Inslee seeks cap on carbon emissions, evading Legislature’s ‘poison pill’

Gov. Jay Inslee, in a policy initiative reflecting his convictions, has directed the state Department of Ecology to develop a plan for a regulatory cap on carbon emissions and to increase enforcement of Washington’s existing pollution laws. The process of developing an emissions cap is expected to take about a year, placing the issue front and center in Washington’s 2016 race for governor. “Carbon pollution and the climate change it causes pose a very real and existential threat to our state,” Inslee said in a statement. Washington Governor Jay Inslee greets Aldebaran Hernandez, 14, and Jazmyne Carlin, 13, who worked on a study about asthma in the South Park neighborhood [...]