Drama Queens - Work in Progress: Governor Jay Inslee

Episode Date: October 31, 2024

As a kid, he dreamed of playing for the Boston Celtics. As he got older, he thought he would end up in the medical field, but Washington Governor Jay Inslee found himself on a path toward public service instead. The 'Greenest' Governor sits down with Sophia to share the story of his political journey. From the positive experience of connecting with communities, to the negatives of the political experience . . . like when Former President Trump refused to provide disaster relief to a whole community that burned down in Washington, because the Governor opposed Trump's Muslim ban and climate change denial. Despite the good, bad, and sometimes ugly? Inslee says you should not be afraid of throwing your hat in the ring!! The Governor also discusses the election ballots that were recently burned in his state and what is being done about it, the positive economic impact of climate policy and the creation of green jobs, his optimism about the future of clean energy jobs, and his plan to focus on climate solutions after he leaves office after his current and final term. He’s ready to pass the torch. To us!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Hi, everyone. It's Sophia. Welcome to Work in Progress. Hi, Whips Marties. Welcome back to another episode of Work in Progress. We are now within a week of the 2024 election. I know a lot of people are stressed. and worried and how could we not be? We're trying to fight fascism at the ballot box. And when I feel afraid of potential looming doom, I try to look to the people who make me feel inspired. I look for the helpers. And one of the best helpers we've got in our country happens to be the governor of Washington State, Governor Jay Inslee. He is actually the longest serving current governor in the U.S. He's finishing up 12 years as the governor of Washington, and he is leaving

behind a legacy both in Washington State and on the national stage as a champion for the environment, for clean energy, and for environmental justice, which also makes him a champion of community, kids, and incredible job creation. Jay entered public service back in 1985, fighting for a new public high school, and four years later, he became state representative in the 14th Legislative District in Washington. He has gone on to have an incredible career after returning to private law. He was appointed the regional director

of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He oversaw programs in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. In the late 90s, his family returned to Puget Sound, and he represented the first congressional district for 13 years, and in 2012, he was elected Washington's 23rd governor. Governor Inslee has focused on building a bright few for Washingtonians and using that future that he helps work on in his home state to set an example for the U.S. Under his leadership, Washington's economy has been ranked number one for both businesses

and workers. The state has become a vital roadmap for the rest of the nation as they have achieved these incredible wins. And a lot of that is thanks to the governor. He has steadily led the way for profound social and economic changes, including raising the minimum wage, passing Best in the Nation family leave, providing sick leave to every Washington worker and making historic investments in transportation and education. Governor Inslee is living proof that progress and prosperity go hand in hand. He has firmly established the state of Washington as a national leader in the fight for climate change and for happiness. And I am so excited today to talk to him about how he's done it. He happens

to be a national board member of the Environmental Advocacy Group Climate Power that I love working with out in my advocacy world. And I just can't wait to talk to him about all of his amazing achievements, his family, his love of education, and why he fights for the environment as well as he does. Hint, hint, we all need it. Let's hear from Governor Inslee. Before we dive into the election, and I know we're inside of a week now, I want to go back a little bit because you have such a storied career and what you've built in Washington, you know, from growing an incredible jobs economy, seeing incredible happiness statistics with your citizenry. And also the incredible environmental progress you've made, you know, it's a big bucket full of really

good things. It's a long and amazing career, but I want to ask you to go back to before it began. What was it really that inspired you to look at and then enter the world of public service? Was it something you'd always thought you might do from the time that maybe you were a young boy? Or did it happen more in your adult life? No, I was actually going to be the small forward for the Boston Celtics when I was growing up. So that dream didn't come true. Then I was going to be a physician. That dream didn't come true.

So I'm just a record of squashed dreams here. No, I had not thought about public service until like my mid-30s. And the way Trudy and I got involved in this was we lived in a small town in eastern Washington. We were raising three kids and minding our own business and enjoying life. And then they were going to start double shifting our local high school. And, you know, so you'd have two different shifts because they didn't have room for everybody. And I thought, why don't we build a high school? The answer was we were kind of new in town.

