The bill to limit the amount of greenhouse gases produced by Washington’s industries is being debated in the Senate now.

“Why? Why would we send a message to our employers that a new, huge tax is looming?” said Sen. Janea Holmquist. “There is no rational company that would even consider moving to Washington knowing that we’re considering this.”

“This” is a cap-and-trade — or cap-and-tax — program that caps the amount of emissions that an industry is allowed, then allows trading or selling credits for more pollution.

A number of amendments were floated by opponents that would have thwarted the cap-and-trade measure. As it is, the bill creates a voluntary emissions reduction program and states the Legislature’s intent to make it mandatory in the future.

“This bill has seen many forms and died many deaths, but we’ve come back with something that I think we can say” addresses the problem, said Sen. Chris Marr.

Watch LIVE on TVW or at tvw.org. I’ll update as debate continues.

UPDATE: The Senate passed the bill. Now they’ve moved onto the home buyer’s warranty bill.

Tags: Cap and Trade, Environment, greenhouse

Van Jones, who is testifying in the Senate Environment, Water and Energy Committee now, said he was happy to be in Washington, a state that’s leading the way on “green” issues.

Jones is the founder and president of Green for All, a national organization that works to put low-income people to work on green jobs.

“Literally everything that is good for the environment is a job,” he said. “Solar panels don’t install themselves.”

Jones says that in a green economy, “the math is different. You don’t just count what you spend, you count what you save.”

“You are in a unique situation very rare in American history. This is one of those moments, like the civil war, like the New Deal, like the 60s — civil rights and women’s rights — literally in that era, when our grandkids are going to study what you did,” he said.

“This assembly will be studied. Now, the question is, are we going to do something truly transformative? Are we going to turn this breakdown into a breakthrough?”

He said the way to do that is to use green jobs as a springboard into a new economy.

Tags: economy, Environment, Van Jones

Here’s Governor Chris Gregoire’s full press conference from earlier today. That quote comes near the end.

Tags: Environment, Governor, Green jobs

Earlier this month, the Department of Ecology told the Senate Water, Energy and Telecommunications Committee that improving the environment would dovetail with efforts to improve the economy. But The Associated Press reports today that the Governor may not see things the same way in light of the $5.7 billion projected budget deficit for 2009-2011.

The Climate Change Task Force, which Gov. Chris Gregoire assembled last year, unveiled their plan for climate change legislation on Monday.

Their findings recommend a Cap and Trade system, which would cap Carbon emissions and require certain industries to buy or trade emissions credits.

But:

Concerned about the bad economy and pressure on businesses, Gregoire is leaning toward giving away most of the pollution credits, rather than auctioning them off as environmentalists had hoped.

(more…)

Tags: Cap and Trade, Emissions, Environment, Governor