VANCOUVER, Wash. — Washington Gov. Jay Inslee visited Vancouver on Wednesday to tour an air quality monitoring station at Mountain View High School and the Fourth Plain Community Commons development. He also joined a panel discussion about the importance of college financial aid at Fort Vancouver High School.
"This allows us to really fight against that pollution that’s so harmful to our health,” said Inslee. "The Climate Commitment Act makes funds available so that the Department of Ecology can do this type of work."
The air quality site is a partnership between the Washington Department of Ecology and the Southwest Clean Air Agency, according to a news release from Inslee's office, aimed at tracking local pollution in an area that sees lots of heavy road, rail and shopping activity.
"We have an epidemic of asthma in your generation," Inslee said, speaking to a group of Mountain View students. "And trying to monitor particulates that can be one of the problems with asthma is really, really important."
Vancouver is one of 16 communities across the state that are "overburdened" by air pollution and singled out for air quality monitoring investments under the Climate Commitment Act.
“I think it’s just really important to protect a sustainable future," said Morgan Geddry, a student at Mountain View High School and member of the environmental club.
Geddry told KGW she's thrilled to see the state take action on such an important and ongoing issue.
“We’re the younger generation, so we want to have a healthy world to grow up in and same for the generations after us,” said Geddry. "I think it's a really important thing to do because you won't know how to solve the problem until you know what the problem is. I think that's a really good thing that they value that."
According to Gov. Inslee, research shows several communities in Washington were found to live two-and-a-half years less on average because of inhaling fossil fuels.
Fourth Plain Community Commons is a mixed-use development that includes affordable housing and community event spaces, located along the Fourth Plain corridor, which is one of Vancouver's most racially diverse areas but also struggles with heavy traffic. Washington State contributed $6.5 million to the project, according to Inslee's office. Inslee previously toured the site in 2022 when the project was still in development.
Inslee ended the tour at Fort Vancouver High School, where he was scheduled to join a panel discussion about the importance of financial aid for students at colleges or trade schools, and how Washington State is seeing a drop in completed FAFSA applications, despite being one of the top-ranked states in terms of available need-based financial aid, according to the news release.