Climate Change

County Budget to Tackle Top Social and Environmental Issues

This year’s proposed County Budget is tackling some of the leading social problems from drug programs to funding  affordable housing for low income people to building small villages for the homeless. “Our first eight months in office have been busy connecting with the community and learning from our city and town partners,” said Ryan Mello, Pierce County Executive. “Much of this work has focused on preparing the 2026–27 biennial budget which implements our new Forward Together Strategic Plan.”

“Mello’s first newsletter contained progress in many areas from building a new county Juvenile Facility to a new drug treatment program for the highly addicted users,” said Kirk Kirkland, writer for the Environmental Coalition.

Top priorities for environmental advocates are the work that Mello and his staff are doing to provide a clean, sustainable environment and contribute to stabilizing our climate. Mello and the County Council have not shied away from tackling the most difficult issues of our time, like providing safe-place housing for the homeless but also providing care for people who need it.

The following Information was sent to the Coalition from the County Executive’s office:

Priorities for Clean Sustainable Environment 2025-26

The goals were set for current and future generations to enjoy  a stable climate for current and future generations and to enjoy clean air,  clean water, and a healthy natural world.

  • Implement Sustainability 2030 Plan with a strong emphasis on equity
  • Collaborate with tribes to improve local waterways and  Fish passage barriers. This goal was accomplished not by removing the Chamber Creek dam, but by allowing Chinook Salmon through the WDFW fish ladder. Read more here
  • Coordinate and advance open space and farmland preservation efforts with goal of 100,000 additional acres by 2044 as outlined in the Land Conservation Plan
  • Create an inventory of tree canopy and identify and prioritize conservation in communities most vulnerable to loss of coverage and harmful heat island effect

Longer-Term Goals

Promote Climate Commitment Act programs for low-income weatherization and appliance efficiency upgrades, e-bike, EVs, free transit, county building electrification and energy efficiency upgrades, etc.

  • Plan for eventual landfill closure
  • Strengthen the county’s Commute Trip Reduction program, including promotion of telework to remove commute trips. Create and monitor a telework goal for county departments
  • Incentives business and institutions that implement sustainable or climate resilient improvement