Jay Inslee: Washington's 1st Congressional District
Issues
Environment
Jay, a member of the House Natural Resources Committee, has been a longtime environmental advocate. Below is information on his efforts in Congress to preserve and protect the environment:
| Inslee files targeted climate bill, calls for House action this year |
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[ 31 July 2008 ] At a clean-energy exposition on Capitol Hill, U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee unveiled targeted climate legislation he hopes Congress will pass this year. |
| Author of Bristol Bay bill renews call for protection |
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[ 8 April 2008 ] U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee, the author of the Bristol Bay Protection Act, panned the Bush Administration for announcing it would open 5.6 million acres of the salmon-rich bay to oil and gas development. |
| House recognizes America Recycles Day |
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[ 13 November 2007 ] The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution authored by U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee to federally recognize the goals and mission of America Recycles Day. |
| Landmark mining-reform bill clears committee |
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[ 23 October 2007 ] Today the House Natural Resources Committee, a panel on which U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) serves, approved comprehensive legislation that would reform the anachronistic law that has governed hardrock mining on public lands since 1872. It included two key provisions authored by Inslee. |
| Scientists, members of Congress object to politicized spotted owl recovery plan |
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[ 2 October 2007 ] Today, 113 scientists and 23 Democratic members of Congress called on the Interior Department to scrap a controversial draft recovery plan that would reduce federally protected habitat for the northern spotted owl and start from scratch to create a new plan using sound science. |
| Inslee goes on offensive on tailpipe emissions |
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[ 18 July 2007 ] Until now, U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) has been fighting to keep provisions that would prevent states from setting strict vehicle-emission standards out of a broad energy package that is expected on the House floor as early as next week. Today, he went on the offensive by introducing legislation that could clear the way for Washington and other states to set limits that are more aggressive than current federal standards. |
| Inslee, Cantwell reintroduce bill to protect roadless areas in national forests |
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[ 24 May 2007 ] U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee and U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell reintroduced bipartisan legislation to protect 58.5 million acres of roadless national forests, including two million acres in Washington state. The Inslee-Cantwell legislation would protect the nation’s few remaining non-wilderness roadless forests from commercial development by reinstating the Clinton-era roadless rule. |
| Measure filed to protect polar bears from trophy hunting |
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[ 15 May 2007 ] In the last 10 years, over 800 polar bears have been killed by hunters to decorate American homes. U.S. Reps. Jay Inslee and Frank A. LoBiondo filed legislation in the House that would end the practice and help stop the decline of the iconic marine mammal, now threatened by global warming. |
| Inslee to Kempthorne: Take Bristol Bay off the table |
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[ 30 April 2007 ] U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee made the following statement in response to Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne’s announcement that Alaska’s Bristol Bay will be included in the administration’s five-year plan to expand oil and gas drilling in federal waters. |
| House ok’s green building amendment |
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[ 25 April 2007 ] Under a measure authored by U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee that was approved unanimously in the House, small businesses across the nation could apply for loans to reduce the environmental impact of their operations. |
| Bipartisan coalition files bill to protect Bristol Bay |
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[ 19 April 2007 ] U.S. Reps. Jay Inslee, Wayne T. Gilchrest and Maurice Hinchey introduced legislation aimed at protecting Alaska’s salmon-rich Bristol Bay. |
| Wilderness bill clears major hurdle in House |
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[ 7 March 2007 ] The House Natural Resources Committee today approved legislation that would establish the first new wilderness area in Washington state in over twenty years. |
| Lawmakers push feds on polar bears, global warming |
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[ 27 December 2006 ] Thanks to pressure from conservationists, including a group of lawmakers, the Department of Interior acknowledged global warming and took initial steps toward saving polar bears from extinction. |
| Inslee calls for investigation of political appointees at Interior |
