Last week, Jay Inslee directed the state Department of Ecology (DOE) to begin developing new carbon reduction regulatory rules he can impose on the state by executive order. But, the process of bypassing the state Legislature may take longer than our green governor anticipates. The Everett Herald reports,
“[Inslee] pledged the process would be open with plenty of opportunity for interested parties to weigh in — and he expected to be finished in about a year.
“But the man leading the effort says it could take twice as long because of the complexity and controversy enveloping the issue.”
Why would it take twice as long to craft the rules? Apparently, there is no precedence for the type of regulations Inslee is seeking to impose. The Herald,
“Stu Clark, the air quality program manager for the Department of Ecology, said his team must craft the rule essentially from scratch as there’s no template for such a regulatory feat.
“‘A complex rule like this can typically take us 18 months to 24 months to do,’ he said. ‘It must be built from the bottom up. Everybody will get their say.’”
The state only regulates air emissions for a handful of industries, including pulp and paper mills. The bureaucrats developing the new carbon reduction regulatory rules must determine “who will be covered by the new regulations and then what is practical and possible for them to achieve in terms of reductions.” The Herald,
“It is likely the eventual rule will not apply to all emitters which will add a degree of complication to the regulatory calibrations, [Clark] said…
“Procedurally, once all that work is done and a draft rule is completed, it would be formally released. The state would then have 180 days to gather public comments at the end of which Inslee would have to decide whether to make it final.”
Inslee is not disputing Clark’s timetable assessment. However, Inslee’s extreme “green” supporters insist that the one-year timetable is “ambitious and possible.” The Herald,
“‘That is the expectation and I will hold him to that,’ said Becky Kelley, president of the Washington Environmental Council. ‘The nature of the tool the governor has largely been forced to use is a tool he needs to use decisively.’
“The state isn’t starting totally from scratch because there’s ample knowledge on sources of emissions, options for reduction and positions of the stakeholders in this debate, said Ross Macfarlane, senior ad visor at Climate Solutions in Seattle, a nonprofit that promotes clean energy and climate change policies.
“‘This is aggressive but not impossible,” he said. ‘Will it require the governor continuing to put pressure on the administration of the Department of Ecology? Absolutely.’”
Businesses, on the other hand, have expressed trepidation concerning the new carbon reduction regulatory rules’ inevitable higher costs for taxpayers and the negative impacts out state’s economic competitiveness. And, all for a policy that would do nothing to reduce carbon emissions. But, it isn’t likely Inslee or his extreme green supporters care about their concerns.
That’s because Democrats do not actually believe that their extreme green policies will make a difference. They just don’t care because—in the end—it’s not about reducing carbon emissions. It’s about even bigger government at the expense of taxpayers.
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Let’s hope we have a new governor before this can happen.