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Issues
By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Sept. 8, 2010
In a decision that could change campaign strategies for this year's initiatives, a federal judge has ruled that the state's limits on last-minute contributions are unconstitutional. It's another victory for James Bopp, Jr., the conservati...
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The world seldom gasps when the Association of Washington Business opposes a tax. But its beef with I-1098 is more nuanced than you might think.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Sept. 1, 2010
Looks like thirst has no season. The soda-pop industry continues to pour money into its grocery tax-rollback campaign, Initiative 1107. Latest PDC reports show another $4.2 million for the effort, the biggest-spending single initiative ca...
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Aug. 31, 2010
The beer biz puts ANOTHER $2 million into the campaign opposing the shutdown of the state liquor stores -- that's $4 million in the last week. And it looks like the distributors are backing away, ever so gingerly, from I-1105, a measure t...
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Aug. 27, 2010
They all agree -- watch out for the whiplash if I-1098 passes in November. One reason it might not stay a soak-the-rich tax for long.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Aug. 26, 2010
It's not that the Department of Commerce is taking sides on I-1098. But it says no income tax is one of the best things the state has going for it.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Aug. 25, 2010
The beer biz is going all-in in its effort to defeat a pair of initiatives this year that would close the state liquor stores and allow hard-liquor sales in supermarkets. The $2.5 million that showed up in yesterday's reports shows not on...
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Aug. 26, 2010
A shadowy 'citizens group' is trying to beat a ban on red-light cameras -- but it appears a faux campaign is battling a real one.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Aug. 19, 2010
Bad news seemed imminent next week when actuaries were expected to recommend a whopping rate increase to keep the state workers' compensation fund solvent. Now the Department of Labor and Industries has delayed the announcement for a mont...
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Aug. 18, 2010
Yes, ANOTHER $3.5 million! That's $7 million the American Beverage Association has put into I-1107 since the beginning of the month. And it shows that where this year's initiative campaigns are concerned, I-1107 has the taste that beats t...
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Aug. 17, 2010
The Washington Beer and Wine Wholesalers Association has raised nearly $1 million to fight I-1100 and I-1105, this year's two liquor-store privatization initiatives. They're teaming up with the unions and getting set to battle big retaile...
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Aug. 13, 2010
Astounding spending in the campaign for Initiative 1107 makes it the ballot measure to watch this year. Will there be a ripple effect for this year's other anti-tax campaigns?
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Aug. 13, 2010
The Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, the largest regional business organization in the state, has weighed in against I-1098, the high-earner income tax initiative on this fall's ballot. Battle lines are being drawn, and endorsements s...
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Aug. 10, 2010
For the first time in history, business groups worry there won't be a rate hike -- hanky-panky may be afoot on election eve, they say.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Aug. 6, 2010
Bill Gates, Sr. is putting his money where his mouth is. The leading proponent of I-1098 has put a half-million dollars of his own money into the campaign. That makes him the biggest financial backer of the measure, heading a long list of ...
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Aug. 6, 2010
Washington State Wire digs into public records, talks to a witness and names the SEIU official under investigation for signature fraud.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Aug. 5, 2010
A new survey by Raleigh, N.C.-based Public Policy Polling shows I-1098 is a dead-even tie at 41-41. Could it reflect a trend? Meanwhile, Sen. Patty Murray is slightly ahead of Republican Dino Rossi, but remains below 50 percent -- a danger...
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Aug. 3, 2010
Patty Murray's campaign locks down $2 million in TV advertising, months before the election, and I-1107 follows suit -- it's gonna get expensive!
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | July 28, 2010
A month's worth of checking is over and state elections officials have sent the last of this year's six initiatives to the November ballot. I-1107 was notable. The distributors' tax rollback measure may have been the fastest signature dri...
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A broad business coalition supports the two-thirds vote for taxes -- but oil money and Tim Eyman give opponents an easy target.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | July 26, 2010
State officials say both liquor-store initiatives will appear on this fall's ballot, and that gives people four whole months to wonder what will happen if voters cast a double yes vote. Certainly the liquor stores go away. But what about ...
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By Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | July 19, 2010
It's baaaaaaaaack! The two-thirds vote requirement for tax increases that lawmakers scuttled this year will go before voters again this fall, state officials say. I-1053 will come just in time for lawmakers to deal with another enormous $3...
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | July 19, 2010
A public records act request by Washington State Wire confirms at least part of the story that has been making the rounds since the allegation became public last week. The signature gatherer under investigation by state authorities is a m...
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | July 15, 2010
Never mind the fraud charges -- state officials say I-1098 has more than enough signatures to qualify for the ballot. Meanwhile, SEIU pledges to cooperate fully with the investigation, and vows to punish any member shown to have committed...
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | July 15, 2010
Same pen! Same handwriting! Wrong addresses and signatures that don't match the records! State officials say their random check of signatures for I-1098 has turned up some mighty suspicious petitions, and they have launched a formal inves...
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | July 14, 2010
One after another, state elections officials are certifying the six initiatives that turned in signatures this year. The latest is the workers' compensation initiative backed by the Building Industry Association of Washington.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | July 12, 2010
Initiative 1100, the Costco-backed measure to privatize the state liquor stores, has survived the state's signature check and is certified for the ballot. Five more to go!
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | July 7, 2010
This year's liquor initiatives are really part of a big, brawling business battle for control of alcohol sales -- and Washington is ground zero.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | July 6, 2010
Liquor distributors ponied up a half-million bucks in the final week, for a total $2 million so far for their late-starting campaign. Meanwhile, labor interests and trial lawyers are amassing a big campaign fund to oppose a workers' comp i...
