Letter: Thank you for coverage of ferries

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, June 9, 2026

Editor,

Thanks and congratulations to South Whidbey Record reporter Allyson Ballard for that informative and encouraging article about a crucial element in our South Whidbey lives, the ferry boats (May 30 story).

If you missed it, Washington State Ferries needs 16 new boats in the coming years and current plans are taking the historic step of going with hybrid/electric replacements. This means those 19 million gallons of diesel our fleet burns per year and that 170,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced by 76% when they’re all operational down the road.

If you’re curious how this all came about, peaking under the covers, it becomes obvious. Washing State has enacted amazing CO2 emission programs which are returning big bucks to the state treasury. Those big bucks pay for things like electric ferry boats.

For example, our Climate Commitment Act (CCA,2024) obligates big CO2 emitters to buy credits for their emissions which exceed continually declining benchmarks. This returns around $1 billion to the state treasury a year. Also Climate Commitment Act caps and reduces greenhouse gas emissions from Washington’s largest emitting sources and industries, by 95% by 2050.The legislature figured those WSF ferries represented a supportable cause, so the boats got some funding, denied for years.

In addition to improving our climate future, these boats will save millions in fuel costs and at least I’ll sleep better at night.

Thanks Allyson for brightening our days with your astute coverage.

Dean Enell

Whidbey Climate Action