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Interview With Representative Jay Inslee

Tuesday 22 July 2008

by: Simona Perry, t r u t h o u t | Interview

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Representative Jay Inslee (D-Washington). (Photo: www.house.gov)

    Representative Jay Inslee (D-Washington), inspired by John F. Kennedy's 1961 Apollo Project - with the ambitious vision of putting humans on the moon - believes that if the people of the United States are given a goal, the hope and the motivation, they, not just government, will lead the way in solving one of the most pressing environmental issues of our time: global warming.

    In Truthout's interview with Inslee, his faith in American entrepreneurs and innovation is evident. If given the chance, he believes entrepreneurial, innovative spirit will break through our nation's dependence on fossil fuels and begin to create a "clean energy revolution."

    On June 27, three days after this interview, Rep. Inslee introduced into Congress the Renewable Energy Jobs and Security Act which proposes to provide financial incentives to electric utility companies for the development and purchase of more renewable sources of energy.

    When asked what he will do, as a member of Congress, to respond to the political interference and manipulation of science that has been a trademark of the George W. Bush administration, Inslee says, "first off get a new president." And, secondly, Inslee calls upon all political parties - Republicans, Democrats, Progressives, Independents, Greens - to embrace "science" in looking for non-partisan solutions to global warming.

  

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Simona Perry is currently finishing her PhD research into the politics and sociology of environmental restoration and hazardous waste clean-ups. She previously served as a biologist and policy analyst with the federal government, conducting research and writing regulations and policy documents on endangered species. She is a reporter and a senior editor at Truthout.

Comments

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This was an excellent

 Tue, 07/22/2008 - 18:45 — M. Mitchell (not verified)
This was an excellent interview. Jay Inslee is very informed (and enlightened) about clean energy and he seems like a leader who can facilitate change on both sides of the aisle. He is so right -- it is not politics but science that needs to lead us to a clean energy future. I wish Inslee well.

Actually Simona's

 Wed, 07/23/2008 - 14:54 — Paul Gipe (not verified)
Actually Simona's description of Inslee's bill is incorrect and I hope he corrects her. The bills does not "provide incentives" to utilities. The bill provides payment per kWh to the owners of renewable energy generation. This not a subsidy or an "incentive". It is far simpler, more direct, more equitable, and less costly than subsidies, tax credits or "incentives". Feed-in tariffs, like those proposed in the bill pay homeowners and businesses for their renewable electricity--and they pay a fair price.

I'm in Jay Inslee's

 Thu, 07/24/2008 - 00:30 — Todd Boyle (not verified)
I'm in Jay Inslee's district, and I don't like his support for military ideology, Boeing, the bases, military and fiscal support of Israel, and war culture around Seattle. And he has voted YES on some crucial military appropriations since 2003. I've been following the Apollo Energy project since 2004. Alternative or sustainable energy are such an obvious idea that Inslee is just getting in front of a very large parade, in order to pretend to lead it. Inslee's Apollo project is a classic pork bill, all about MORE energy and NOT about conservation (which inherently, does not generate money or power in politics). Congress really has made no contribution to sustainability, actually harming it by artificially suppressing oil prices, dismantling CAFE on SUVs, etc. Congress has NO credibility on this. If they were sincere, they would slap higher taxes on gasoline, Windfall profits taxes on the oil majors, and heavy taxes on CO2. Inslee invited Gal Luft to speak at the Apollo Energy launch in 2004 at the federal building in Seattle. An Israeli war strategist Luft gave a scorching speech about future wars with the arabs, china and everybody else, over OIL. gee thanks Gal. (Google for videos of Luft and Inslee together, they hang around a lot.) Your biggest error is not downsizing the military complex. The converse of this is insufficient attention to the need to construct a social services industrial complex, which would have the same sorts of permanent jobs and patronage as the existing, viable government-industry complexes. This doesn't happen automatically, quickly enough to avoid a massacre in 2008 or 2010 or 2012 when the existing complexes regroup and retake the hill. You also neglected the most critical problem in the domestic economy today: reform of transportation. I think you need much smaller, lighter, automated vehicles and the thing holding it back is no rights of way. One lane of all major highways and arterials should be subdivided into two lanes 5 foot high/wide. Vehicle makers would almost immediately provide great vehicles for this. The form factor so small you could make *very cheap* elevated trackways, automated parking garages, overpasses at every major intersection, hurray! the end of red lights for most people. Finally, you need look *very* carefully at the Apollo Energy project. It has some good aspects but its very long on the supply side, very short on structural reform or conservation, and very hard on the environment in its biofuels constituency. And it has a military constituency in there, weaving their evil webs. We can do a lot better. Todd