In a meeting Last Friday, Governor Gregoire gave direction to House legislative staffers working on the controversial I-937 legislation. ( The legislation, passed in the Senate earlier this session, currently rolls back the requirements of the initiative’s renewable energy mandates.)
Environmentalists, up in arms about the Senate bill, were happy with what Gregoire said: the House version had to scale back drastic amendments the Senate had made to the voter initiative—amendments that allowed hydro and conservation measures to count toward the renewables goal and also upended the goal by allowing utilities to use a lower standard based on a utilities load increase. (Confused? I explain it in English, here.)
Today, green lobbyists are nervously pacing around the cafeteria waiting to see the “striker” language that the House committee comes up with. The language will frame the debate this Wednesday when the bill is scheduled to go in front of the House energy committee at 8am.
On a related note: Environmentalists were not happy with Gregoire’s attempt to strengthen the limp carbon cap bill that passed the senate. Gregoire testified in front of the House last week, urging lawmakers there to take a more serious approach. However, when Gregoire’s staff came up with their recommendations on Friday, environmentalists were reportedly ready to abandon what they perceived as a weak bill that did little to improve on the senate version.
