Holmquist blasts the governor for circumventing the legislative process to push ‘job-killing’ environmental agenda

May 21, 2009

Olympia... Today Governor Gregoire announced a plan to circumvent the Legislature and enact her controversial environmental proposals through state agencies and an executive order.

Sen. Janéa Holmquist, R-Moses Lake and a member of the Senate Environment, Water and Energy Committee, released the following statement in response:

“Because our state’s workers, electricity consumers, employers, and other concerned citizens spoke loud and clear through their elected officials this past session, the governor’s request legislation to mandate a series of job-killing environmental proposals failed to pass the Legislature.  Yet she has chosen to circumvent the will of the people and issued an executive order instituting almost all of her proposals anyway.

“More than 80 percent of our power is generated from either clean carbon-free hydro or nuclear power.

“By ordering the Department of Ecology to continue working with the Western Climate Initiative, the governor will be putting Washington’s economy at a severe disadvantage. 

“Our economic situation will be exacerbated because we do not recognize hydropower as a renewable resource. Our electricity consumers will see a spike in their utility bills because Washington’s energy producers will be forced to supplement our cheap, clean power with other states' expensive, dirty power. 

“I am not willing to sacrifice my constituents’ jobs, force them to pay higher utility bills, and tax them based on the miles they drive or size of their engine for proposals that will have no impact on the environment.

“The governor’s approach is the dream economic development plan for Idaho, Texas, and other states. I have listened, and I am against these proposals because ultimately they are likely to result in significantly higher electricity bills, higher costs for gasoline and heating fuel, and higher prices for all goods in the economy generally.

“Whether it is taxing the size of your engine, the miles you drive, your vehicle’s emissions, or the Western Climate Initiative, with its job-killing cap-and-tax program, these proposals have at least one common denominator: They all function as a gimmick to generate more money for government by taking more of your money.

“My job protecting my constituents, their rights, and their wallets never ends.”

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For more information contact Booker Stallworth
at (360) 786-7536 or stallworth.booker@leg.wa.gov.