Environment Blog

With great fanfare on Tuesday, the Governor signed his climate legislation, designed to prioritize the best ways to reduce carbon emissions by 2020. The event, moderated by the Washington Environmental Council, promised a new approach to climate policy.

Just two days after its signature, however, a new bill attempts to sidestep the promise of that approach.

There has been a great deal of emotion related to the fight over transporting coal in Washington state, with environmental groups rallying their supporters against sending coal to China. While the focus has been on the potential impacts of tangible coal, what has gone unaddressed is the metaphorical toll that coal causes every day in Washington state.

Today, the Washington Policy Center is announcing an effort to reduce that psychic toll.

The Seattle Times reports today on Gov. Jay Inslee's commitment to reducing carbon emissions in Washington state. The governor notes that the carbon-reduction effort is a "moral" imperative and that failure to effectively reduce carbon emissions would be abdication of our responsibility to our grandchildren.

The issue that has dominated environmental discussions in Washington state during the past year is the proposal to create a new shipping terminal in Whatcom County to ship coal and other goods to the Pacific Rim. The emotional debate has led to a number of strange arguments and ironies. Here are a few that stick out.

Groups With a Strong Financial Interest Attacking Others for Having a Financial Interest