And they'd failed five bond issues in a row trying to build a new school. And I thought, well, this is ridiculous. So we thought, well, let's run another bond issue. And there were only two other couples or another couple to help us. We went out and started an effort, and we passed it on the sixth try. And shortly thereafter, the Washington State Legislature, in their infinite wisdom, cut our funding formula and half of the money we were going to get from the state. So we had gone out to our community members saying, look, we're going to get X number of dollars from the state.

And then all of a sudden they cut it half, making the project impossible. So I became aggrieved about that. I started going to Olympia, Raising Hell, with our legislature. And from that just sort of concluded, listen, if I'm going to help on these kind of issues, I should be in office. And so I ran for the legislature in a very heavily Republican district with no chance to win. And one, in a huge upset, and the rest has been a very broken road to doing what I'm doing now. And I've had a great run as governor. So that's how we got involved.

And I would recommend it to anyone, public services, for all its, It's discouragement and frustration is just such a fantastic thing to be able to help your community in ways large and small. So jump in if you're thinking about it. The water's fine. Yeah. A lot of people ask me if I'd run. And I think for a while I didn't take it very seriously. And now I'm going, maybe that's my, you know, my phase two.

When I cross 50, I don't know. We'll see. Well, that's 50. As you're young, at 50, you're very, very young. You're just learning at 50. So, no, what I've found is that it's a very positive experience, even running for office, even if you're not elected. You know, half the time candidates are not elected.

Right. But I have found they're very positive experiences, although trying and painful, because you get connected to your community, you meet so many more people. You go to places in your community. You never went. I'll just share a little experience. When I ran for the legislature, I lived in a little town called Yakima, Washington. And, you know, I door-built 25,000 homes between two races.

Wow. And in doing that, I went to places in my community. I had never gone before physically. You know, usually you get a rat in a maze. You have a way you drive to the school. You know a way you drive the work. And that's just kind of what you know. And I just got out and met so many people in different areas.

And frankly, one of the eye-openerers in that experience for me was the poverty that existed in my community that certainly. There's some degree I was not oblivious to, but had not recognized as much. And so anyway, runner for office is a great experience. It's better when you win. I bet. I've done both in my time, and it's much better to win. Sure.

But it is a very connecting experience when you throw your hat in the ring. Well, as a non-elected, I would just like to thank you for being willing to acknowledge that sometimes you lose, and when you do, you have to be honest about it. Indeed, I've lost several races and lost a race in Congress, which was painful to leave Congress. And so I've had that experience. each one of them, to some degree, have led to something more adventurous in my life. Sure.

I lost a governor's race in 1996, but met some people on my team that are still with me. And so that was a positive experience itself. And that's what I'm saying is that when you enter public service or you want to, it connects you with new people. And it can be a positive thing for you. Yeah, I think that's really beautiful. And I think it's very refreshing to be reminded of the joy that comes with public service. You know, it's certainly something we're seeing contrasted in this election that is upon us.

We've got one side talking about the, you know, the joy of the multifaceted fabric of America and one espousing adoration for fascists. And I know that the not so positive side of the race touched you, particularly. in your state because, you know, with the new investigation that came out just last week, it showed that in 2020, then President Donald Trump actually refused to act on your disaster aid request for the wildfires because you'd had a personal dispute with him. And we went through a lot of those same threats in my home state of California. You know, he didn't want to give us aid as a quote unquote blue state. And I'm just curious, you know, if you could explain to the folks at home, what kind of impact the abuse of the highest office in the land can have on a state?

How do you, you know, a family man and a committed public servant who got into this to make sure kids could go to school, how do you kind of fight back against that level of both depravity and danger when you're dealing with natural disasters? You know, what is, I guess, I guess the question really is where do you even begin? to advocate. How do you stand up to that? Well, you start at the beginning, which is to vote. That's the most effective thing you can do is to vote.