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | July 2, 2010
All six of this year's well-financed initiative campaigns finished in the money, turning in more than 300,000 signatures by deadline day.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | July 1, 2010
Initiative 1098 presents more than enough signatures Thursday and will give the left a cause on a ballot crowded with business issues.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | July 2, 2010
The season's fastest and most expensive campaign may have set records -- it all happened in three weeks' time. Pop distributors say they're furious with a last-minute tax hike imposed by the Legislature.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | July 2, 2010
Unlike previous tax revolts, this one's had business behind it almost from the start -- with a $3 billion shortfall coming, it all makes sense. I-1053 would make it all but impossible to raise taxes.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | June 30, 2010
Initiative 1068, the marijuana-legalization measure, sets an appointment to turn in signatures for 4:20 p.m. Friday. If you don't get the joke -- well, that's very sweet. Actually it's down-to-the-wire for the year's only all-volunteer ca...
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | June 25, 2010
Washington Roundtable takes the lead in organizing the opposition to I-1098 and the campaign debuts with $287,500 in its war-chest. The high-earner tax would hit hard at entrepreneurs and drive a stake through Washington's high-tech indus...
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | June 23, 2010
Initiative 1100, a liquor-store privatization measure, should easily qualify for the fall ballot after dropping off nearly 400,000 signatures at the state elections office Wednesday. Meanwhile, liquor distributors are mounting a frantic s...
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | June 24, 2010
Everyone wrote off I-1068 when the big donors chickened out. But many paid signature gatherers are carrying it for free -- pot gets people hooked.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | June 23, 2010
UPDATED 5 p.m. June 23 -- A liquor-store privatization campaign turns in more than enough signatures to make the ballot, a worker-comp initiative says it already has enough to qualify, and five other campaigns are in a scramble to the fin...
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | June 14, 2010
Signature-gathering tables vanish from Costco stores. Could it mean that one of this year's big liquor-store privatization initiatives has already hit its 300,000-signature goal? The campaign is keeping mum, but it seems a safe bet. New P...
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | June 11, 2010
The Washington Beverage Association is saddled with a vague ballot title and now must set records for signature gathering on I-1107. During a court hearing, the attorney general's office says the authors have only themselves to blame. Did...
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | June 9, 2010
A judge changes two words in a ballot summary and I-1105 is off to the printers. The court challenge delays liquor distributors a week and forces them to set an all-time record for signature gathering. But hey --every word needs to be exac...
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | June 10, 2010
Just as I-1107 gets set to come roaring out of the starting gate -- maybe the latest-starting initiative campaign ever -- labor groups and the poverty lobby are mulling a decline-to-sign campaign. The measure would roll back about $100 mi...
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | June 10, 2010
How come so many people think an income tax would be more stable? A new report says I-1098 would give the state stool a mighty wobbly leg.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | June 8, 2010
Beware of frenzied signature gatherers these next three weeks! Liquor and soda-pop distributors are set to launch a pair of initiative campaigns, and their latest campaign reports show they've got plenty of money to back them up.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | June 3, 2010
A crush of initiatives and court tactics on a liquor store measure mean ballot measure campaigns will be trying to set records this month.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | June 1, 2010
Retailers and wholesalers want to junk the state's liquor stores, but they might shoot each other to do it -- a tale of two initiatives.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | May 25, 2010
McKenna finds a flaw in I-1098 -- Backers are trying to have it two ways, he says. And that means a big tax increase for Washington.
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| By: Association of Washington Business |
AWB Gives Early Endorsement to I-1053 -- Would Restore I-960, Overturned by Legislature This Year
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| By: Washington State Farm Bureau |
Joins BIAW on I-1082, Which Would Allow Private Competition for Worker's Comp Business
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | April 28, 2010
Fresh from Supreme Court argument over R-71 signature disclosure case, Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna predicts victory.
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By Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | April 27, 2010
SEIU was planning to go to the voters again with another home-care initiative -- but when the Legislature let a controversial training program become law, the union said never mind.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | April 23, 2010
A tax break goes flat, bottlers pop their tops, and the governor signs the bill anyway. Will history repeat itself?
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | April 19, 2010
Confounds Dem critics who accused him last month of pandering -- upcoming Supreme Court argument puts attorney general on other side.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | April 15, 2010
BIAW finally launches the workers' compensation campaign it has been threatening all year -- and all-out war between business and labor is guaranteed.
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I-1082 Would Allow Private Competition With State System
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | March 5, 2010
$6.5 million appropriation makes no sense during the state's budget crisis, opponents say -- and it enacts an initiative they call dangerous.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Feb. 25, 2010
The governor's decision to sign came as a surprise to no one. Without the bill, Democrats couldn't raise taxes this year -- and they say they must. But why was initiative sponsor Tim Eyman hovering over her shoulder?
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Feb. 15, 2010
While hundreds watch, House panel OK's bill eliminating tough rules for tax hikes, but in a surprise move restores public-notice requirements.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Feb. 13, 2010
No one can remember a debate like the one that took place Friday -- and it wasn't even the main event. Get set for a wild parliamentary ride!
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Feb. 11, 2010
Senate Democrats hate Initiative 960 so much, they voted to kill it twice. House passage is a formality, and now it's full steam ahead for tax hikes.
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Overturning I-960 is the first step toward what appears to be an inevitable tax increase -- 'You're stepping on us,' activists complain.
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It's the first move in this year's budget debate -- a suspension of the strict rules imposed by Initiative 960. The game is afoot!
