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Washington
Washington State Environmental Bill Takes Aim at Emissions, Vehicle Miles Traveled
''Global climate change is the greatest challenge our generation and future generations face; we must take bold steps to address it now,'' said Democratic Governor Christine Gregoire as lawmakers passed her priority environmental bill, which requires the state to lower its greenhouse gas emissions 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2050; set up a reporting system for industries and vehicle fleets that emit 10,000 and 2,500 metric tons of gases a year, respectively; cut the annual per capita vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in half by 2050; create 25,000 ''green collar'' jobs by 2020; and work with the Western Climate Initiative, a partnership of six states and two Canadian provinces, to establish a regional cap-and-trade emission system.
Approved 64-31 by the House last month, the bill passed the Senate on a 29-19 mostly party-line vote, reports Associated Press writer Rachel La Corte, with two Democrats joining GOP opponents, who criticized its various provisions as unwarranted.
''They're gonna tell you what size car you're gonna drive, when you're gonna drive it, what size house you'll live in, how big that house is gonna be, and how much electricity you're going to use,'' complained Republican Senator Jerome Delvin.
''There is sort of a chicken little aspect to this bill that seems to imply the sky is going to fall in large chunks,'' ironized his party colleague Mike Carrel. ''It is not.''
Democratic Senator Rosa Franklin focused on the economic inevitability of change.
''The green economy will be the new economy,'' she stressed. ''If we do not prepare for it, we will be left behind.''
With his Ecology Department responsible for implementation of most of the bill's requirements, Director Jay Manning called it ''absolutely fundamental to doing what we need to do in this state to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in a way that doesn't damage the economy,'' adding, ''This bill is a great combination of doing the right thing by the environment and doing the right thing by the economy.'' -- Associated Press 3/5/2008
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