You know, and my whole mantra, after 30 years in public service, it's a heck of a lot of easier to keep scoundrels out of office than to try to reform them once they're in. It's very difficult to reform narcissistic sociopaths. it's much more effective to keep them out of office and let them go play golf from where they can't do any damage. And that's what's really effective. And that's why the next week is so important for all of us,

to all of the work we can do to keep somebody who's so destructive out of office. But really, and I'm very much in touch with what you said, one of our candidates is driven by anger and fear. That's a motivating thing in life. and one is driven by hope and optimism. And I'm more of the optimistic hope is much better for your society to make decisions based on that. But anyway, the thing you do first is keep scound rolls out of office. And that's what you do and you get up every day and do everything you can do it.

Now, in our case, everybody is listening to us. I hope you will call anybody you know, an old friend, an old college roommate, an in-law in Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Arizona, and call them. I hope you're doing that. So that's something you can do. And then somebody to run for office yourself. But those are the things we can do in the next seven days. Yeah.

And the scope, coming back to this issue of what happened in our town, we had a town burned down called Malden, Washington. Small little town, 80% of the homes were totally destroyed. They're kind of an isolated community. and Trump willfully, maliciously, refused to help those people. And it wasn't me. I wasn't, you know, I have a nice house to live in. It wasn't me who's suffering.

It's them. And he consciously refused to help those poor people. And it shows both how destructive a president is who decides to govern out of dominance and aggression and out of his sense of victimization. and juvenile, just juvenile behavior. He was just juvenile. He's just a little temper tamper, right? Yeah.

Because I dared to stand up against his Muslim ban and some of his climate change denial. He just can't stand that. He's so thin skin. So I had these families that didn't know what to do for four months because we couldn't get the disaster declaration. As soon as Trump, as Biden came in within, I think, 10 days we got the disaster declaration.

But for four months, he had this whole community that could not move forward. So it was very destructive. And if you ever been dealt with people who suffered this kind of disaster as they had in North Carolina recently, the loss of your home is so psychologically damaging. You're in such, you know, fragile state.

To have somebody, the highest president of the United States, tell you, I'm not going to help you, is so maddening. And so count me as not a Trump supporter just from that experience. And he did in other places, California as well. We're not the only victim. And he didn't help Puerto Rico.

Of course, now we know what his friends are saying about Puerto Rico. He went and thought it was so much fun to send, you know, sell, toss tissue paper to the people and then deny relief. Right. It just shows you on the importance of keeping odious characters out of the White House. Certainly. And now a word from our sponsors that I really enjoy. think you will too.

I guess, you know, in particular, because you are so climate forward, you know, you've been dubbed the greenest governor in America, which I think is so cool. We are currently in this moment where, to your point, we're watching these horrible things happen, not just to states like yours and mine, Washington and California, but, you know, our friends in Asheville and around North Carolina have been devastated. I was lucky enough to call North Carolina home for 10 years. So I'm always going to love it. My partner's home state of Florida was just absolutely devastated by super storms, you know, back-to-back hurricanes and tornadoes. It's really undeniable to see what our impact on the planet is. And yet we've got Project

2025 talking about removing climate change from not just, you know, the discourse and the funding, but even searchable things online for the government. It feels mind-boggling. And I guess I'm wondering, because you're our resident expert on climate between the two of us, if you could kind of give the listeners at home a kind of this versus that explanation of what Project 2025's impact on the climate would be versus Vice President Harris's climate plan, which, by the way, she just announced incredible facets of that for Puerto Rico specifically this week, and I love to read about it. Well, let me start on Vice President Harris and Tim Walse's positions on clean energy. I know both these people, and I know they both are really committed

to helping the positive growth, both from our economic growth and our health improvements by defeating climate change. It's close to them. I remember having a conversation with Vice President last year in the White House about this. And it's clear to me that she's very motivated to, and has been for years actually, to help us mobilize and build a clean energy economy. Tim Walts is the same. He's done wonderful things in his state in Minnesota with very narrow legislative margins as well. So we really have a great team to do what America does best, which is to innovate, to invent, to create, to build, to solve this problem, not to hide

from problems, but to confront them, to use your heads. And this is about whether you're using your head or not. Look, the science is so abundantly clear on this. It's beyond imagination. We're all seeing it from a personal basis right now. And also, it is obvious that this is a great economic opportunity. And that's why we're growing jobs like crazy under the Inflation Reduction Act. The Vice President and President Biden pulled off a miracle passing this.

