Just two weeks ago, Jay Inslee introduced his plans to jam through a fuel mandate on Washingtonians that his own consultant said could raise the price of gasoline by $1.17 per gallon. Though Inslee is telling the public he will actively seek the advice of legislators in coming weeks, it is more than apparent that his mind is set – as SHIFT exposed in 2013, when we published his administration’s internal emails about his plans to use an Executive Order to establish an expensive fuel mandate.
Inslee and his most rabid environmental supporters know they do not have the support to pass a fuel mandate through the Legislature. Republican control of the State Senate provides a certain roadblock to such an extreme policy, and Frank Chopp doesn’t even have the votes to pass it in the Democrat-controlled House after losing four seats in the last election.
Inslee’s only way to justify the millions his special interest friends (like Tom Steyer) spent in the last election to advance his green agenda lies in jamming through an executive order, and he is gearing up to do just that. Inslee admitted that he has already directed his bureaucrats in the Department of Ecology to draft the regulations for his expensive fuel mandate. The time period set aside for the consultation with legislators is a mere formality—required by law for any “rule” issued by bureaucrats.
Though Inslee is preparing to bypass the Legislature, you can help ensure that he is unable to bypass Washingtonians. According a National Federation of Independent Business poll, most Washingtonians are completely unaware that any fuel mandate proposal exists—79% of voters and 86% of small business owners admitted they did not know of Inslee’s plans. Voters (80%) and small business owners (75%) believe an increase in gas prices – from the estimates of 13 cents to $1.47 that Inslee’s policy might cost – is too much to pay for a policy that doesn’t benefit our state. Additionally, a whopping 90% of voters and 95% of small businesses do not want to see Inslee’s force a fuel mandate via executive order.
These numbers speak volumes—they prove that Inslee not only lacks the support of the representatives of the people in the Legislature, he lacks the support of the people themselves. However, the numbers also tell us that most Washingtonians have no idea about Inslee’s fuel mandate scheme—his plan to hide his agenda from all but his strongest environmental activists is working.
SHIFT can turn those numbers around by alerting the public to Inslee’s fuel mandate so that he can’t bypass voters. SHIFT has launched a campaign to raise awareness, but we need your help.
We’ve created some pre-printed Post-It notes with information about Jay Inslee’s gas tax scheme and need to get them distributed around the state. Just click the button below and we will mail you a pack of 25 sticky notes that you can keep in your car and leave behind on the gas pump when you fill up.
With your help, we can educate all Washingtonians about Jay Inslee’s extreme environmental policies. Please take a minute and order a pack of sticky notes and help us get the message spread to every corner of our state.
You can order your free pad here.
What better way to force people to buy new vehicles that get better gas mileage which forces them to increase taxes again due to lost fuel tax revenue to force people to buy better vehicles which get better mileage which forces the government to increase taxes, etc., etc., etc. But the poor low income people never catch up trying to pay the bill just to get to work to feed themselves. Vicious circle YES???