Energy advocates charged up, but legislators divided over efficiency bill
A state senate committee heard testimony on HB 1100, a bill to set efficiency standards for battery chargers, on Tuesday.OLYMPIA — Look around an average home and you’ll find 11 battery chargers...
View ArticleEnergy Code Edits Run Out of Juice
Editor's Note: We're starting a semi-regular column on bills that couldn’t find majority support in Olympia and what their demise can tell us about state government. Follow all of InvestigateWest’s...
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Senate Committee Guts Inslee Plan to Clean Up Toxics in Fish
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee. Credit: Flickr/GovInsleeWith the feds pressing Gov. Jay Inslee to better protect consumers from toxic chemicals in fish, a Senate committee gutted a potentially pivotal bill...
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Budget-Cutters Take Aim at Key Puget Sound Projects
Puyallup River. Photo: Flickr/Eldan Goldenberg.Updated April 13, 2015, 4:20 p.m.In the little town of Orting, the Puyallup River spilled out of its banks during heavy rainstorms in 2006 and again in...
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Microbeads Ban Goes Down the Drain
Puget Sound. Photo: Flickr/Kris SymerLegislation aimed at reducing water pollution by phasing out plastic microbeads in products like toothpaste and cosmetics got a unanimous yes vote in the...
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Solar Power Expansion Legislation Caught in Political Crossfire
Rooftop solar panelsAfter nearly two months in legislative limbo, a bill has emerged that would subsidize solar panels for everyone. But it could be dragged down by political struggles, including a...
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Washington Senate Budget Draws on State Toxics Account to Avoid Tax Increases
State lawmakers visiting a toxic cleanup site in 2010. Photo: Flickr/Port of TacomaWhether you call it budget trickery or prudent financing, a politically divided Legislature continues to tussle over...
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Legislature Poised to Cut Firefighting Budget Despite Drought Threat
Hundreds of square miles in Okanogan County burned in July 2014. Photo courtesy of Rep. Joel Kretz.As massive flames swirled in the hot, dry winds of July, thousands of people rushed away from their...
View ArticleOil train bill could improve safety on rails, not on Puget Sound
Unable to escape visions of derailed oil trains burning ferociously out of control, Washington lawmakers knew it would be difficult for them to return home from Olympia this year without a new law to...
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Democrats Resurrect $1.2 Billion Version of Inslee Climate-Pollution Tax
Gov. Jay Inslee heard from energy and utilities executives during a "Climate Tour" in 2014.Photo: Flickr/Gov. Jay Inslee.With Supreme Court sanctions and a possible shutdown of state government...
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Washington budget boosts funding for most environmental agencies
Washington environmental agencies are set to receive at least a modest budget boost the next two years despite earlier concerns that court-mandated education spending would require cuts to...
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