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[ 30 October 2006 ] U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee wants to know if politics have trumped science in the Bush Administration. He’s asked the inspector general at the Interior Department to find out if political appointees have changed recommendations on threatened species written by biologists at the federal agency. |
| Inslee on reinstatement of the roadless rule |
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[ 20 September 2006 ] U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee made the following statement on the decision of a California judge to reinstate a Clinton-era ban on road construction and logging in almost 60 million acres of federal land. |
| House approves $1 million for Puget Sound restoration |
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[ 24 May 2006 ] Late in the evening, the House passed a bill that would fund a wide range of civil-works projects, including $1 million to help restore Puget Sound. |
| Funding restored for university logging study |
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[ 9 February 2006 ] One day after U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee called for an investigation into a Bureau of Land Management decision to suspend funding for an ongoing study by an Oregon State University graduate student, the agency reversed course and restored the federal research grant. |
| Health Care for Hybrids op-ed |
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[ 8 February 2006 ] We can put this country on a real path towards energy independence, and we can start with the biggest oil addicts in America today -- the cars we drive. |
| Feds ax university study on logging |
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[ 7 February 2006 ] U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee wants to know if the Bureau of Land Management pulled funding from a study being conducted by a graduate student at Oregon State University (OSU) because findings didn’t support the administration’s position on logging. |
| Oil spill experts advance discussion on Puget Sound protections during forum |
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[ 12 December 2005 ] Experts from Washington state and Alaska discussed ways to improve oil-spill prevention and maintain limits on oil-tanker traffic in Puget Sound during a forum in Seattle. Local official U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee announced during his keynote address that he’ll file legislation in the House aimed at preventing spills during the oil-transfer process and decreasing spill response time. |
| Plan to privatize federal land meets growing opposition |
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[ 2 December 2005 ] U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee met with opponents of a scheme to privatize millions of acres of public land across the West to discuss how the plan pending in Congress would impact Washington state. |
| Inslee calls for higher oil spill prevention and response standards |
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[ 18 October 2005 ] U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee cited an oil spill that occurred in his district on Oct. 17 as another reason why House leaders should implement new spill prevention and response measures in a bill that sets funding levels for the U.S. Coast Guard. |
| Lawmakers keep limits on oil tanker traffic in Puget Sound |
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[ 6 October 2005 ] Lawmakers from Washington state won a victory in their fight to maintain longstanding limits on oil-tanker traffic in Puget Sound. U.S. Reps. Dave Reichert, Jay Inslee, and Norm Dicks convinced House leaders to remove language from an energy bill that would reverse a 28-year-old federal law credited with reducing the risk of oil spills in the region. |
| Inslee continues fight to keep limits on oil tanker traffic in Sound |
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[ 30 September 2005 ] U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee today announced plans to continue his fight to keep strict limits on oil tanker traffic in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound, during a meeting in Seattle with local leaders who say a major spill could devastate the environment and industries in the region. Inslee will offer an amendment in the House to keep on the books a 28-year-old federal law that caps oil tanker traffic in these waters. |
| Restoring Roadless Area Protections |
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[ 28 July 2005 ] U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) and Science Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) introduced legislation today to restore protections to roadless areas in America’s national forests. Earlier this year, the Bush Administration repealed the Clinton-era Roadless Area Conservation Rule to allow road building in 58.5 million acresof wild and pristine forests. Inslee's National Forest Roadless Area Conservation Act will reinstate and codify the protections to the roadless areas that were designated in the widely popular Roadless Rule. |
| Restoring Coastal Zone Funding |
