Jolt
GOP: The People vs. The Environment
It's not just blue collar Democrats who think environmental issues are a bit elitist. At Tuesday's Republican response to Gov. Chris Gregoire's state of the state speech, Rep. Charles Ross (R-14, Yakima) had bad news for environmentalists.
Asked if the GOP agreed with a Gregoire budget item to fund Puget Sound clean up [a $297 million spend], Ross, the Republican's assistant minority floor leader (ooooh, watch out!), said:
Of course, there are blue collar Democrats who are for funding environmental programs. (Environmental problems disproportionately plague lower-income communities.) We have written about the labor-enviro caucus many times–the Blue Green Alliance.
Afternoon Jolt has a call in to Rep. Tami Green (D-28, Tacoma), a labor Democrat member of the Blue Green alliance, to get a response to Ross' dramatic statement.
Environmentalists were hit with the same problem last year—namely, that the green agenda doesn't feel urgent (and even feels bourgeois) during a recession. But they don't buy it. The environmental agenda they argue, isn't just about retrofitting buildings, it's about retrofitting the economy with green collar jobs.
“Leaders [in Olympia] talk about the green energy sector,” environmental lobbyist Cliff Traisman told PubliCola last year. “Well, that economic strategy is us.”
Asked if the GOP agreed with a Gregoire budget item to fund Puget Sound clean up [a $297 million spend], Ross, the Republican's assistant minority floor leader (ooooh, watch out!), said:
What is your number one priority as a legislator? Is it the people of the state or is it the environment? Our environment is in a tremendous position comparatively to the rest of the states in the nation. We can and should afford take a pass on big environmental programs and continuing down that road of massive protection orders because frankly, the people matter more and are more important to us that this table, I can assure you.
Our message is, 'We choose the people.' We're hoping to see a dialogue that shows ways we can direct money that currently is spent in capacities that are not life and death and that can be reallocated to help sustain those who are the most needy.
Of course, there are blue collar Democrats who are for funding environmental programs. (Environmental problems disproportionately plague lower-income communities.) We have written about the labor-enviro caucus many times–the Blue Green Alliance.
Afternoon Jolt has a call in to Rep. Tami Green (D-28, Tacoma), a labor Democrat member of the Blue Green alliance, to get a response to Ross' dramatic statement.
Environmentalists were hit with the same problem last year—namely, that the green agenda doesn't feel urgent (and even feels bourgeois) during a recession. But they don't buy it. The environmental agenda they argue, isn't just about retrofitting buildings, it's about retrofitting the economy with green collar jobs.
“Leaders [in Olympia] talk about the green energy sector,” environmental lobbyist Cliff Traisman told PubliCola last year. “Well, that economic strategy is us.”
