “You can take really quite aggressive climate action and still have great job growth and great economic growth.”

Reporting credit: Peter Bresnan/ChavoBart Digital Media.
Image graphic: Created by David McCarthy.