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[ 15 June 2005 ] Today, U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee fought to restore important Coastal Zone Management (CZM) grant funding by offering an amendment during the House consideration of the Science, State, Justice and Commerce Appropriations bill. Inslee’s amendment would roll back budget cuts to the CZM grant program by increasing the coastal program’s funding by $5 million dollars. |
| Opposing Proposal to Store Spent Nuclear Fuel at Hanford |
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[ 24 May 2005 ] U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee announced that a bill that passed the House today includes a dangerous provision that would allow the Department of Energy (DOE) to explore storing spent nuclear fuel at Hanford Nuclear Reservation, and other sites throughout the country. |
| Keeping Washington State Shellfish Safe |
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[ 19 May 2005 ] U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee vowed today to fight the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s attempts to weaken waste water standards that would harm the Washington State shellfish industry. |
| Opposing Repeal of Roadless Rule |
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[ 5 May 2005 ] U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee joined environmental leaders in expressing opposition to today’s decision by the Bush Administration to repeal the widely popular Roadless Area Conservation Rule. In response to the President’s decision, Inslee announced he will soon reintroduce his National Forest Roadless Area Conservation Act to codify the protections to the roadless areas that were designated in the Clinton-era Roadless Rule. |
| Promoting Graduate Studies in Marine Science |
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[ 10 March 2005 ] U.S. Reps Jay Inslee (D-WA), Vernon Ehlers (R-MI) and four other Members of Congress introduced legislation to provide a federally-funded scholarship program for graduate students to study marine sciences in areas for which the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recruits. Inslee’s National Marine Scholarship Act will address current shortcomings in our national university system’s ability to attract graduate students into marine sciences and an anticipated shortfall in the number of future ocean professionals. The legislation also encourages marine science participation by minority students and other groups that have traditionally been underrepresented in scientific fields. The bill provides $5 million annually for partial or full scholarships in graduate marine studies, and scholarship recipients will be required to temporarily work for NOAA following graduation. |
| Working to Increase Firefighting Funds for National Forests |
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[ 9 March 2005 ] During a House Resources Forests and Forest Health Subcommittee hearing today U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee questioned UnderSecretary of Agriculture Mark Rey about the President’s budget cuts to fighting fires in national forests. Inslee expressed to Secretary Rey his opposition to the reductions of $75 million dollars in the president’s budget for forest firefighting operations and urged the Secretary to renew $500 million dollars in emergency funding. |
| Preserving Pristine Character of National Petroleum Reserve |
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[ 1 March 2005 ] U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee and nineteen other Members of Congress sent a letter to Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton expressing concern over an upcoming Bureau of Land Management (BLM) final decision that is anticipated to open up a large portion of the of the pristine National Petroleum Reserve, Alaska (NPR-A) to oil drilling. |
| Wild Sky Bill Reintroduced |
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[ 16 February 2005 ] U.S. Reps. Jay Inslee (WA-01) and Rick Larsen (WA-02) renewed efforts to create a new wilderness area in Washington State, something that has not been done in two decades. Larsen reintroduced the House version of the bill today with Inslee listed as an original cosponsor. Inslee and Larsen were pleased to see the Senate version of the Wild Sky bill clear a major hurdle today when the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee unanimously approved the bill - the last step necessary before a full Senate vote. |
| Climate Stewardship Act Reintroduced |
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[ 10 February 2005 ] U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee joined Senators Lieberman and McCain, and Congressmen Olver and Gilchrest during a press conference to announce the reintroduction of the Climate Stewardship Act. Inslee is an original cosponsor of this legislation, which will set a nationwide standard for heat-trapping pollution responsible for global warming, while creating a market-based system encouraging maximum technological innovation and profitable opportunities for companies to cut emissions. |
| Inslee Co-Chair of House Oceans Caucus |
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[ 27 January 2005 ] The House Oceans Caucus named U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee as a co-chairman of the group today. “The ocean is a vital part of Washington State’s identity and I will use my leadership to educate others on the issues important to our region, from the effects of global warming on the marine ecosystem to sustaining healthy fisheries and improving our tsunami warning system.” |
