In a desperate attempt to distract taxpayers’ attention away from the gas-price-raising carbon tax – and the unwillingness of Democrat lawmakers to provide any relief – the state Department of Ecology announced today an interest in doing something in 2025 or later. That’s the takeaway from the Department’s own press release that it will “work with California and Québec to determine their interest in linking” carbon markets while burying the reality that ”the soonest Washington could begin operating as part of a linked market would likely be 2025 or later.”

This breathless announcement of nothing really was greeted eagerly by reporters, showing just how deep in its pocket the Inslee administration has much of the local media. Consider the Seattle Times writes that this far-off possibility was the answer for “settling the high prices of pollution allowances that have spurred a political backlash,” (otherwise known as soaring gas prices) while Crosscut somehow sees value in something several years away “in hopes of trimming economic ripple effects” (otherwise known as soaring gas prices) today.

The reality is that Washington has nothing to offer either of the other two markets other than much higher energy prices and additional regulatory hurdles presented by an upcoming “Environmental Justice Assessment” that Inslee’s bureaucrats will be preparing. You can read on to understand why California and Canadian bureaucrats are laughing at this so-called news here… Department of Ecology, Seattle Times, Crosscut.

Shift has been providing regular updates on the regulatory process governing the push by Seattle environmentalists to push through the region’s largest wind farm. Now the final environmental report is out, and Capital Press reports it’s not good, bluntly stating the “proposed Horse Heaven wind and solar project in southeast Washington would dominate views, imperil hang gliders and infringe on a tribe’s culture.”

The truly “dominating” project would stretch as far as Seattle to Tacoma, with “231 turbines and more than 5,000 acres of solar panels on farmland near the Tri-Cities in Benton County.” You can read on to see how thoughtful Seattle greenies are for suggesting the project’s owner “mitigate impacts to views by installing color photographs at scenic viewpoints picturing the landscape before the windmills and solar panels were there” here… Shift, Capital Press.

It is ironic that the three Seattle City Council members perhaps most responsible for the city’s “Defund the Police” approach to public safety are not seeking re-election this year (with two retiring before defeat and one trying to jump ship to the county payroll), but they still want to burden next year’s council with their bad policy choices. That’s the story from Axios -Seattle writing that “Councilmembers Kshama Sawant, Teresa Mosqueda, and Lisa Herbold are proposing to remove the $1.5 million for gunshot detection tech from next year’s budget and redirect it.”

The budget item in question is a priority featured in Mayor Bruce Harrell’s budget, which is why the three far-Left council members are against “technology such as ShotSpotter, which is designed to alert police to gunfire.” You can read on to see whether the rest of the council should just ignore these soon-to-be-gone members here… Axios – Seattle.

Next time you hear a state legislator talk about how there is not enough money in the budget to pay for the state’s paramount duty (public schools) or to improve our transportation system, remember this story. The state has so much money, according to Crosscut, that “Washington’s health insurance exchange, which launched its open enrollment period Wednesday, is expanding access to health and dental plans to every state resident regardless of citizenship or immigration status.”

Of course, Washington is running with an economically bankrupt crowd in handing out such freebies, as only the Democrat-run states of “California, Illinois, Oregon, New York, and Colorado – and the District of Columbia currently offer state-funded coverage or subsidies to all residents.” And if you think this coverage represents a small number, you can read that “one out of four of the remaining uninsured in Washington are people who are undocumented” here… Crosscut.

There are many expensive consequences still to be felt from the saga that was the Democrat disaster known in Spokane as Camp Hope, which Shift covered from its beginning. The latest dip into the taxpayers’ pockets is apparent from Spokane Public Radio reporting that “remediation work is underway at the East Central site formerly known as Camp Hope.”

The state “kind of assumed there were contaminants” left on their property by the squatters who dominated the property for over a year, so the “uppermost six to 12 inches of topsoil was scraped and placed into more than a dozen piles.” You can read on to see who the state is “kind of at their mercy right now” over those piles here… Shift, Spokane Public Radio.

Sometimes, legislators just have to be hopeful, or it would be depressing to even consider going back to Olympia. That must be what’s behind the KOZI radio story about the state’s expensive carbon tax and how State Senator Brad “Hawkins says he’s had talks with some lawmakers on the other side of the aisle who say they’d like to provide some sort of relief to citizens.”

Such relief would come as a shock to Governor Jay Inslee, who doesn’t believe that his carbon tax is causing any problems for Washington drivers. So you can read on to see why Sen. Hawkins does provide the caveat that “nothing solid is in place” here… KOZI radio.

File this under “If Seattle is doing it, let’s not.” According to Center Square, some of the state’s furthest-Left legislators will be pushing again for a “(C)ampaign finance reform modeled on Seattle’s Democracy Voucher program” next session.

That’s right, these committed socialists want the public to step into funding political campaigns, though “HB 1755 does not include any new funding source for a proposed statewide legislative voucher program.” You can read on to see why this bad idea “stalled in committee in 2023” only to come back here… Center Square.

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