How to keep up on Bainbridge environmental issues

Published 1:30 am Friday, January 9, 2026

Over the next year, you will be seeing a new monthly column in the Bainbridge Island Review. Written by local experts, the column will feature the latest news on various environmental issues and show ways you can become involved.

The February article will likely feature environmental bills in the state Legislature. The March column may feature the island’s annual Environmental Conference, which will focus on sea level rise. Another topic will be on the formation of a new Solar Collective to keep islanders informed and involved in expanding solar energy on the island. Other likely topics are the island’s water supply, infrastructure for electric vehicles, and the state of sustainable transportation.

Column writers will provide updates on legislation and elections likely to affect how we all care for the earth. We’ll keep you up to date on what’s happening with the Bainbridge Climate Action Plan, the Sustainable Transportation Plan, and local actions to preserve land. You’ll hear from members of organizations such as Sustainable Bainbridge, Climate Action Bainbridge, Zero Waste, EcoAdapt, Citizens Climate Lobby, and the Watershed Council.

There’s lots happening on the Climate Action Plan, which was developed in 2020 by the Climate Change Advisory Committee. The plan established several community goals, including that by 2040, all our island’s sources of electricity would be carbon-free. Currently, our electricity provider, Puget Sound Energy, generates about 55% of its electricity from renewable energy, with ambitions to gradually increase that percentage.

We’re also seeing rapid increases in solar installations. In 2005, our island had just one solar installation. By the end of 2024, there were more than 500, representing about 5% of total households and contributing about 2% of our island’s electricity use. Institutions as well as homes are part of this progress. A solar array was installed last year at Woodward Middle School as a carbon offset for the newly renovated Spearman Justice Center. The Bainbridge Public Library has just finished installing solar panels. Bethany Lutheran Church, Helpline House, and Saint Barnabas Church received funding to install solar panels. In addition, the Bainbridge Housing Resource Board received grants to install solar panels for the Ericksen multifamily affordable housing project.

The city partnered with Kicking Gas on a pilot project to educate Bainbridge Island residents about heat pumps and to implement a low-income household subsidy program to make heat pumps available for more families. Between June 1, 2024, and Aug. 31, 2025, the pilot program facilitated the installation of 20 high-efficiency heat pump systems in residences on Bainbridge Island. In addition, the project increased residents’ general literacy about heat pumps through direct outreach, educational information sessions, and media outreach.

Our island is also making progress with electric vehicles. The Climate Action Plan targeted that by 2045, 80% of registered vehicles on Bainbridge Island would be all-electric or plug-in hybrid electric. In 2024, over 30% of the new vehicle registrations were either electric or plug-in hybrid, compared to about 11% in 2020. Overall, about 11% of all registered vehicles on the island are either all-electric or plug-in hybrid. In 2025, the city launched an E-Bike subsidy program to reduce barriers to purchasing e-bikes. The program will be working with the Bainbridge Bike Company and Classic Cycle to help residents avail themselves of this program.

We are grateful to Bainbridge Review editor Tyler Shuey for supporting this monthly environmental column. If you have ideas for topics to cover and people who could write about them, send a note to Mike Cox at toxman57@gmail.com

Mike Cox worked for the Environmental Protection Agency for 25 years, is currently a member of the city’s Climate Change Advisory Committee, and is involved with numerous other environmental initiatives on the island. Fran Korten worked for the Ford Foundation for 20 years, headed YES! Magazine for 19 years, and is currently active on clean energy initiatives in Washington and on Bainbridge Island.