| Point Wells Oil Spill Report |
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[ 10 December 2004 ] This morning, U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee convened a meeting in Seattle to discuss the Coast Guard’s recommendations presented in a Point Wells oil spill incident report. Some of the Coast Guard’s recommendations based on the oil spill include: (1) investigating the possibility of deploying oil containment booms around vessels prior to transferring low flammability fuel oil to or from vessels (known as pre-booming), (2) having Foss Maritime incorporate procedures to properly maintain its overfill alarm system . . . |
| Roadless Rule Deadline |
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[ 15 November 2004 ] Today marks the final day of the extended public comment period on the Bush administration's proposal to repeal the widely popular 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, and to instead permit logging and road-building in 585 million acres of our pristine national forests. |
| Nuclear Waste Deal |
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[ 8 October 2004 ] U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee expressed concern today that the deal reached by conferees on high-level nuclear waste language in the Department of Defense authorization bill (H.R. 4200) sets a dangerous precedent by allowing the Department of Energy (DOE) to reclassify high-level waste in some states. This would allow the DOE to reclassify high-level nuclear waste so it can be subjected to less-stringent requirements for clean-up and storage. |
| Wild Sky Bill |
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[ 23 September 2004 ] Today U.S. Reps. Jay Inslee and Rick Larsen again pushed for a vote in the Resources Committee on a bipartisan Wild Sky compromise bill, which would provide the highest-level protection possible for the proposed Wild Sky wilderness area. Unfortunately, Committee Chairman Richard Pombo (R-CA) cancelled the scheduled vote on this compromise bill today. |
| 40th Anniversary of Wilderness Act |
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[ 21 September 2004 ] Inslee spoke to people from around the country who gathered at the U.S. Capitol to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Wilderness Act. He called for wilderness protection for more of America’s special wild places. |
| Nethercutt Should Stop Undermining Wild Sky Wilderness |
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[ 15 September 2004 ] U.S. Reps. Jay Inslee and Rick Larsen expressed exasperation with U.S. Rep. George Nethercutt’s introduction today of new legislation that purports to protect wilderness areas in western Washington, but which actually undercuts years of bipartisan efforts to designate Wild Sky Wilderness. Nethercutt’s bill would not protect 13,300 crucial lowland acres. His bill makes up a new classification for the lowland areas, and allows three more years to pass before development plans for that area must be explained. Nethercutt’s explanation for his bill seems to be that House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo (R-California) will not allow the widely-supported Wild Sky Wilderness Act to a vote unless its protections for local wilderness areas are gutted. |
| Supporting Roadless Areas of Our National Forests |
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[ 14 September 2004 ] U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee spoke at a press event to announce the phenomenal results of efforts to mobilize Americans against the administration’s plan to permit logging in 58.5 million acres of pristine National Forests. Several groups joined together to hold a convention-style event on the Ellipse in front of the White House. |
| Upholding the Roadless Area Conservation Rule |
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[ 22 July 2004 ] U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) and 118 Members of Congress sent a letter to President Bush today expressing concern about the Administration’s recent decision to repeal the widely popular Roadless Area Conservation Rule. The letter to the President expresses the Members’ opposition to the new proposal to open up additional acres of pristine roadless areas in our national forests to logging. |
| Victory for Hanford Low-Level Nuclear Waste Cleanup |
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[ 23 June 2004 ] Washington, DC -- U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee (WA-01) announced today that the Department of Energy (DOE) has relented to Congressional pressure to bury and store low-level radioactive waste in safely lined facilities, rather than bury it in un-lined, open soil landfills, which is currently the practice at Hanford and other nuclear repositories across the nation. |
| Protecting Endangered Species Habitat |
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[ 14 May 2004 ] In response to inaction by the Bush Administration to implement the Endangered Species Act (ESA), U.S. Rep Jay Inslee (D-WA) today chastised Interior Assistant Secretary Craig Manson for misleading Congress by failing to issue a long promised guidance to his fish and wildlife managers. |
| Hanford High-Level Waste |
