With the state's economy in a tailspin, and facing a rapidly deepening budget deficit, you'd think that Washington's legislature would rein in their instincts and refrain from business destroying mischief. But you'd be wrong.
 
With the encouragement of Governor Christine Gregoire, Washington's legislature took another step toward imposing an onerous carbon "cap and trade" system that will force many employers and taxpayers out of business or out of the state.

Now, to quote The One, Lord Barack Obama, a carbon cap and trade system will force electrical power rates to, in His words, "necessarily skyrocket." Now, does that sound like a prescription for reviving a sluggish economy? And except for The One, who proposed a carbon cap and trade as part of his 2010 budget, Democrats in that other Washington lost their enthusiasm for a carbon cap and trade system when the economy tanked. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) won't even bring it up until at least midsummer. And Nancy Pelosi (D-Imagination Land) says that the House of Representatives won't look at cap and trade until at least Christmas. And back benchers from both parties in both houses of Congress don't see it happening at all in the current economic environment.
 
It's hard to believe that Washington's legislature is less in touch with reality than the Congress.
 
A wise man learns from his mistakes. But a really smart man learns from the errors of others and does not repeat them. California's environmental extremism has created within that state one of the nation's most hostile business environments. For example, California would like to generate electricity for a series of enormous solar arrays. But simply acquiring the permits to build the power transmission infrastructure required to connect those generators to California's electrical grid will require up to ten years.
 
Is it any wonder that skilled workers are fleeing the state in droves and businesses are shuttering their doors or simply fleeing? Intel, one of the original Silicon Valley companies, just announced plans to build $7 billion worth of new manufacturing facilities - in other states.
 
Here in Washington, Food Services of America moved to Arizona to escape Christine Gregoire's new taxes, imposed in 2005. Boeing is considered likely to move its manufacturing facilities out of Washington entirely within ten years to a  more business friendly environment somewhere in the south. And with  Rome burning, Governor Gregoire wants to make Washington's business environment even more hostile with a discredited cap and trade system.
 
There are two likely reasons why Washington lawmakers are pursuing a cap and trade system. First of all, they imagine that they can skim revenue off these schemes to help them with their budgets. Barack Obama fantasizes that his administration will reap tens of billions of dollars from carbon trading. This assumes that carbon cap and trade will not stifle economic growth, which it certainly will. The other likely reason probably has to do with campaign contributions. Christine Gregoire's political history informs us that she rewards campaign contributors. Washington's labor unions, teachers unions, and Indian casino operators have all reaped huge rewards for their donations. Is there such a thing as a Republican carbon credit trading company?
 
Sadly, neither Washington seems capable of learning from Europe's experience, where carbon cap and trade systems have failed miserably.
 
If Republicans were clever, and that qualification eliminates most of them, they would latch onto Dartmouth College professor Michael Dorsey. Dr. Dorsey, an assistant professor in Environmental Sciences, was just awarded a $300,000 grant from the Ford Foundation to study the "the racial and social inequities that occur in addressing climate change."
 
According to Dr. Dorsey, "preliminary evidence shows that carbon cap and trade programs are having little effect on climate change, and this and other market-based environmental programs often exacerbate the vulnerability of poor and marginalized communities." To summarize, carbon cap and trade systems disproportionately harm the poor.
 
I know this sounds a bit like the old joke about the imaginary Washington Post headline, "World to End Tomorrow, Poor and Minorities Hardest Hit," but just think about who is likely to be hit hardest by a weak economy and high energy prices. Remarkably, early last year, the Post itself published a digest of studies concluding that nothing helps the poor and minorities as much as a robust economy, which is precisely the opposite of what environmental regulations accomplish.