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PACE is a financing mechanism that allows qualified property owners to borrow money to install energy improvements. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have challenged PACE programs and called into question the seniority of the loan.
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In this paper, CAP looks at state regulations and incentives for energy efficiency that are working today in leading states to accelerate demand for energy efficiency services, businesses, and ultimately jobs.
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| By: Center for American Progress |
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Not a light bulb's worth of solar electricity has been produced on the millions of acres of public desert set aside for it five years ago.
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The politics pouring into the Puget Sound Partnership are as damaging as pollution, wasting money on ineffective projects while neglecting the Sound's most serious pollution.
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An independent investigation called for "fundamental reform" at the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, saying the organization's 2007 report played down uncertainty about some aspects of global warming.
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Carbon emissions offset market is being gamed when it comes to a byproduct from making refrigerants.
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Older trees store more carbon, but younger trees absorb more carbon - so, cut 'em down or not?
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In recent months Beijing has drummed up support for hydropower, calling for quicker building of dams after recent years had seen plans scaled back due to tighter environmental rules and the costs or relocating the population.
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The weatherization program Vice President Biden highlighted in his visit Thursday to New Hampshire is widely considered among the least organized spending projects under the $814 billion economic stimulus law.
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An examination of details in the 50-page report unveiled Tuesday by Vice President Biden reveals a collection of rosy projections that ignore many of the challenges, pitfalls and economic realities.
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"Because we have discovered and we have the technology to develop efficiently large quantities of gas from shale, global prices of liquefied natural gas have decreased."
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The National Park Service has signed a $27 million contract with a Bozeman, Mont., company to take out the two dams on the Elwha River in the largest dam-removal project in U.S. history.
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The estimated U.S. energy use in 2009 equaled 94.6 quadrillion BTUs, down from 99.2 quadrillion BTUs in 2008.
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| By: Christain Science Monitor |
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Policymakers continue to promise new “clear-eyed” approaches to stimulating job growth; unfortunately, what we tend to see is the same recycled “green” rhetoric.
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| By: Washington Policy Center |
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Releasing a new report summing up progress under the Recovery Act, Vice President Biden predicted that the cost of solar power would be cut in half by 2015, putting it “on par” with the cost of retail electricity.
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Developed by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in the Tri-Cities, the Smart Grid would improve the stability of the grid and allow consumers to receive real-time information about rates and adjust their energy use accordingly.
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| By: Washington Policy Center |
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More than 30 traditional coal plants have been built across the country since 2008 or are under construction.
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According to preliminary EPRI findings, wind power would dominate new generation in the Great Plains and Midwest. New nuclear power would grow fastest in the South, after 2020. Geothermal energy would become an important new source in the West.
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What dominates debate now is what some see as the possibility — and others see as the inevitability — of cost overruns.
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A federal appeals court Tuesday decided that mud washing off logging roads is pollution and ordered the U.S. EPA to write regulations to reduce the amount that reaches salmon streams.
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A Seattle Port Commissioner argues for comprehensive, strategic, national investments for moving goods and retaining competitiveness. Just look to Canada for an example, and a threat.
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Tight Ag Lending Creates Strain After Years of Poor Crops
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| By: Yakima Herald-Republic |
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Despite the federal stalemate, at the local level there has been a string of successful compromises between environmentalists and industry in the last two weeks.
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Dan Kish, senior vice president at the Institute for Energy Research said the original moratorium applied only to drilling rigs operating in 500 feet of water or deeper, but that the July 12 order by Salazar applies to all floating rigs in the Gulf.
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The debate is heating up on Capitol Hill because the two main subsidies --- a tax credit for blending ethanol with gasoline and an import tax on foreign ethanol --- expire at the end of the year.
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| By: Lexington Herald-Leader |
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One of the economic models on which the EPA relied projects that the new limits could cost 1,500 industry jobs, raise the price of cement 5.4% and cut demand by nearly 6%.
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The latest round of talks that concluded Friday showed that the 194 negotiating countries have failed to even define a common target or method for curbing greenhouse gases.
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Besides Texas, six other states lead in terms of new capacity (each with more than 500 MW), Indiana, Iowa, Oregon, Illinois, New York, and Washington.
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These proposed changes to what’s called the “Tailoring Rule” would mean that biomass plants would no longer be considered carbon-neutral by the EPA, and it would make it more difficult for the plants to pencil out financially.
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Instead of underwriting a project which would have turned coal into a hydrocarbon gas, filtered out the carbon and burned the hydrogen, the government said it would contribute $737 million for a new technology and remake an obsolete oil-burning plant in Meredosia, Ill.
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New research reveals carbon emissions from rich nations could actually rise under loopholes in the proposed UN climate deal.
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Because of pressure from environmental groups, many federal and state forests are off limits to harvest and even to “housekeeping” activities, such as thinning, clearing undergrowth and removing dead and diseased trees.
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The study, which has been embraced by agricultural groups but criticized by some environmentalists, found that improvements in technology, plant varieties and other advances enabled farmers to grow more without a big increase in greenhouse gas releases.
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Many Democrats, especially from states with a lot of coal or wilting manufacturers, have long been unenthusiastic. Voters, by most pollsters’ accounts, are becoming less energised about global warming.
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International scientists, in a new NOAA study, say that climate change is “undeniable” and shows clear signs of “human fingerprints” in the first major piece of research since the “Climategate” controversy.
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A subgroup — California, New Mexico, Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia — intends to move first in limiting carbon dioxide emissions.
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Ratepayers are going to end up paying $82 million annually more than what they currently pay for the power to be supplied by Cape Wind. That is far cry from paying the $25 million less that Cape Wind originally promised.
