Seattle's climate plan could conflict with proposal to let newly legal pot operations grow indoors

The Seattle City Council is embracing a wide-ranging action plan to address climate change, with a goal of reducing the net amount of carbon dioxide emissions to zero by 2050. But with the legalization of marijuana in Washington, the council is also looking at zoning rules to allow indoor marijuana growing in the city, which could conflict with the anti-climate-change measures, and create headaches for growers, who could have to relocate to rural areas where growing outside is more feasible, Amy Radil reports for KUOW News. (Flickr photo by Rusty Blazenhoff)

Council member Mike O’Brien told Radil, "The idea that we’re going to take agriculture that traditionally grows outside using sunlight for energy and put that inside buildings and use electricity or other fuels to fuel growing — that creates a big problem for me.”

One way to reduce energy consumption would be to grow marijuana outdoors, but some growers fear those crops would be less secure and could prompt some sort of federal crackdown, Radil reports. Plus, the city isn't the best place for outdoor crops. Lawyer Robert McVay, who represents indoor and outdoor growers, told Radil, "Growing outdoors is most likely a greener way of doing business than growing indoors,” but "Just because someone wants to grow medical cannabis does not mean they want to live their lives as a rural farmer. I think there’s a draw to being able to do the work but also to live in Seattle." (Read more)