Dems kill climate bills last year, so enviros on defensive

As Shift has reported, Jay Inslee’s cap-and-tax scheme was the poster child of a “dead on arrival” policy. Inslee’s misguided tax bill only garnered 37 liberal co-sponsors in the 98-member Democrat-controlled state House.

It was a testament to the lack of support his far-left policy had even among members of his own party. There were not enough Democrat co-sponsors in the House to pass Inslee’s proposal out of the Transportation Committee itself (only 11 supporters of 25 members), let alone pass it on the floor.

That’s why, according to Crosscut, the extreme “greenies” are on the defense this year. Cliff Traisman, an enviro lobbyist, stated, “We just felt like it was important to focus on where we think our potential threats lie… There were a lot of big ideas last year. There are a lot of big ideas for next year. And so it seemed like having one priority this year is meeting the Legislature where they are.”

What exactly “meeting the Legislature where they are” means is anyone’s guess. But, for many greenies, it means supporting one of two battling carbon emissions proposals. The battle between these two groups recently took a turn for the brutal.

You see, California billionaire Tom Steyer has already poured $80,000 into the (very inappropriately named) Alliance for Jobs and Clean Energy, an organization that the Seattle Times described as “a coalition of major environmental groups, unions and social-justice advocates [that] is working on an initiative that would impose new fees on carbon emissions from fossil fuels.”

Steyer is hoping that voters will go for a cap-and-tax initiative that the group plans to roll out. A big problem is that the will be in direct competition with Initiative 732, which calls for a $25-per-ton carbon tax. Despite Steyer’s alleged attempt to derail the initiative by buying off key backers, I-732 was certified this week.

It appears, if greenies are going on the defensive, they will also have to defend themselves from one another.