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In a “historic crossover,” the costs of solar photovoltaic systems have declined to the point where they are lower than the rising projected costs of new nuclear plants, according to a paper published this month.
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Fossil fuel spending in the Northwest states fell sharply in 2009, compared with 2008, when the region's spending topped $28 billion. Nevertheless, coal, oil, and gas created a tremendous financial burden for the region: $18.9 billion in 2009.
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The image of forest products companies in Washington State has improved dramatically over the past 20 years.
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The death of federal legislation revives attention on regional cap-and-trade programs and other state initiatives in the United States, which have been on hold as state leaders anticipated action by Congress.
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"While a comprehensive and well thought out energy and climate bill would be better than the partial and incremental approach EPA has initiated, I do not underestimate the importance of the steps being taken."
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| By: Huffington Post Op-Ed |
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The proposed rules for mecury, which the agency was required by U.S. courts to issue by November 2011, is likely to help push many of the oldest and dirtiest emitters of carbon into retirement.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | July 21, 2010
Last year Gov. Gregoire raised eyebrows when she took a failed air-pollution bill and enacted a more limited version herself, in the form of an executive order. A new lawsuit from the Evergreen Freedom Foundation says she didn't have the ...
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The latest Gallup poll shows 62 percent of Americans – an all-time high – favor the use of nuclear energy.
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One challenge in the western U.S. is that the power transmission grid has just about reached its capacity to accommodate new generation.
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Phase 1 is smaller, billions over budget and more than a dozen years late compared to what officials originally promised voters.
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| By: Washington Policy Center Blog |
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At $750/MTC02e, corn ethanol has to be the most expensive carbon mitigation strategy ever considered.
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The average temperature of the planet for the next several thousand years will be determined this century—by those of us living today, according to a new National Research Council report.
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Globally, about 80 gigawatts of renewable power capacity was added last year, almost half of it in China, UNEP said. That compares with the 83 gigawatts of fossil fuel plants added.
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Today, the practice of using woody biomass from sustainably managed forests to produce electricity and biofuels is supported by 57% of likely voters statewide, opposed by 18% and 26% have no opinion.
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I had hoped that the various Climategate inquiries would be severe. But no, the reports make things worse. At best they are mealy-mouthed apologies; at worst they are patently incompetent and even wilfully wrong.
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Five separate reviews have found no evidence whatsoever to back up the outrageous claims made by skeptics and deniers regarding the public airing of emails from the University of East Anglia last winter.
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| By: Huffington Post Op-Ed |
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The Seattle project is intended to comply with orders from the U.S. EPA and the state DOE to cut the city's combined sewage and stormwater system overflows into Lake Washington and Puget Sound to no more than once a year.
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At issue is a procedure known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which has been adopted widely in the United States over the past 10 years to extract gas trapped in shale formations.
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Biologists say the numbers of salmon and steelhead heading up the Columbia River are well above average, including a record run of sockeye.
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The original U.S. cap-and-trade market, which succeeded in slashing the power-plant emissions that cause acid rain, is in disarray following the issuance of new federal pollution rules.
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Seattle Public Utilities will soon begin a federally-mandated, $500 million city-wide infrastructure improvement program designed to reduce storm and wastewater pollution. This will mean higher sewer and drainage bills for people, beginning next year, and for years afterwards.
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| By: Seattle Post-Intelligencer |
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State law requires the three large investor-owned utilities to procure 20% of their retail electricity sales from clean sources by the end of 2010. But even government watchdogs don't expect the power companies to make it.
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If other states — or even Congress, which is writing energy legislation — follow Massachusetts, it could have wide implications for biomass developers, as well as for states trying to meet renewable energy targets.
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The Environmental Protection Agency unveiled proposed air pollution regulations Tuesday aimed at curbing harmful power plant pollution in 31 states, mostly east of the Mississippi River.
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It comes as no surprise that the Golden State gets the gold, followed by silver for Washington, in Site Selection’s inaugural Sustainability Rankings.
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| By: Site Selection Magazine |
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The press and Internet are full of straightforward suggestions for easy ways of improving the cleanup, but the federal government is resisting these remedies.
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The debate is heating up over whether the Obama administration should approve a huge new pipeline called Keystone XL that would bring oil extracted from the earth in Alberta, Canada, all the way to Texas for refining.
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New carbon-trading laws intended to reduce climate-changing pollution emissions took effect Thursday in New Zealand, immediately sending gas prices higher.
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A March Gallup Poll shows that 62 percent of Americans embrace nuclear power while only 33 percent oppose it. That is a dramatic change from 2001 when people were equally divided.
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The fight over natural resources is taking center stage at a meeting of governors from the West, led off by straight talk about the water that has been the source of bitter battles predating many of the states themselves.
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The vans are a jet-flash of white paint as they streak down the turnpike, gunning it to 90 mph.
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Unless realistic expectations based on objective research replace the ideological goal of trying to divert travel away from cars to transit, the nation could find itself spending hundreds of billions more dollars without accomplishing anything.
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While the United States requires operators to be prepared to drill relief wells, their contingency plans do not have to specify a firm timeline for how quickly they will do so, experts said.
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Bird mortality "at wind farms, compared to other human-related causes of bird mortality, is biologically and statistically insignificant," wrote Mike Sagrillo, a consultant who writes for American Wind Energy Association.
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King County Metro drivers enjoy the third-highest wages in the nation, behind only Boston and San Jose. The top wage for a driver at Metro is $28.47 an hour—higher than drivers’ wages in much more expensive cities like San Francisco ($27.92) and New York ($28).
