Rep. Dan Kristiansen says DOE clean air plan could cost jobs

January 9, 2016

As lawmakers prepare to head into the 2016 session, they are already talking about the controversial carbon pollution plan put forth by the Department of Ecology this week.  On both sides of the aisle, they are crying foul.  And they're pointing fingers at the governor.Ruth Johnson reports from Olympia.

Johnson: The draft rule calls on the state's biggest polluters to cut carbon emissions by five percent every three years.  House minority leader Dan Kristiansen of Snohomish says it'll mean a loss of jobs in a state that can ill afford it.

Kristiansen: “Of the 39 counties, only two have unemployment rates below the national average.  The rest are all, in some cases, double the national average of unemployment.  And this will continue to remove job opportunities around the state.”

Johnson: The DOE was directed by the governor to come up with a plan after lawmakers last session declined to act on his 'cap-and-trade' system.  If companies do not comply, they could face daily fines up to 10 thousand dollars until they do.  Says Kristiansen: “The cost to the state, which already has one of the lowest carbon emission rates in the nation, will be much higher than that.”

In Olympia, I'm Ruth Johnson.