And now we're seeing the tremendous benefits in my state of job creation with the world-leading fusion company, world-leading silicon anode battery company. We're just hiring people like crazy here because of their leadership. So I want to start with how really these are the right two people for the job at the right moment. And now we'll go to the opposite end of the spectrum, where if you had to design a brain dead people to violate the common sense of Americans who invented the airplane and software and everything else, who wanted to be antediluvian just because they're afraid. These are very fearful people. They're very afraid. they are afraid that we can't beat climate change.

That's the basis of why they ignore the science of this. They're afraid that we're not smart enough to build electric cars or solar panels or winter. They're afraid that we can't figure this out. Now, they're wrong, and they will just dismantle everything that they can touch in what is a very effective machine of creation that we've developed in the United States right now. And in my state, too. So anything they can get their hands in, they'll take a wrench and break it. Because for some reason, they think it's a plot to destroy America.

And why they develop that paranoia, it's difficult to know. Some psychologists someday will have to figure that out. But you can't overstate the danger. It would mean four years of lack of progress by the federal government if they, in fact, get the White House. Now, that's the bad news. Here's some good news, though. In the event that happened, I don't believe it will happen, but in the event happened, our states can continue to advance.

We have 25 states in the U.S. Climate Alliance, Jerry Brown and I started it. We have 24 states now in the U.S. Climate Alliance, all of which themselves can move the climate agenda forward. So I have a cap and invest bill, a clean fuel standard, building efficiency standards, incentives for EVs, All of that can continue. So we're going to continue to move the ball as we are in my state in 24 other states. And by the way, those 24 states represent 60% of the whole U.S. economy and the fastest growing states economically. And one of the reasons they're fastest growing is because they're doing this clean energy work.

I was going to say, Governor, it's almost like doing clean energy work is good for the economy and for the people. How about that? Pretty amazing. I am thrilled by the progress we're making. You know, look at it, this is the yin and yang of life. We're all disturbed by forest fires and floods and heat domes. And, you know, we're so disturbed by that. But on the opposite end, we ought to be thrilled about the progress we're making

with these new innovative manufacturing jobs. And the people who are building these products are not all rocket science, they're machinists, they're electricians, they're sheet metal workers. they're ironworkers, that's the people actually doing this work in there. So we have to be really thinking in a positive way to be confident that the work we're doing is working. There's been rarely maybe since the, you know, the day of steam, the invention of the steam engine where there's been this rapid industrial growth in our country.

So this is a moment of the joy of creation that we're experiencing right now. I love the way you frame that because there's a lot of fruits, and understandably, you know, there are industries that make a lot of money off polluting the planet, and they spend a lot of money to make people afraid of new technology, of innovation, of changing job markets. But what you all have done in Washington is where the proof is in the pudding, right? You've shifted into a greener economy and you have a booming jobs market. You have better health outcomes for folks. You know, you spoke earlier this year.

I listened to you on the Voltz podcast back in June. And I loved the episode. I know you guys did it live. It wasn't a town hall, but it was somewhere, you know, in your state. And you talked about how you looked at the records of asthma in Washington. And as a lifelong asthmatic, my ears really perked up then. And you knew that if certain industries were changed into greener ones, kids and families would have cleaner air to breathe, people would have safer jobs to go to,

their jobs would be much more secure because they'd be jobs of the future. So I know that simply by being, in a way, Washington as a state is disproving the fear around a changing, you know, green job economy. But what would you say to voters who perhaps haven't done as deep a dive, who might not be social science nerds like us, who don't know what's, possible when when the economy of jobs shifts toward these more sustainable options? Well, I guess what I would say is, and maybe this is easier in my state, because you know, we're the state that really made commercial jet airliners possible. Yeah.

We're the state that really led the development of software. We're the state that are now leading new kind of retail systems. So innovation and change has been a very important. positive thing for my state. So it's maybe easier for people in my state to recognize groundbreaking, earth-shaking changes that make our lives healthier and richer economically. So what I would say is try to get in touch with your positive vision that recognizes our ability as people to build new whole ways of living. And recognizing the things in your own life that you've experienced.

