Good quick wrapup on wins and losses for the environmental movement in Olympia. While we didn’t get stormwater cleanup funding as hoped, we’ll be back. We need to continue to explain to lawmakers that funding cleanup of stormwater is a cost to oil users, not to pedestrians or bicyclists. The more oil you use, the more you need to pay for the cleanup of that oil from our waterways. We fund roads with taxes on gas, we need to fund the fallout from our roads on our environment the same way. Sort of common sense, but our writers of that gas law in the 20s didn’t envision cleaning up the environment with that money. And the conversion of culverts, etc, will be local jobs for heavy construction workers. This is a good local use of the tax dollars, IMHO.
4/14/10 Business Week
Wash. state session yields no hike on oil products
By PHUONG LE
SEATTLE
Environmentalists chalked up some victories this Washington state legislative session, but failed on a key measure to raise the tax on oil products to pay for stormwater cleanup.
Lawmakers passed the nation’s first ban on copper brake pads; approved a statewide program requiring light manufacturers to pay to recycle mercury; and banned the chemical bisphenol A from children’s drink containers and sports bottles.
But the most controversial proposal — to raise the state’s existing hazardous substances tax — didn’t make it out of the House before the state Legislature adjourned its special session Tuesday.
“It was touch-and-go there right to the end,” said Bruce Wishart, policy director for People for Puget Sound. “We just ran out of time.”
More at
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9F31U404.htm
Filed under: Government |
