King County Executive Ron Sims plans to introduce legislation that would allow the county to reject or modify development projects because of their effect on global warming.

If the proposal is passed by the Metropolitan King County Council, county land-use officials believe King County would be the first jurisdiction in the nation to take that step.

Sims, who has made climate change a top issue during his third term, said Wednesday he will introduce legislation in May that would consider greenhouse-gas emissions as part of the environmental-review process.

King County already requires developers to answer questions about their projects' likely effects on climate, but approval of the projects doesn't depend on those answers.

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