SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Dori: Inslee using lightning-caused wildfires to push bogus carbon tax

Aug 21, 2018, 5:13 AM | Updated: 5:42 am

Jay Inslee is trying to engineer a multi-billion-dollar rip-off of taxpayers with the wildfires that are happening right now. As you probably know, lightning strikes started about 12 wildfires recently; most of the smoke we have here in the Puget Sound is from wildfires in British Columbia, along with some in the Cascades.

As I’ve pointed out, you can have absolute gridlock here in the summer, and if there isn’t a forest fire nearby, then the skies can be beautiful and pristine and clear as can be. But if a lightning strike causes a forest fire, then all of a sudden we are engulfed in smoke. It is proof that man’s role in carbon emissions is insignificant. As I’ve said before, carbon-based transportation represents about 100 years of the 4.5 billion years of our planet; a lightning strike and ensuing wildfire emits hundreds or maybe even thousands of times the amount of carbon of all of our cars put together.

But Jay Inslee, bizarrely, is using these wildfires as a reason why we should raise our taxes by hundreds of dollars in that bogus carbon tax that he wants us to pass this fall. “Unless we act, they will continue to be covered by this pall of smoke on their futures,” he said of our children.

RELATED: Time-lapse video from KIRO Radio studios shows Seattle blanketed by smoke

So if you raise taxes by billions of dollars, a lobbyist will slip some of that money to God, and he will stop lightning from hitting our state’s trees? None of this makes any sense. Inslee says that the wildfires are worse because we are tinder-dry. Actually, we’ve had wildfires caused by lightning strikes forever.

Inslee calls the carbon tax initiative a “very well-calibrated, sophisticated proposal which will give these kids cleaner air.” As I told you last week, the state gets $600 million from the tobacco companies per year, and they said they will use it to provide smoking cessation programs and anti-tobacco education. Well, the state is only spending $1.5 million on those things. The state would rather have people fill their lungs with smoke and their cells with cancer if the alternative is taking some of that money out of the general fund and spending it where they promised. Remember when they sold us on the state lottery? They said they would use that money to fund schools, but they hijacked that money and put it in the general fund; they would rather have crappy schools than to give up money.

So we’re supposed to believe today that if we pass a multi-billion-dollar carbon tax, it will go to clean air and clean water? No — it’s going to go to the general fund like everything else they do. And if you get suckered in again, that’s on you; I’ve been warning you forever.

FILE - Michael Davis, of Bellwood, Ala., picks up a sign supporting Doug Jones for governor after a...

Associated Press

Southern Democrats see hope for first time in years, seek to build on discontent of midterm voters

DOTHAN, Ala. (AP) — People crowded shoulder to shoulder upstairs in a south Alabama coffee shop, in a region sometimes called the reddest in the heavily conservative state. They were there to hear Doug Jones, the Democratic nominee for governor and the last Democrat to hold statewide office in Alabama. “Alabama has been under Republican […]

60 minutes ago

Associated Press

Roads flood in New Jersey, inundate some homes, as major signs of nor’easter take shape

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — More than 70,000 customers were without electricity in the U.S. Northeast on Saturday, the sign of a powerful nor’easter expected to create dangerous conditions through the weekend. Forecasters warned of gale winds that could down trees and heavy inundations that could put roads underwater. Tens of millions of people are in […]

1 hour ago

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., talks about the policies of President Donald Trump a...

Associated Press

House Democrats plan vast oversight of Trump administration. Impeachment is an option

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats are preparing a vast oversight agenda, with investigations of President Donald Trump, his family and his administration if the party sweeps control of the chamber from Republicans in the November elections. The undertaking is a robust as it is daunting, spanning several House committees. With majority power comes bigger budgets […]

1 hour ago

seattle police response times...

Gee Scott and Ursula Reutin Show

‘We’re chasing our tail’: KIRO hosts warn Seattle’s 911 response times reveal a problem no new chief can fix alone

Seattle's police response times raise concerns with KIRO hosts as they warn no chief can solve this issue alone.

1 hour ago

lindsay clancy government visits...

Jake Skorheim and Spike O'Neill Show

‘Do we really trust these people?’: KIRO hosts wary after Massachusetts governor announces home visits for newborns

Gov. Healey's viral soundbite made the voluntary program sound mandatory and Jake Skorheim said history suggests that's exactly where it could end up.

1 hour ago

parenting...

Katrina Guischard

The parenting advice going viral right now: be the pilot, not the passenger

An expert is challenging some of today's most popular parenting trends, and it's striking a chord.

1 hour ago

Dori: Inslee using lightning-caused wildfires to push bogus carbon tax