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Salmon advocates think that anyone who takes an unbiased look at the costs and benefits of those dams will call in the bulldozers.
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Those who don’t like the idea of generating power by burning wood may want to think about tweaking Initiative 937. A policy that prefers wood incineration to falling hydro water seems environmentally odd, to put it lightly.
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Greenhouse gas emissions caused by transportation declined 3 to 10 percent in the last two years, the largest decline in the past 40 years, according to the report. However, emissions rose by 45 percent from 1990 to 2007.
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A senior Chinese climate official said on Tuesday that negotiators aim to seal a binding global pact on warming by the end of 2011, a blow to any lingering hopes the world could reach a deal at talks this year in Mexico.
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The Seattle Audubon society has objected to the site during the permitting process because it is on public land near nesting areas for an endangered species of fast-moving seabirds, the marbled murrelet.
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Herein lies the Achilles heel of environmentalism--its profound disconnect from public preferences and aspirations. By embracing such a radical social engineering agenda, the greens may end up undermining their own long-term effectiveness.
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The new dean, Lisa Graumlich, said she believes the debate has moved beyond whether climate change is happening to what the impacts will mean.
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Mr. Obama announced the creation of a new national policy that will result in less greenhouse-gas pollution from medium- and heavy-duty trucks for the first time, and will further reduce exhaust from cars and light-duty trucks.
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Capping and pricing carbon emissions is key to well-crafted policy to rein in greenhouse gases. But there are five key policy areas to build a low-carbon economy that will drive investment in clean technology.
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| By: Center for American Progress |
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This is still cap and tax—except with new and larger subsidies, outright corporate bribes, and the rest of the political palm-greasing that Democrats hope can still lead to a Rose Garden ceremony this year.
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The PUDs are worried that after they spend millions of dollars on studies the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service will nix the project to protect marbled murrelets, threatened birds that nest near the ridge and fly over it.
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Top honors went to Washington State, followed by Vermont, New York, Oregon and California.
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On the 100th anniversary of Montana's Glacier National Park, it appears the glaciers are all melting away.
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This is the largest drop since the start of EIA’s record of annual energy data more than 60 years ago. EIA attributes the huge drop partly to the economic downturn.
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The CBO concludes that total employment during the next few decades would be slightly lower than would be the case in the absence of policies to reduce greenhouse gases.
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| By: Congressional Budget Office |
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Despite the anti-clean-energy assumptions baked into the models CBO studied, they still basically show that the US economy will hardly lose any jobs at all on net.
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States, EPA asserts, should prioritize projects that upgrade the drinking water and wastewater infrastructure in cities over projects intended to serve new developments on the suburban fringe.
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NREL analysts report that the rate premium that customers pay for green power continues to drop. The average net price premium for utility green power products has decreased from 3.48 cents/kWh in 2000 to 1.75 cents/kWh in 2009.
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When it comes to environmental regulation, California doesn’t wait for the Feds to ride in and lay down the law.
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On Tuesday, the federal agency released an 80-page glossy report to help Americans make sense of climate change data.
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The 2010 Legislature struck out on three opportunities to help the state budget and protect the environment.
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Governor Gregoire writes, "Despite our leadership and innovation, some industry lobbyists in the other Washington want to limit states' ability to act independently to protect our economy and natural resources. That's a bad idea, and it sets a dangerous precedent."
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | March 12, 2010
A controversial hike in oil taxes will be a front-and-center battle when the Legislature comes back from its three-day weekend, top Dems say.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | March 4, 2010
Include her out, says Judy Clibborn of a green plan to raise oil taxes. The measure is one of the top priorities for the environmental lobby, but support appears to be faltering.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | March 4, 2010
Gutsy lawmakers drink every day from BPA bottles as they crack down on baby bottles and sippy cups. How come none of them are scared?
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | March 3, 2010
Talk about Nixon going to China! Former Supreme Court justice and Democratic lion says the constitution blocks a green tax scheme.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Feb. 28, 2010
Transportation chair warns Senate about plummeting gas-tax revenues -- and shows why the asphalt lobby hates a green plan to raise taxes on oil.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Feb. 23, 2010
Tim Hamilton's service station operators say they'll challenge a proposed oil-tax hike in court -- a major roadblock for one budget-balancing scheme.
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Environmentalists sweeten proposal by offering exactly enough to balance the state budget -- plan would raise gas prices, cut money for roads.
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Attorney general's property-rights bills are dying for lack of a hearing. Is it local-government opposition? Or his possible campaign for governor?
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Environmentalists' political war on BPA plastics now turns to state Senate -- will lawmakers expand ban to sports-water bottles?
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Rate payers could be big losers if no compromise is reached -- one utility predicts 20 percent electric-bill increase without changes to I-937.
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Two key lawmakers file bills to force utilities and greens to compromise on Initiative 937 – but there's no deal yet. Will last year's war resume?
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A Senate panel passes a bill banning BPA plastics in baby products -- a nod to environmental activists who won't wait for scientific consensus.
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Attorney General Rob McKenna takes the side of property-rights advocates with bills that would block government land-grabs for private development.
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Washington activists want the state to join a national movement to ban BPA plastics, but the politics are way ahead of the science.
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And that's not all lawmakers will be arguing about -- new bills would legalize marijuana, privatize liquor stores, and crack down on plasma TVs.
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As an agency director, Ted Sturdevant is an unknown quantity -- and observers of one of the state's most controversial agencies are hopeful.
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When Washington lawmakers passed a bill six years ago to curtail mercury emissions to the environment, they hailed it as a major step toward protecting the state’s environment --- but a state agency is ignoring it.
