It's looking like a showdown at the OK Corral!

Gov. Jay Inslee is even disputing the EPA.  The governor has just sent a letter to state regulators taking issue with an Environmental Protection Agency study that shows implementing low-carbon fuel standards at this time in Washington state will increase fuel costs.

Newstalk 870 has reported on numerous occasions that because there aren't enough refineries and plants to produce this newer, low-carbon (pollution) fuel, we would have to "compete" with others for fuel from California.   Numerous sources have reported if Inslee uses an executive order to implement them this year,  your gas at the pump could climb as much as $1.00 a gallon.

Last fall Inslee signed an environmental pact with the governors of Oregon, California and the Premiere of British Columbia, Canada.  While NOT legally binding, the pact called for these parties to enact what are called  low-carbon fuel standards.  Inslee is treating the subject as if it's a legal requirement.   These new low-carbon fuels are far more costly than anything you see at the pump today.  They legally must contain far greater amounts of ethanol, bio-fuel products, and other alternative fuel additives.

 In fact, Inslee has made it so clear he wants to enact the standards,  a GOP legislator in the state House, Shelly Short from Addy, WA, has introduced a bill that would prohibit Inslee from issuing the executive order for the fuel! According to the Heartland Institute, the Washington legislature and Inslee formed a Climate Legislative Executive Workshop with the hopes of hammering out some sort of compromise on the governor's incessant pursuit of green energy policies.  From heartland.org:

 "...a low-carbon fuel requirement would impose costs of between $103 and $131 to reduce one ton of carbon dioxide emissions, translating to a price hike of $1.17 per gallon of gasoline. The report comes in at the low end of studies on the topic. According to the Washington Policy Center, a National Bureau of Economic Research report puts the cost in the range of $307 to $2,272 per ton.  This would amount to an additional $3 to $22 per gallon of gasoline."

Inslee, in his letter, refuted those arguments with one of the most incredible statements uttered by a public official, especially in light of critical data from the EPA! They're not exactly champions of cheap, low cost, fossil fuel energy:

“I don’t understand your contention that ‘my proposal’ would cost anything, let alone in excess of a dollar per gallon. What’s more, studies show that a properly constructed, clean fuel standard could actually save money at the pump,” Inslee wrote."

The Institute for Energy Research says many opponents of the Keystone XL Pipeline project are supporting low-carbon standards as a backdoor way to shut down oil imports entirely from Canada.

 

 

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