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[ 6 May 2004 ] U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) expressed approval today that the House Armed Services Committee followed the recommendation of Inslee and his colleagues to reject the Department of Energy’s (DOE) attempts to reclassify high-level waste at Hanford Nuclear Reservation and other DOE sites around the country. Inslee spearheaded a bipartisan letter to the Committee requesting that they not include language allowing the DOE to reclassify high-level nuclear waste. |
| Protecting Roadless Forests |
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[ 5 May 2004 ] U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee, other Members of Congress and environmental groups marked the three-year anniversary of Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman’s pledge to uphold the 2001 Roadless Rule with a press event today on Capitol Hill. The event coincided with a release of a series of reports on the dangers of an expected Administration plan to significantly alter the Roadless Rule. |
| Innovative Global Warming Legislation Introduced |
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[ 30 March 2004 ] U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee joined twenty other Republican and Democratic Congressmen, as well as Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Joe Lieberman (D-CT), to introduce first-of-its-kind House legislation to fight global warming. The Climate Stewardship Act (HR 4067) will set a nationwide standard for heat-trapping pollution responsible for global warming... |
| Opposing Changes to Northwest Forest Plan |
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[ 24 March 2004 ] U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee expressed concern today over the Bush Administration’s recent changes to the Northwest Forest Plan. Late Tuesday, the Administration made two major alterations to the Northwest Forest Plan: |
| Keeping Politics Out of Science |
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[ 11 March 2004 ] U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee (WA-01) joined several other Members of Congress today in calling for the withdrawal of a proposed new regulation that would distort the use of scientific studies conducted by federal agencies by subjecting the studies to political review... |
| Storage of Radioactive Waste |
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[ 5 March 2004 ] Today U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee sent a letter to the Department of Energy (DOE) expressing dismay about the Department's apparent intent to break its commitment to use lined trenches to store low-level radioactive waste at Hanford this year. Instead, the Department’s current plan (found in this month’s Environmental Impact Statement) is to continue storing radioactive waste in unlined trenches at Hanford until the end of 2007... |
| Opinion on Energy Independence |
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[ 23 January 2004 ] President Bush's proposal to focus our resources on sending humans to Mars is intriguing, but it is not the most compelling reason that Americans ought to focus our interest on the Red Planet... |
| Puget Sound Oil Spill Cleanup Efforts |
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[ 1 January 2004 ] On December 30, 2003, oil from a barge spilled into Puget Sound near Point Wells, north of Seattle. The 4,800 gallon spill drifted to Kitsap County, where it poses a danger to the local shellfish beds.U.S. Rep. Inslee observed the cleanup efforts at Jefferson Point (just north of Bainbridge Island on the Kitsap Peninsula) with members of the Department of Ecology, the Suquamish Tribe and Foss Maritime. |
| Energy Saving Legislation Reintroduced |
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[ 18 November 2003 ] U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee re-introduced the "Home Energy Generation Act" (H. R. 3509), legislation designed to help consumers save on their electricity bills. The legislation was referred to the House Committee on Commerce, Subcommittee on Energy and Power... |
| House Passes Inslee Bill on Radioactive Waste |
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[ 2 October 2003 ] The House of Representatives debated and voted to pass Inslee’s motion to tell House members of the Energy Conference Committee not to allow any changes to the definition of high-level radioactive waste by a unanimous voice vote... |
| Inless Assured On Hanford Nuclear Waste |
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[ 5 September 2003 ] U.S. Reps. Jay Inslee (D-WA), Doc Hastings (R-WA) and David Hobson (R-OH) yesterday received assurances from Department of Energy Assistant Secretary Jessie Roberson that low-level nuclear waste at Hanford would soon be buried in properly lined trenches. |
| Inslee's EPA Funding Amendment Passes House |
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[ 25 July 2003 ] The House of Representatives today passed an amendment introduced by U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee that will help to better enforce our nation’s environmental laws by restoring funding for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) enforcement division. For the third year in a row, the Bush administration has significantly reduced funds for enforcement personnel at the EPA, which already lacks the resources to take polluters to trial. Inslee’s amendment restores the funding for key EPA enforcement personnel... |
