Food waste is a climate change solution some WA Republicans and Democrats can agree on
Mar. 14—Reducing food waste while helping food-insecure Washingtonians is a climate change solution that many of the state's Democrats and Republicans can agree on, as illustrated by HB 1799, a bill that passed in the Legislature with bipartisan support last week.
"Supporting this bill means that we are supporting composting, we are supporting the ability to donate excess food," said state Sen. Shelly Short, a Republican representing much of Washington's northeast corner, in a Senate floor debate on March 3. "I think we all support that."
If signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee, HB 1799 will take several measures to increase food donation and composting in Washington, helping the state achieve its 2019 goal of halving the annual generation of food waste by 2030, compared to 2015 levels.
When food is wasted, so is money: Nearly $130 billion worth of meals went unsold or uneaten in the U.S. in 2019, according to the 2021 Use Food Well Washington Plan, which a 2019 law instructed the state Department of Ecology to create. HB 1799 is based on several of the recommendations made in that plan.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/food-waste-is-a-climate-change-solution-some-wa-republicans-and-democrats-can-agree-on/ar-AAV24pS