Mar 5, 2013: Climate action study bill and transportation news

This week's news:

• Governor Inslee is testifying this morning (Tuesday) in favor of a climate action study bill. (At its core is a proposal for the state to commission a rigorous review of carbon reduction policies in other states and provinces.) Please contact your state legislators and encourage them to support the bill!
• In transportation news: Sightline's Eric de Place has a great post on what's wrong with the House transportation bill. That bill is still alive in Olympia but it faces increasingly long odds, including "strong voter opposition" according to a just-released Elway Poll. (The full poll results are here, and I can't help but notice a parallel with climate: the public favors action but doesn't want to pay for it.) Also worth reading is this Transportation Issues Daily post about unfair expectations regarding incoming WSDOT secretary Lynn Peterson.
• We're hoping to make more progress in the weeks ahead on the transportation front, but also on the idea of linking carbon taxes to education funding (or to a 100% revenue-neutral tax reform). Stay tuned!
• In federal news, Senators Bernie Sanders and Barbara Boxer have a tax and dividend bill that is pretty awesome (but faces daunting odds given the gridlock in DC) and Sightline's Anna Fahey has two good posts on polling and messaging: American Support for a Carbon Tax and Climate Message Essentials for All Six Americas.