| Wide Support for Roadless Amendment |
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[ 18 July 2003 ] U.S. Reps. Jay Inslee, Jim Davis, and Ellen Tauscher introduced an amendment yesterday to the Interior Appropriations bill that would have preserved the Roadless Area Conservation Rule through FY2004. The administration has recently announced its intention to exempt the Tongass and Chugach National Forests from the rule and allow Governors to make management decisions on federal lands. The Inslee amendment, which late last night received 185 votes, twenty of which were cast by Republicans, would have prohibited the administration from pursuing these changes. |
| Commitment from House Leadership on Hanford Waste |
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[ 18 July 2003 ] U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee obtained a public commitment today from House Energy and Water Appropriations Chairman David Hobson (R-OH) that he would work with Inslee to speed up the use of lined trenches for disposal of low-level nuclear waste at Hanford. |
| The Safe Disposal of Low-Level Radioactive Waste Act |
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[ 19 June 2003 ] U.S. Reps. Jay Inslee, Adam Smith, and other members of the Washington delegation introduced legislation today to require the Department of Energy (DOE) to bury low-level radioactive waste in safely lined facilities, rather than bury it in un-lined, open soil landfills, which is currently the practice at Hanford and other nuclear repositories across the nation. Today’s legislation, the “Safe Disposal of Low-Level Radioactive Waste Act,” H.R. 2508, requires the use of safely lined facilities by the end of 2003. |
| Inslee Critical of Changes to Roadless Rule |
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[ 9 June 2003 ] U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee today criticized the Bush administration’s moves to undermine the Roadless rule. The administration announced that the U.S. Department of Justice and the State of Alaska would settle its challenge to the Roadless Rule in Alaska, providing for exemption of the Tongass and Chugach National Forests from the rule. |
| Re-introducing Legislation to Protect Forests |
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[ 6 June 2003 ] U.S. Reps. Jay Inslee (D-WA), Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) and other Members and environmental groups announced today the introduction of the National Forest Roadless Area Conservation Act at a "Roll-Out" event on Capitol Hill. This bi-partisan legislation, supported by over 150 original cosponsors, will make the “Roadless Rule” into federal law. U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and John Warner introduced companion legislation in the Senate today as well. |
| Inslee Energy Amendments Pass Resources |
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[ 2 April 2003 ] Inslee’s three energy amendments passed today in the House Resources Committee. The first amendment creates standards and a process for wind energy generators to locate on Bureau of Land Management lands, thereby streamlining what is now a very complicated and ill-defined process... |
| Roadless Bill Would Counteract Administration's Proposal |
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[ 28 March 2003 ] U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee announced that he will re-introduce the National Forest Roadless Area Conservation Act this spring in order to counteract, among other things, today's announcement by the Bush Administration that it plans to permit logging and logging roads in the Tongass forest. |
| Climate Change Testimony |
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[ 7 January 2003 ] U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee testified today at a Climate Change hearing, during which the McCain-Lieberman plan to require U.S. industries to reduce emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases was be unveiled. Some of Inslee's remarks follow... |
| Court Decision to Lift Roadless Rule Injunction |
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[ 12 December 2002 ] U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee applauded the decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit today to lift the court's injunction on the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. Said Inslee... |
| Udall and Inslee Release Report Clarifying Forest Fire Debate |
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[ 4 September 2002 ] U.S. Reps. Jay Inslee and Tom Udall (D-NM) released a report, "Comparison of Two Government Reports on Factors Affecting Timely Fuel Treatment Decisions," which explains the discrepancies between the recent fuel reduction statistics released by the U.S. Forest Service and by the General Accounting Office. |
| Forest Service Credibility |
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[ 26 July 2002 ] U.S. Reps. Jay Inslee and Tom Udall (D-NM) sent a letter to U.S. Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth requesting that the agency explain its use of misleading data used to blame forest fires on environmental groups and allow the timber industry to commercially log more trees. The Forest Service report was criticized for its omission of critical information. |
