Jay Inslee often stays true to the perks he got used to during his 15 years in Congress. One such benefit that Inslee holds dear is for taxpayers to pick up the tab for him to travel to far-away places – especially those far away from any actual work.
Such is Inslee’s plan this week, as profiled in the Seattle Times, to jet off to Paris for the United Nations’ latest global warming talk-a-thon. Inslee will burn plenty of carbon getting there, and the hot air released at the UN conference will undoubtedly rival those airplane emissions.
The Times article, while trying to put a positive spin on the governor being out of the state for a few days, unfortunately for Inslee still highlighted just how silly his Paris junket is going to be. A few examples from the story:
- Yes, the public is picking up his tab, but no, Inslee won’t actually be part of any negotiating. “In Paris, Inslee will be part of a State Department-sponsored group, but he will not be involved in the actual negotiations that will bring together representatives of more than 190 nations to try to hammer out a historic agreement to limit climate change.”
- Inslee evidently doesn’t think his time is too valuable, as he claims one of the benefits to the state of his trip is that “I’ll be meeting with at least two high-tech, clean-energy companies that some day … could have operations in the state of Washington.” That’s right, “some day” one of these meetings might be worth something. Imagine is he was meeting with any of the 30+ companies he wants to chase out of Washington with his job-killing bureaucratic carbon rules.
- Inslee will have extreme environmental minions who are just as committed to strangling Washington’s economy along for the ride, like Jay Manning who chairs the Washington Environmental Council (a member of the $1 million club which donated to Inslee’s last campaign). “In Paris, for example, Manning says he will help explain how the West Coast, and specifically California and British Columbia, has moved ahead with wide-ranging efforts to cap carbon emissions.” Evidently he will “explain” these “efforts” without resorting to the fact that even Democrats in Washington State won’t support Inslee’s far-left green agenda.
- Even Inslee admits that the bureaucratic rules he wants to jam through via executive order in Washington will not meet the stated goals of the UN summit. “The intent of (Inslee’s) rule is to cut Washington’s carbon emissions by 50 percent over 1990 levels by midcentury, as called for in 2008 law. But that target already appears to be outdated.”
- But fear not, when faced with facts that show he cannot solve global warming all by himself, Inslee resorts to the type of rhetorical silliness for which he is known: “I believe that short-term action that is strong and consistent with our current economic realities is more important than long-term vision statements,” Inslee said. “The rule itself is a first step. There will have to be multiple steps.”
That’s right folks, there will have to be multiple steps before Jay Inslee truly stalls any progress our state’s economic is making. The question is whether voters will decide to cut that disastrous tip a few steps short next November.
Leave a Reply