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| By: Erik Smith/ Washington State Wire |
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Aug. 26, 2010
The state and its public employee unions drew even firmer lines when they met behind closed doors this week. The state now wants workers to pick up 26 percent of the cost of their health-insurance premiums -- another big bite from paychec...
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Aug. 23, 2010
Public employee unions say they've had enough of concessions after two years of labor unrest -- and they aren't going to budge on health benefits.
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Who says there's no fat left to cut at the state's largest agency? Washington State Wire presents an insider's view of DSHS.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Aug. 4, 2010
A preliminary vote on a $26 billion Medicaid bill for once offers good news for the state. The U.S. Senate Wednesday morning finally said yes to the measure, which means $480 million for the state of Washington -- and could stave off big c...
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Aug. 3, 2010
More dithering in Congress over Medicaid money means more dithering in this Washington about whether to call a special session. If Congress doesn't come through with $480 million in Medicaid money, Democrats still haven't decided whether t...
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | July 31, 2010
The governor wants help from the Legislature to deal with an impending budget crisis and demands an answer by noon Monday. And here's a switch! Republicans say they are happy to give a helping hand to the poor governor, but Gregoire's own...
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | July 29, 2010
The wacky-tobacky budget-balancing plan is the public's favorite idea so far for fixing the state's big revenue problem. At least that's what it's saying on the governor's official website. Will the governor say yes to drugs?
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By:Washington State Wire | July 26, 2010
No news is bad news. Top economist Arun Raha tells a legislative committee that nothing has happened in the last month or so to improve the forecast he issued in June. And what it means is this. The state is down $207 million so far -- and if Congress ...
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | July 21, 2010
For the second year in a row, state employees will face big increases in medical-insurance costs. But the state is holding the line on copayments and deductibles -- a big issue last year. And the big bugaboo about benefits -- the 88-12 sp...
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While her task force talks about reinventing government, an idea the governor vetoed this year might have actually done something about it.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | July 19, 2010
Tough luck, Labrador! And let us bid Quebecois shoppers adieu! Five provinces in eastern Canada are losing a Washington-state sales-tax break, at least for now. A judge has blocked a sales tax break that would have applied to every reside...
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Washington State Moves Up To Number 15 But Still 34th In "Business Friendliness"
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By : Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | July 12, 2010
There's a new wrinkle in one of the state's strangest-ever legal battles. Big retail chains and the Washington Retail Association say they want a quick court decision about whether to give British Columbia residents a sales tax exemption...
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | July 12, 2010
Other states are worse, says the state treasurer. And keep your eye on the half-full glass!
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | July 8, 2010
A special session looms ahead because Congress is welshing on a $480 million promise -- wouldn't it be nice if this one was smoother than the last?
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | July 1, 2010
Initiative 1098 presents more than enough signatures Thursday and will give the left a cause on a ballot crowded with business issues.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | July 1, 2010
The state's strangest legal battle finally begins -- locals say they love British Columbians, but not enough to give them a sales tax break.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | June 28, 2010
Someone has to sue by Wednesday to keep Canadians from getting a sales-tax break -- and the state has to bungle the case in order to win.
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Gov. Gregoire pledges an effort to reinvent government. But she says she won't cross labor, and the skeptics say they'll believe it when they see it.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | June 17, 2010
Now that's creative legal thinking! To keep B.C. residents paying sales tax in Washington, the Department of Revenue may set itself up for a lawsuit.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | June 16, 2010
Washington missed a fine legal point until it was too late -- so B.C. residents won't pay sales tax and local governments will lose millions.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | June 10, 2010
How come so many people think an income tax would be more stable? A new report says I-1098 would give the state stool a mighty wobbly leg.
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| By: Chief Executive Magazine |
Washington State Improves to 30th as More than 600 CEOs Rated States
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | April 27, 2010
It was one of the biggest claims of the session, but officials say the 1983 Legislature was the all-time chartbuster. Better luck next year!
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | April 23, 2010
Can you find the legislator in this picture? 77 Democrats voted for this year's tax package, but only one showed up for the bill-signing. Doesn't anyone want honors?
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | April 23, 2010
A tax break goes flat, bottlers pop their tops, and the governor signs the bill anyway. Will history repeat itself?
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | April 23, 2010
Gregoire signs this year's $794 million tax hike -- the real finish to this year's Legislature. Here's a recap of 2010's biggest stories.
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By Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | April 14, 2010
Every speech from the House floor! House passes $30.5 billion budget -- the one that requires all the tax increases.
