Greenhouse Gas Relief Bill Pt 1

Greenhouse Gas Relief Bill Pt 1

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
I'm Bob Larson. A new bill in the state House of Representatives would provide regulatory relief from greenhouse gas emissions rules for producers of agricultural commodities and food products.

Representative Jacqueline Maycumber introduced House Bill 1985 ...

MAYCUMBER ... "We are taxing every industry and when we tax an industry like the ag community everything from planting seeds to harvest to transport of the products, what happens is that industry breaks down. It shuts down and it leaves. For example, the asparagus industry in Washington state. We now buy our asparagus from South America, when it was a huge commodity in the state of Washington."

Maycumber says it's not really an environmental issue ...

MAYCUMBER ... "So, Washington state is a leader when we talk about apples, and wine, and dried grains and to tax that industry from beginning to end has nothing to do with the environment and has everything to do with taxes."

So, what does the bill do?

MAYCUMBER ... "My bill says, listen, if shut down an industry like asparagus, wine, grain, we're still going to purchase those products. Well, let's talk about the carbon pollution of those products from point-source. So, if we're buying our asparagus today from South America, how much carbon was released all the way from South America to transport it to Washington to still purchase it?"

She says we've done things like this before and patted ourselves on the back for things that did nothing but forced us to buy the same products from somewhere else.

Listen tomorrow for more on this legislation that would be a big boost for agriculture in Washington state.

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