| Defending Environmental Laws |
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[ 26 June 2002 ] U.S. Rep. Inslee defended national environmental laws from accusations made by officials in the Bush administration that forest fires are caused by environmental appeals of forest thinning projects. |
| Calling for Climate Change Summit |
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[ 6 June 2002 ] Following the Bush administration’s release of a new climate change report, U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee and U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman called on the administration to convene a summit with House and Senate leaders to develop an effective climate change policy addressing the very threats outlined in the administration’s report. |
| Roadless Forest Legislation |
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[ 5 June 2002 ] U.S. Reps. Jay Inslee (D-WA) and Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) announced the introduction of their National Forest Roadless Area Conservation Act today at a roll-out event on Capitol Hill. This bipartisan legislation, already supported by over 170 original cosponsors, will make the "Roadless Rule" into federal law. |
| Earth Day 2002 |
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[ 22 April 2002 ] Update on legislative issues: roadless forest areas, global climate change, mining reform and old growth forest. |
| Letter to Forest Service Chief Re: Northwest Forest Plan |
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[ 15 Nov 2001 ] Read Inslee's letter to Dale Bosworth, Chief of the Forest Service, regarding ecosystem restoration activities in our mature and old growth forests. The letter is about policy changes in the watershed restoration program. Please note: You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader software to view and print this letter; download the free software here. [ download the pdf ] |
| Successful Energy Amendment to Banking Bill |
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[ 31 October 2001 ] Inslee successfully added an amendment to the Export-Import Bank Re-authorization Act. The amendment says that the Ex-Im Bank should invest no less than 5% of all energy related assistance to renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. As you may know, since 1996 the Ex-Im Bank has not provided ANY assistance for renewable energy projects, so this basement percentage is an improvement. Inslee's language did NOT include hydroelectric energy in its definition of "renewable energies." Inslee's amendment passed by voice vote. |
| Successful Amendments to the Energy Security Act (H.R. 2436) |
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[ 17 July 2001 ] Two of Inslee's amendments to the Energy Security Act were successfully passed by voice vote in the Committee on Resources. The amendments dealt with energy efficienct in federal agencies, and a solar and wind power study. |
| Inslee Mining Amendment Passes House |
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[ 21 June 2001 ] The Inslee-Horn amendment passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 216-194. Said Inslee, "This vote margin shows that neither Democrats or Republicans can support this administration's anti-environmental stance on issues like clean and safe water." The amendment will block funds from being used to revise or rescind current hardrock mining rules protecting public lands. |
| Higher Fuel Economy Standards for SUVs |
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[ 10 May 2001 ] Today, U.S. Representatives Jay Inslee, John W. Olver (D-MA), Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD), Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), and Nancy Johnson (R-CT) introduced legislation that would raise Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for Sport-Utility Vehicles (SUVs) and light trucks. |
| Environmental Standards for Mining Operations |
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[ 9 May 2001 ] U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee joined mining reform advocates at a press conference on Wednesday, May 9, 2001 to call on President Bush not to roll back environmental and taxpayer protections on the hardrock mining industry.Twenty citizens from around the West whose lives would be affected by the rollback in safeguards also attended. |
| Roadless Area Event in Seattle, WA |
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[ 4 May 2001 ] U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Bainbridge Island), the Washington Association of Churches, Washington Wilderness Coalition and the Sierra Club were quick to criticize the Bush administration's roadless areas decision today. The Bush Administration announced a plan to leave the National Forest Roadless Rule in place, but rewrite it to increase logging, mining and drilling at the local level. |
| Ban Alaskan Oil Exports |
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[ 16 March 2000 ] U.S. Reps. Jay Inslee, Peter DeFazio (D-OR), George Miller (D-CA), and Brian Baird (D-WA), joined other lawmakers today to call for reinstatement of the ban on Alaskan oil exports. The Congressmen are urging the President to reinstate the ban in order to immediately address escalating oil prices. |