#8: Decarbonizing Seattle and Loving Cities with Jessyn Farrell

Jessyn Farrell, Director of Seattle’s Office of Sustainability and Environment, sits down in her living room to chat with Ben about all of Seattle’s decarbonization plans. But first, two of Jessyn’s kids express their lukewarm feelings about podcasting and begrudgingly kick off the show.

They cover Jessyn’s love of cities, transit, and orca whales. This opens up into a broad conversation covering all of the things we need to do to decarbonize Seattle and the amazing future that’s in reach if we push to quickly upgrade our homes, neighborhoods, and city. They cover why the local health impacts are just as key to focus on as the global ones, and the fundamental importance of this being an urgent, equitable, and just transition away from fossil-fuels.

They highlight potential product collaboration for folks in the tech industry listening:

1. Giving cities insight into transportation data to help make improved planning decisions.
2. Effectively distributing incentives, especially to SMB drayage truck drivers.
3. Moving to a more effective, scaled decarbonization effort for homes*.
4. Building financing products for residential decarbonization upgrades and giving additional visibility for home fossil-fuel consumption.

Jessyn wraps up reflecting on the awareness her kids have about her work on climate.

Prior to her role leading Seattle’s OSE, Jessyn served as a member of the Washington House of Representatives representing the 46th district from 2013 to 2017 and was a major transit advocate as Executive Director of the Transportation Choices Coalition.

*As mentioned in the episode, Ben will be sharing more about a proposal for building a “decarbonization factory” for the hundreds of thousands of homes. To see the proposal when it is shared subscribe to Climate Papa updates.

Referenced in the episode:

• Seattle’s Office of Sustainability & Environment
• New Building Performance Standards
• Clean Heat Upgrade Program
• The “Electric Bank Account” from Rewiring America
• Low pollution neighborhoods

Get connected:

• Jessyn - OSE
• Ben - ⁠Climate Papa⁠

Feedback? Guest suggestions? Email ⁠ben@climatepapa.com⁠

Special thanks to Anna Shwab Eidelson for editing assistance.

Music: Slynk & Lazy Syrup Orchestra - Mellow Kinda Hype (Balkan Bump Remix)