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By Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | April 14, 2010
Every speech from the Senate floor! Senate passes the state budget -- whether it is a responsible one is a matter of debate.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | April 14, 2010
Every speech from the Senate floor! Lawmakers pass the most controversial bill of the session, enacting a $794 million tax package -- what some like to call the biggest tax increase in state history.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | April 13, 2010
The 2010 Legislature barely has a chance to adjourn before initiative promoter Tim Eyman files eight initiatives challenging this year's tax hikes.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | April 7, 2010
Lisa Brown blinks, and Speaker Frank Chopp wins the argument of the session after the governor steps in. But at least it's a 'go-home' deal.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | April 5, 2010
Senate Democrats decide beer sounds good right about now -- offer to break deadlock by taxing regular-Joe brew, but would leave yuppie beer alone.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | March 25, 2010
The governor says she's getting sick and tired of waiting for the House and Senate to agree on taxes -- and she might have to order deep cuts.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | March 25, 2010
Legal challenge could overturn long-running environmental cleanup program -- lawmakers, greens started thinking too big, says plaintiff Tim Hamilton.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | March 24, 2010
The House tax plan paints bullseyes on their foreheads -- and their arguments explain why lawmakers are having so much trouble getting out of Dodge.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | March 22, 2010
Here's the entire floor debate as the Senate Dems advance their tax plan toward a final collision with the House. Sales-tax battle still to come.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | March 22, 2010
The complete first hour of the debate as House Dems gather ramming speed on Senate, rejecting sales tax and favoring taxes on selected businesses.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | March 12, 2010
A controversial hike in oil taxes will be a front-and-center battle when the Legislature comes back from its three-day weekend, top Dems say.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | March 10, 2010
Last-minute agitation over a green plan to raise taxes on oil is providing one of the biggest dramas of the 2010 Legislature's final hours. But the Senate vote-count is stuck at 24, just as it has been all session long.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | March 9, 2010
Best speeches from the House floor as the lower chamber passes a curiously truncated tax bill Tuesday morning. Don't worry, it'll get bigger.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | March 7, 2010
The best speeches from the Senate floor -- lawmakers Sunday explain the the state's budget crisis, and why you'll pay the billion-dollar price.
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by: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | March 6, 2010
Senate battles for hours over the tax bill, and a senator makes a Freudian slip.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | March 5, 2010
Lawmakers are counting on nearly a billion dollars in tax increases, and the tax package is yet to come. Here's a look at what they actually said on the House floor.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | March 4, 2010
Include her out, says Judy Clibborn of a green plan to raise oil taxes. The measure is one of the top priorities for the environmental lobby, but support appears to be faltering.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | March 3, 2010
Talk about Nixon going to China! Former Supreme Court justice and Democratic lion says the constitution blocks a green tax scheme.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Feb. 27, 2010
The state Senate Saturday evening took the first big budget vote of the year, appproving a spending plan that will require nearly $1 billion in new taxes. And it ducks the question -- how is the Legislature going to pay for it all?
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Feb. 28, 2010
Transportation chair warns Senate about plummeting gas-tax revenues -- and shows why the asphalt lobby hates a green plan to raise taxes on oil.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Feb. 27, 2010
A sketchy bill introduced in the state House shows the trouble that chamber’s Democrats are having coming up with a tax plan. The "title-only" bill is vaguer than most, and could include just about anything.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Feb. 26, 2010
The state isn't telling companies about a tax case they might win, while the Legislature tries to close a gaping tax loophole after the fact.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Feb. 25, 2010
The governor's decision to sign came as a surprise to no one. Without the bill, Democrats couldn't raise taxes this year -- and they say they must. But why was initiative sponsor Tim Eyman hovering over her shoulder?
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Feb. 25, 2010
It isn't that business wants a sales-tax hike. It's that the Legislature's plan to close 'loopholes' seems so much worse.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Feb. 25
Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, said Wednesday during a meeting with reporters that opposition runs strong within her caucus to a Senate proposal that would end a sales-tax credit for trade-ins. It's a major issue for car dealers ...
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Feb. 24, 2010
Jaws drop on showroom floors: If state ends a trade-in tax credit, customers would pay sales tax twice. What's that going to do to sales?
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Feb. 23, 2010
Tim Hamilton's service station operators say they'll challenge a proposed oil-tax hike in court -- a major roadblock for one budget-balancing scheme.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Feb. 14, 2010
House Dems' plan to end tax exemptions brings howls from business. Targets include shippers, border towns, aviation and tax planners.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Feb. 14, 2010
Port districts and trade interests come out swinging against a tax increase on interstate truck and train shipments -- would chase traffic to L.A., B.C., they say.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Feb. 15, 2010
While hundreds watch, House panel OK's bill eliminating tough rules for tax hikes, but in a surprise move restores public-notice requirements.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Feb. 15, 2010
Dems' tax plan would send airplane taxes into the stratosphere, aviation interests warn -- and pilots and charter operators might have to bail.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Feb. 13, 2010
No one can remember a debate like the one that took place Friday -- and it wasn't even the main event. Get set for a wild parliamentary ride!
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Feb. 11, 2010
Senate Democrats hate Initiative 960 so much, they voted to kill it twice. House passage is a formality, and now it's full steam ahead for tax hikes.
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Overturning I-960 is the first step toward what appears to be an inevitable tax increase -- 'You're stepping on us,' activists complain.
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It's the first move in this year's budget debate -- a suspension of the strict rules imposed by Initiative 960. The game is afoot!
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Environmentalists sweeten proposal by offering exactly enough to balance the state budget -- plan would raise gas prices, cut money for roads.
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A clever Democratic strategy this year earmarks tax increases for specific purposes and brings lobbying muscle to bear. But is it a false choice?
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While the state faces a huge shortfall and a tax increase is on the table, state workers are in line for an $83 million pay raise. Yes, really.
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This time the problem is only $17 million -- and the state may finally be able to see bottom, says the state's top economist. Recovery comes next.
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Brown, the Senate majority leader, a possible contender for governor, and the state's number-one income-tax advocate, says next year isn't the time.
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Gov. Gregoire kicks off the budget debate with a spending plan she hopes nobody will take seriously.
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Lawmakers are returning to Olympia this week, but they won't hold a special session -- and their best chance to cut state spending will be gone.
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It sounds like the easy way to solve the state's $2.6 billion budget nightmare -- but the biggest tax breaks go to citizens themselves.
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Washington isn't the only state facing a budget crisis next year -- lawmakers everywhere are rushing to plug billion-dollar holes.