You know, 20 years ago, we weren't walking around with cell phones, right? We had these funky things that were, you know, you'd have to have a wire to your dashboard if you're lucky to have a car phone. That was a big deal. Look at the changes in your own life that have been so radical and it's been better mostly, except when our kids, we can't get them off our cell phones. But in your own life, look at how fast we can recognize the ability to do things. things in a more productive way.

When you think about it, it may be new, but it's not entirely foreign because we've experienced this in our own lives. You know, I came up with a rotary phone, right? So in my lifetime, we've gone from a rotary phone to quantum mechanics in a cell phone, just realized we can do this. I guess, you know, Cisei Pueira is the right mantra on this because we're doing it. done and just look around the jobs your kids are now are getting. You know, they're getting jobs in clean energy.

We all sometimes sweat around our children and grandchildren, but they're getting these wonderful new careers that are happening. And they're happening. The other thing I would say is it's all across the United States. It's not just the coast. It's not just blue districts. Actually, the greatest job creation is, it's kind of an irony, have been in red states and red districts in Georgia and in Tennessee.

you know, in Alabama, the enormous construction of manufacturing sites that are going on. So it's something that is possible for all of us. So I would say the sky's the limit. We're making it happen. We should feel good about it. I love that. Yeah, it's been really inspiring to me to see, you know, particularly with the incredible boosts that the Biden-Harris administration has given to the economy and the Inflation Reduction Act

and the American Rescue Act and all. all these big projects, you know, bringing our chips manufacturing home and all these other great, to your point, technological fields of labor, you know, can you talk a little bit about, you mentioned some of the trades that go into this work, but what are some of the green jobs that you can talk about? And what would you say some of the impact they're going to have on the future of our labor markets? Well, the first and the most visible is in the construction industry. Because we're, I mean, to make this happen, you've got to build things, right? Yeah.

Anybody who touches concrete, steel, two by fours, anybody who drives a truck, anybody who provides supplies at the local hardware store, everybody in the entire construction industry is working right now building this clean energy economy. And I'm impressed. My son is a carpenter. So I, you know, I have some connection to actual work in our family, in which I'm very impressed by. And yeah, I remember I had a friend named Rick Lubby. He started his little tiny company had like eight employees 20 years ago on the shores of Lake Union. And he convinced me that we should do research in advanced batteries. And so I got a bunch of money in the federal budget about 2007, 2008 to do research on advanced batteries. Jump forward to 2024. He right now

has under construction the six-story buildings in Moses Lake Washington, previously a rural agricultural area, where he's building the most advanced silicon anod battery construction plant in the world. And he has a competitor right down the street that are building these batteries that can increase the range of your car by 30% by using this new technology. And the people doing that right now, I just remember looking up at a, hi, I was so impressed. I was there a couple months ago, he was an iron worker, and he was standing with one foot on the building and one foot on a iron beam suspended by a crane, you know, bolting this thing in.

I thought, these are talented, courageous people. I just admire what they do. And they're doing it all over the country right now in the construction industry. So, hats off to the people who are actually building the infrastructure that are going to allow us to do that. Then you go to the manufacturing jobs, which are obvious. These are people, many people, high school education, they go into a technical training program on how to run a CAD machine or a 3D printer or a lathe, you know. And they go to work and these are great careers and great jobs running these manufacturing. And I point this out, these are a lot of these jobs do not require a college degree. But they're good paying technologically oriented job because high-tech manufacturing is technological in its own essence. And we very much are dedicated.

