Jay Inslee recently sent out a blast email attempting to garner support for his new carbon regulations — which his state Department of Ecology (DOE) began drafting on Monday. Inslee plans to impose these rules on the state using executive authority. The email reads,
“Republicans are denying hard science and halting our progress. I won’t stand by and let this happen.
“I’m leading a movement in Washington, and across the country, to confront global climate change head-on. And I’m not letting science deniers prevent progress. We have a moral obligation to act now.
“That’s why my administration is writing new rules to cap carbon emissions. Republicans in our state legislature refused to act, so now I’m taking executive action…
“On Monday, my administration started a rule making process that will significantly cap carbon emissions across Washington…
“I’m going to lead. And I’m going to win because this fight is too important to do anything else…”
As is typical with Inslee, he doesn’t quite capture the truth in his statements. Here are big three problems with the claims Inslee makes to push his new regulations..
- Republicans are not “denying hard science.”
Contrary to what Inslee and other Democrats would like the public to believe, Republicans are not denying science. They do disagree with Inslee’s big-government, extreme “green” policies, which will make little impact on carbon emissions levels. In fact, it’s Republicans—not Democrats—who are on the side of science. You see, simple facts reveal that extreme “green” policies like those Inslee is pushing do not reduce carbon emissions. These policies merely harm economic growth and fill the pockets of special interests.
Washington State emits approximately 1/10 of 1% of the world’s carbon emissions. And, between 2007 and 2011, our state managed to reduce carbon emissions by 9.75 percent—largely the result of a dramatic increase in hydroelectric power, certainly not the result of new regulations.
Washington’s low contribution to emissions levels means new regulatory rules would do nothing to lower our state’s contribution to global emission levels. No one—not even Inslee and his extreme green supporters—actually believe regulatory rules will make a difference. By even the most optimistic projections, new regulations would produce results that are virtually meaningless to air pollution reduction and/or human health.
Yet, the cost of compliance to Inslee’s regulatory rules is estimated at a whopping $1 billion. Major job-creating businesses and organizations will be negatively impacted for the sake of hollow policies meant to further Inslee’s legacy as our nation’s “greenest governor.”
- Republican lawmakers did not halt progress by refusing to act. They didn’t need to, Democrats did it themselves.
Inslee isn’t quite willing to accept that it was his own party, not Republicans, who blocked his cap-and-tax scheme in the state Legislature. He could not even garner enough support among members of his own party to pass the scheme out of the Democrat-controlled state House.
The reality is that Republicans are not the only obstacles to Inslee’s cap-and-tax scheme. As Shift reported, Inslee’s cap-and-tax bill only garnered 37 co-sponsors (all Democrats) in the House. The lack of a majority of co-sponsors was a testament to the lack of support—he needed 50 votes—the policy had among Democrats who were worried about the policy’s economic impacts. Even more, Inslee knew his cap-and-tax scheme did not have the support of many members of his party. That’s why he even refused to defend his policy—what he has labeled a “moral obligation”—before the House Environment Committee.
More, GOP Sen. Doug Ericksen, chair of the Senate Energy, Environment and Telecommunications Committee, promised to give Inslee’s cap-and-tax bill a hearing if it reached the Senate. The problem was that the Democrat-controlled state House did not even bother to bring the cap-and-tax scheme to a vote, not that Republicans halted progress.
- Forcing your agenda through by executive order because you could not gain support from the people’s elected representatives is not leadership.
Inslee boldly claims he is “leading a movement in Washington, and across the country.” Yet, as previously stated, he failed to even lead his fellow Democrat lawmakers during the 2015 legislative session. Simply put, Inslee is not a leader. He is a failure.
But he sure talks a good game – though a false one – in his emails.
That’s why he now needs to resort to pursuing his extreme “green” agenda by bypassing the state Legislature and imposing a new carbon rule on our state. Worse, in order to justify his ridiculous actions, Inslee is relying on a statute that state Attorney General Bob Ferguson—notably, a Democrat—deemed has no teeth.
Jay Inslee often points to a 2008 statute (RCW 70.235.020) which says that Washington State “shall limit” greenhouse gas emissions and reduce them to “1990 levels by 2020 and to half that level by 2050.” An in-depth analysis conducted by the Attorney General’s office found the statute to be “non-binding.”
Republican state Senator Doug Ericksen does not believe Inslee has the authority “to pursue those regulations without the Legislature’s approval.” He plans to pursue a legal challenge once Ecology introduces its carbon rule.
Inslee’s move to force his extreme “green” agenda through using highly questionable legal means does not make him a leader. It just makes him pathetic.
