We all know the federal government is hamstrung by partisan gridlock. Where once lawmakers recognized that passing legislation required that both parties end up being able to claim success, that no one got everything they wanted, and that progress was never perfect, today there seem to be new rules holding forth: “I will only ‘compromise’ with you if I get everything I wanted, and I get all the credit.” “If you have to eat some crow, that makes me look better.” “I don’t need your help enough to be willing to let you take the credit for what we accomplish.”
Continue Reading Defeat of the Carbon Tax: As Washington Increasingly Mimics the Partisan Gridlock of the “other Washington,” it Risks Losing Progressive Action in the Name of Progressive Principles
Five Environmental Issues to Track as Washington’s 64th Legislature Begins Session
Governor Inslee has been busy since the end of the last legislative session laying out his environmental agenda, announcing his intent to pursue an aggressive climate change agenda back in April, and coupling the controversial fish consumption issue to an overall toxics reduction strategy.
Today marks the start of the legislative session. Here are five…
Cap and Trade to Reduce Carbon Emissions in Washington Is SO 1990s
Lots of big ideas – think the minimum wage, women’s suffrage, abolition, fair labor standards – take years or decades from when they are first proposed to their final adoption. The fact that it takes a while to bring enough of society around to actually adopt a new idea doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good…
WRRDA Signed by President Obama
To close the loop on our previous stories regarding the WRRDA (here and here), President Obama signed the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 on Tuesday. Now it is on to the appropriation process, although there are some immediate changes to how projects are approved, etc., that we could see the…