We have a program called Career-connected learning in our state where we train people. We emphasize apprenticeships so you can get a good career without a college education. And we think that's a really important emphasis that we ought to have is giving people careers without going to college. because these are good paying jobs long-term and very dignified. Then you go sort of up the, you know, earlier in the food chain, which is the research folks who are inventing these new technologies. Those are real jobs too. So I started a thing called the Clean Energy Institute at the University of Washington

seven, eight years ago, and I was there for their expansion the other day, where again, they're advancing whole new ways of battery technology. They've now have 140 companies who come in and work with them to use their facilities to invent all these new technologies. So all through the educational and vocational system, these jobs can be created and R.B. created. We want to give everybody the thrill of clean energy. Yeah, absolutely. And now for our sponsors. I don't think it's an accident that as technology is advancing so quickly and we're seeing all of these, you know, sort of new lanes open in the highway of the future, if you will, we see so many young people, so many young voters list climate change as one of, if not their top political issue. I'm really curious how you look at the young folks, not just in your state, but around the country. How do you see their,

their impact on elections. How do you see the way they've changed the conversation around climate? Well, I want them to change it as rapidly as possible, and I want them to be as vocal, and I want to make sure they all vote. I met 140 of them over at Washington State University talking about this issue last Sunday. And so I am very dedicated to getting this generation to take over because they're the ones who are most understanding of the science of climate change, and they're the most technologically oriented to build these new clean energy industries. So, yes, I want them to take over as rapidly as possible, and I encourage them to do that.

And also I'm very concerned about them. A couple days before I was there, this paper came up talking about the anxiety that a lot of our young people are experiencing now around climate change, because they do understand the challenge. And it's heartbreaking to me when I do talk to young people who are, you know, anxious about that. I've talked to a number of people who said, look, I don't know if I'm going to have children. That just breaks my heart that some of our young people are thinking in these terms. So I both feel for them and respect for them and want them to be as politically active as possible.

So if you know any young people, urge them to make sure they vote. Now, I urge them to go out, get their cranky uncle to vote, you know, for Harris as well to do something about climate change. So that's what they're doing. I've had quite a lot of rallies in my state around this subject with young people. And they're going out and get their families to see the light on this because they get it. Yeah. And I love that you do so much with young people in your state. And you're also a national board member of climate power, which is for our friends at home.

an incredible environmental advocacy group that I'm very honored to work with as well. Can you tell folks a little more about the organization and its goal and what your role is as a national board member? Well, our job is to empower young voters. That's sort of like we're just empowering them. We're doing whatever we can to first inspire them and enable them to recognize their own power. And I think this is really important to get people. When I talk to young groups, the point I make is, look, you're as important as I am. I'm governor. You're a young citizen, and each of us have almost equal ability to influence this, because each one of us can go get some votes. So my first job is to empower young people to recognize the capability that

they have and to urge them to become politically active and to tell them why I feel. think it's, they'll, they will enjoy it. And third, just to give them some resources so they can go to the right places. You know, we have a couple organizations, another one called Fuse in Washington State, and it's called the bus. The bus is get on the bus. It's sort of a Spike Lee kind of deal. So we provide people a little bit of the logistical help they need to go out and change,

change the world. If this generation changed the world, it would be a lot better place right now. I absolutely agree. Now, when you think about the, you know, the landscape of politics, the sort of precipice we're on a week out from the election, where we are running on everything from, you know, hope to a cleaner future, what do you see that really keeps you going? Is there any kind of group or experience that you point to that gets you out of bed first thing in the morning? Is it out in your working world? Is it your family? For me, my motivation is my grandchildren.

I get six grandkids. And fundamentally, what I want in life is for them to have a chance to enjoy a healthy, robust, enjoyable state that I grew up in, where there's snow in the mountains in the winter and there's salmon in the rivers. and there's trees that haven't all burned down. Fundamentally, that's my motivation. My dad used to take me down to the beach. I remember I'd turn over little rocks. He was a biology teacher, and he'd tell me about the biology of the shoreline.

I was very excited about that. Now, when I see my grandkids turn over rocks and looking at the little crabs and limpets, and they have that same joy I did at the natural world. And I want them to be able to have that in their lives and not have an epidemic of asthma. and be able to look up a Mount Rainier and see white on Mount Rainier. And frankly, unless we change dramatically,

they're not going to have that in their lifetime. And to me, that's sort of terrifying to think that they would look up a Mount Rainier and not see any snow. That white dome, to me, is you can always look up a Mount Rainier anywhere in Western Washington, and it's this cathedral that we worship. So that's my motivation. But my second is the confidence I've got from the people I know who are building these clean energy jobs. And so I feel a combination of a demand for action and also a capability for successful action.