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The state's top economist delivers more bad news -- and now lawmakers know how big a problem they face next year. Tax increases, anyone?
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Exactly how big a hole lawmakers will have to fill next year is anyone’s guess at this point. But it looks like it's between $1 billion and $2 billion. And lawmakers will either have to raise taxes, or else they’ll have to cut -- again.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Sept. 8, 2010
In a decision that could change campaign strategies for this year's initiatives, a federal judge has ruled that the state's limits on last-minute contributions are unconstitutional. It's another victory for James Bopp, Jr., the conservative attorney who has been picking away at campaign-finance restrictions nationwide. And in the state's biggest-spending year for initiatives ever, that means the enormous contributions can keep right on coming until election day.
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By: Erik Smith | Washington State Wire | Sept. 3, 2010
A lawsuit to overturn the results of the Senate race in the 38th Legislative District became a probability Friday. Phil Talmadge is on the case. He gave notice to Attorney General Rob McKenna and the Snohomish County prosecutor that if they don't sue, he will. All because of a phony Republican mailer from the left that did exactly what it was supposed to -- destroy incumbent Sen. Jean Berkey in the primary.
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By: Bob Keefe | Washington, D.C.
In this "Letter from Washington," Bob Keefe says America's military involvement in the Near East remains at the forefront of everyone's mind in the nation's capital. Meanwhile, Joe Miller's election as senator from Alaska portends trouble in Republican ranks.
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| By: Jim Boldt | Washington State Wire | Sept. 3, 2010 |
It’s a shame Washington citizens, and particularly voters, don’t take the time to look behind the curtain at think-tank reports. Do they actually know it is a word game, or cooked-up findings?
Yes, it comes from both sides. The conservative think tanks take a data set, twist the numbers, and shape the findings. The liberals do the same thing.
So today’s announcement by the Washingto...
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| By: Melvin G. Ashton | Washington State Wire | Sept. 2, 2010 |
It’s back to school time, and as a parent of children in our public school system, I’m shocked and dismayed by the “Not the WASL” test scores just released by the Superintendent of Public Instruction. And the most disturbing thing is not the performance of our kids, but the behavior and beliefs of the ‘adults’ running the show.
So, pop quiz. Don’t worry, it’s open book, and you can find a...
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| By: Jim Boldt | Washington State Wire | Aug. 25, 2010 |
1. The head of the Port of Seattle gave us all a moment of relief when he announced he would not accept a raise this year. He went home, sat down at the table and realized he could get by with his meager $334,000 a year. That of course is just the salary, the monthly nut. I feel better knowing he won't have to miss, what? A trip to Asia? No, the port sends him there for free. Maybe a new Lexus or ...
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| By: Melvin G. Ashton | Washington State Wire | Aug. 25, 2010 |
We are all cognitive misers – that means our brains are lazy. We like things to follow a pattern, and we don’t like to spend time reviewing the data looking for the exception. So when we develop a ‘truth’, we tend to stick with it even when the data doesn’t support our lazy view of the world.
In reading the comments on the latest Seattle Times “Truth Needle” article, plenty of people mad...
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Democrat Heck Faces Surprising Uphill Battle in Congressional Race
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Appeals Court Denies Stay -- Friday is Big Day
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Reverses Previous Gallup Poll Showing Republicans 10 Points Ahead
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| By: Seattle Post-Intelligencer |
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Editorial: Best Chance for Tax Reform in Four Decades
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| By: Seattle Post-Intelligencer |
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Would Make it Difficult to Compete With National Drug Chains
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Insurance Commissioner Claims I-1082 is Ploy to Refill Organization's Coffers -- Hogwash is Rejoinder
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A Bit Too Secretive, Admits Report
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Holds Firm on Demands -- Republicans Hope He'll Disappear
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Says West Virginia Town Name Violates Code of Conduct -- City Fathers Outraged
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Health insurers say they plan to raise premiums for some Americans as a direct result of the health overhaul in coming weeks, complicating Democrats' efforts to trumpet their signature achievement.
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In recent years, cognitive scientists have shown that a few simple techniques can reliably improve what matters most: how much a student learns from studying.
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The waiver is only valid for one year, and plans must reapply annually "in accordance with future guidance from HHS."
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About half a dozen states have banned BPA in children’s products, and U.S. Senator Feinstein hopes to accomplish the same nationwide, with an amendment to the food safety bill scheduled for a vote in the Senate next week.
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One in five Americans lights up regularly. If all states had prevention programs like those in California and Utah, 5 million fewer people would be smoking, the agency says.
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When generics first come on the market, the rebates on brand-name drugs may still make them less expensive.
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Double-digit rate increases are hitting most individual health-insurance plans in Washington state, hurting jobless workers and worrying insurance regulators.
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Nonetheless, the Washington Federation of State Employees, which is bargaining on behalf of about 40,000 workers, has rejected the governor’s offer.
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There is good reason to be scared into action. Every year, 76 million cases of foodborne illness occur, leading to about 300,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths.
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The researchers said their estimate includes $45.6 billion in what's known as defensive medicine costs -- when doctors prescribe unnecessary tests or treatments to avoid lawsuits.
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| By: U.S. News & World Report |
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Researchers have calculated that more than half of the 354 million doctor visits made each year for medical care, like for fevers, stomachaches and coughs, are not with a patient’s primary physician, and that more than a quarter take place in hospital emergency rooms.
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Newly installed Medicare chief Donald Berwick, keeping a low public profile after encountering controversy over his appointment, is moving quickly behind the scenes to seed the US health care system with 100 to 300 sites to test new models of caring for patients.
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