For a couple of years, Washington State Governor Jay Inslee has been working to pass a rule to lower the state’s carbon footprint. But within the past week – right before he was to get the rule passed – a judge pumped the brakes on the whole operation
The judge in question – James Dixon – made the call that the rule would’ve given the government too much power in deciding how the state handles its emission of carbon. The basic idea of the Clean Air Rule was to force companies to lower their gas emission to a little under two percent. This rule helps some and hurts others. For companies that emit a lot of carbon into the air, like gas stations and any car manufacturer, this could be a huge hit for their productivity. So these people are quite pleased with the ruling.
Mary Catherine McAleer, a supporter of the Association of Washington Business – better referred to as the AWB – said, “For the purposes of carbon reduction, the rule has lost its relevance.”
However, others are quite upset about the ruling. Camille St. Ongee, an ecology spokeswoman, said, “We’re obviously disappointed. Our environment and infrastructure and economy are dependent on us reducing our greenhouse gasses. A decision like this does threaten our progress.”
Although it’s doubtful, there could still be an appeal in which at least some of the concepts in the Clean Air Rule get passed and put into place, but the possibility of that happening is small.
With all of this falling out of place so suddenly, the public is questioning whether Inslee will get elected for another term. This Clean Air Rule has been the pride of Governor Inslee for a long time, he’s bragged about it on multiple occasions to multiple types of people, calling it “the nation’s first Clean Air Rule, to cap and reduce carbon pollution.” Now that such a staple of his career has been taken away so suddenly, there is a question as to whether or not he will still be in office to see if the appeal goes through or not.