And it's that capability that I try to share with people so that they get confidence to act. I think actually that's our enemy here is a fear that we can't tame this beast. And that leads to passivity. What leads to action is confidence in ourselves and in our community. And there's a lot of reasons to have that right now. So I try to share that with people. I love that. And you're right.

You know, I think when you look at a problem that feels so big, sometimes the bigness of it can, you know, get at your worst insecurity. you go, well, what am I going to do about this? How's one little person going to change this? But I think the neatest thing about living in a society like ours or looking at a problem like the climate crisis is that we can all do something, you know, much like you feel so passionate about your environment in Washington.

I feel the same for the forests I grew up near in California. I feel the same about, you know, the beautiful Upper Peninsula in Michigan. My best friend and I run our business ventures out of the area. because we love the state so much, and we want to preserve the water and, you know, all of all of the agriculture there. And we've got a young guy who we work with who started a company there that I think you love called Just Air to work on air quality monitoring because he was finding these rising incidences of asthma in certain populations and said, you know, climate justice is also about human justice. And I'm so inspired by what he's doing. And he's one of the people that reminds me

to keep going. So I love that you have all these people that remind you to keep going too. It just feels like we got to be in it together. And if you lose a little bit of faith, all you have to do is look for somebody who's doing something good and you're reminded that you're capable of doing the same. You said some very profound. Each of us has a role to play. each of us can take action on this. All of us have capability to take action on this in so many different ways, not just through a political sphere in our personal lives as well, what we make in the personal decisions have an impact as well.

By the way, you mentioned Michigan. I trust that you have called everyone you know in Michigan. Oh, yeah. This week. Yes, sir. I trust you've done that already. Indeed. I've called everyone I know in Michigan, North Carolina.

Not everywhere I've ever lived. I appreciate that. This air quality, too, you said something else I think is very important is that this is about people, not just polar bears. This is about people. This is what we're doing this for humans. We love polar bears. We love penguins.

And I actually do. I painted paintings of them. But it's about us, not just them. It's our lives. It's our kids with asthma. And there's an epidemic of asthma right now. and I got it on this air quality issue about 20 years ago or 15 years ago and I met a young woman who did some research in age 14 about the correlation of proximity to freeways in asthma, found this one-to-one correlation, which has now been confirmed by the epidemiologist at the University of Washington. So, yes, it's an air quality, it's a breathing issue, right?

It's not just getting to go skiing, although we care about that. It's not just about going fishing. It's about whether you can breathe in a school. room. And right now we have people trying to repeal in my state, the law we call the Climate Commitment Act, which provides funds in part for schools to get air filtration systems and heating and air conditioning systems. So kids can breathe in school because we have these forest fire problem now so terrible that kids couldn't even go outside in August. So it's fundamental to our health, human health, and penguins count too. I'd like to. I'd like to. I'd like to. I'd

love payments. Exactly. That's the thing. When we solve the problems for them, we solve the problems for us, too. Would you say that the Climate Commitment Act, and I asked this question because I've heard you talk about it a lot, and I'm incredibly inspired by it. Is that one of the things you're most proud of having gotten done over the course of your time as governor? Yes, because it's the thing that long term will have the most lasting impact for my state. If you look, look at all the things we work on. We've had a lot of things. We've improved our access to college. We have the best college financial system in the country of the best paid family medical leave. We have the highest minimum wage. We've got the first long-term care plan for

folks. We just had a much more progressive tax system. We've adopted. We've had two huge transportation systems. We've made a lot of progress for the last 12 years. But the thing that 100 years from now will be the most consequential, is the work we've done to stop climate change from burning down all our forests, melting all of our snow, and preventing us from have water to drink, okay? So that will be the most consequential thing long term, and we have made significant progress. And I am proud of what our state has done. I do think we have at least maybe a tie for the best climate policies in the United States

that we are very proud of, and which are growing our jobs as well. We feel good about that. But there's more work to done. We're not done. There's going to have to be continued work. We've set the foundation, but the governor's after me will have more work to do. You've just listed such an incredible. I mean, it's a laundry list of accomplishments, really.

What's led to your decision then to not run for a fourth term as governor? You've served in so many offices and done such a beautiful job. Are you just feeling like it's time to pass the? A torch? Well, I just, yeah, it's just a time. And sometimes I should have a more trite answer to that question, right? Like, you know, I got inspiration from some source that should be trite. There's no trite answer to it.

I thought it was time for the state to have a chance for different leadership after three terms. And to some degree, a little bit, it was complicated by COVID where I had to exercise extreme levels of executive decision-making. And I thought, particularly with that, that it was important for the state to have a chance to have new leadership, not just in the governor's office, but in the Attorney General's office because I have a cascading effect, right? So I opened up a dozen offices when I decided not to run. And I thought that the state, that's just the right moment to allow new younger leadership

to have a shot. it is not a lack of interest, though. I intend to be very active working on clean energy. What I will be looking for is the best place that I can be most effective in developing a clean energy economy and fighting climate change. And what that will be, I don't know what it will be, but I intend to be full-time active in this pursuit in some other way. I love that because what you're really talking about is making sure that you continue

to push for progress in whatever way it can best be achieved. And I think that requires an energy of service that goes far beyond just elected office. It really is such a signal to me that someone's done really healthy work on themselves and their ego to say, hey, like, this is how I am of the best highest good for my community. I feel like you'll continue to be Washington's best grandpa. You were talking about your grandkids. I think you're the grandpa of the whole state. And I can't wait to watch you lead on climate in, you know, this next iteration. As you think about that. I'm not the best grandpa.

Oh, come on. No, no, I just have the best grandkids. Fair point. And I'm married to the best grandmother. I will tell you that. Fair point. We've got that going for us. I love it.

As we look out, you know, and there may be a two-prong answer to this. You know, it might be part one message to the voters now that we're. less than a week out from election day. And part two is a personal answer. But I always love to ask guests to leave us with this final question, which is, as you look out at the landscape of what's ahead, what feels like your work in progress right now? You mean for the country or me personally? Well, normally it's a personal question, but I know we're a week out from an election. So if you want to give an election answer and then your personal answer. I'll take two. Well, I'm very focused right now on the fact that someone

in a terrorist act burned up one of our dropboxes down Vancouver, Washington, right? And right now, I'm focused on finding that culprit, and as the FBI said, neutralizing it. That's what I'm focused on. I'm also focused on an effort to cure those people. It could be a thousand ballots that were burn up for making sure those voters, no matter who they voted for, make sure their vote gets counted. So I'm intensely focused this morning on a program to make it as easy as possible for those people to get substitute ballots into their hands. So it's a very immediate focus. I just got off a call with the FBI an hour ago, and I'll be talking to the local auditors and Secretary at State 2.30 this afternoon to both make sure we shut down that threat and provide the

appropriate security for the drop boxes and help these people get their ballots to be counted. So that's my immediate focus. Then we'll go to the next crisis. I love it. And what about for you? Just elected office aside, but maybe as you think about the landscape of, you know, your life, your family, what you're excited about once we get past the election and we come up to the holidays. What's on the goals list for you? Rudy and I will look for the best way that we can advance this cause that we were working on together for 30 years. This has been a 30-year effort I started in 1992 working on climate change. Yeah. And so we're not going to stop. So our near-term horizon is to figure out where we can do the

best good. And we'll figure out where that is. And who that is, I don't know. I haven't really searched for that at the moment, but I'll be looking for it. It's a good goalpost. I think best and highest good is a pretty wonderful thing to have. There you go. Well, Governor, thank you so much for taking time out of such a busy moment in our history and in your state, for sure, and coming to talk to me and all the rest of these voters. We greatly appreciate your time. And I look forward to remaining in the climate fight with you. Thank you. We got some work to do.

Let's go win it. We do, sir. Good luck. Speak to you soon. Thank you.