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OLYMPIA–Back in February 2020, I met Puddles, Washington state's first mussel detection dog, and her handler, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Sgt. Pam Taylor. A rescue dog from a shelter in California, Puddles, a Jack Russell terrier mix, was brought to Washington state in 2019 and trained to sniff out zebra and quagga mussels. The mussels are smaller than a thimble. In 2020, while working the boat check station on the Washington-Idaho border near Spokane, Puddles discovered i...
OLYMPIA–Several days ago, the Wall Street Journal issued a report about California's "soaring electricity rates." Average residential rates for investor-owned utility customers have surged by 72% to 127% over the past 10 years. About 2.5 million households in California are behind on their bills, averaging $733 in arrears. According to the Energy Information Administration, California has the second highest average retail price for electricity at $.22 per kilowatt hour. Fuel prices in C...
"The possibility of a global environmental apocalypse has been dominating headlines and exercises a powerful hold on the imaginations of millions of people," according to optimist and author Marion L. Tupy. Headlines of imminent catastrophe are resulting in public policy driving our nation and our state as well as many other western economies to the brink. OLYMPIA–The Clean Energy Transformation Act (CETA), passed in 2019, and the Climate Commitment Act (CCA) of 2021 form the architecture for t...
OLYMPIA–Rep. Mary Dye, R-Pomeroy, and ranking Republican on the House Environment and Energy Committee, issued the following statement in response to a news conference held by Gov. Jay Inslee today where he blamed the oil industry for sky-high fuel prices in Washington state. “Washington state has the highest gas prices in the nation because of the governor’s cap-and-trade program that took effect in January. Governor Inslee’s new climate mandate, which is the most expensive of its kind in the...
As you read this, House Bill 1498, approved unanimously by both the House and Senate, is on its way to the governor. This is the bill I authored that would ensure our local fire departments are reimbursed by the state when they deploy aircraft for an initial attack on a fire. It seems like common sense to get on top of a brush, grass, or timber fire when it's small, before it blows up into a catastrophic wildfire. Small fire departments, such as in Asotin County where Noel Hardin is the fire...
Too many Puget Sound lawmakers never look beyond their grocery stores to understand the struggle of our farmers to keep those stores supplied. It's why Sen. Mark Schoesler, Rep. Joe Schmick, and I work so hard in Olympia to advocate for our fellow farmers, educate those in power who have no clue about agriculture, and why we fight against policies potentially devastating to agriculture. We understand the importance of our state's agricultural industry, the jobs they provide in Washington, and...
OLYMPIA–There are some hard-core Western Washington groups that want you to believe that if we breach Snake River dams, it will boost our state's salmon population and we can save the Southern Resident Orcas from extinction. It's the old strategy of if you repeat something long enough, people will finally believe you. Even though dam removal would be devastating to our state's power grid, agriculture, and vital river navigation of wheat and other products. Here's what they won't tell you. P...
OLYMPIA–If you are among the thousands of people in Washington state that use natural gas, including 1.2 million residences, 107,000 commercial buildings and 3,500 industrial buildings, this article is for you! After passing a new low-carbon fuel standard last year and a cap-and-trade system through the new Climate Commitment Act, Gov. Jay Inslee is now focused on the next step of his climate policies: Eliminating the state’s natural gas industry. The governor’s first major salvo came last...
OLYMPIA–Rep. Mary Dye, R-Pomeroy, ranking Republican on the House Environment and Energy Committee, issued this statement Monday, December 13, following a press conference in which Gov. Jay Inslee rolled out his climate proposals for the 2022 legislative session: "In his opening remarks, the governor spoke of the dangers of climate change and his concerns about smoke in the Methow Valley because of wildfires, flooding on the Nooksack River that displaced families, destruction of hundreds of t...
OLYMPIA–Since first taking office in 2013, Gov. Jay Inslee has had little success pushing his carbon reduction schemes. Conservatives have been able to fend off the legislation, citing the extreme expense and harm to the state's economy with little results to show for it. But this year may be different. With a remote "virtual" session, in which lawmakers aren't next to each other in the same room, Democrats are emboldened to advance some very concerning bills, including a low-carbon fuel s...
OLYMPIA–We've seen a lengthy list of very contentious and unnecessary bills this session that would make it more expensive to work, live and raise a family in Washington state. The one that rises to the surface of most concerning bills is a measure that would impose a capital gains income tax in Washington state. Washington is one of nine states that has no income tax. In fact, Washington voters have rejected various forms of an income tax 10 times at the ballot, including six constitutional a...
OLYMPIA–You’ve heard about the city dweller who was asked, “Where does your meat and food come from?” His reply: “From the grocery store.” In Eastern Washington, we know better. These days, we wonder if our Seattle/Puget Sound environmental friends think the same when it comes to electricity. Q: “Where does your electricity come from?” A: “The electrical outlet, of course!” This is a simplified way to say a climate change agenda pushed by Gov. Jay Inslee to eliminate the use of all fossil fuels...
OLYMPIA–All five Republicans who serve on the House Environment and Energy Committee spoke out against a bill that would kill jobs in Washington and could wipe out an entire industry. When House Bill 1084 was brought up for a vote, Republican committee members Reps. Mary Dye, Mark Klicker, Peter Abbarno, Matt Boehnke, and Keith Goehner were unified in their remarks, laying out the damages the legislation would cause. The original bill would have prohibited the use of natural gas in n...
OLYMPIA–The environment is unquestionably important to every one of us who live, work and raise families in our beautiful state of Washington. It has also become a political hotbed of polar-opposite views between urban versus rural, Eastern Washington and the Puget Sound, and between Democrat and Republican lawmakers. Gov. Inslee has reintroduced his climate change policies–the same ones defeated year after year in the Legislature since he took office in 2013. And for good reason. They are exp...
OLYMPIA–Rep. Mary Dye, R-9, sponsored a bill that would study implementing a wild horse inmate training program, and her appropriation in the state supplemental operating budget to keep invasive species from being introduced in Washington, were among the 147 bills and appropriations recently vetoed by Gov. Jay Inslee. The governor took the unusual step of issuing the massive vetoes in an effort to save $235 million in the 2020 supplemental operating budget to address COVID-19 repercussions in t...
OLYMPIA–My first love of horses came at the age of 13 when we bought "Peanuts," a quarter horse bay for $250 and he became my long-lasting friend. I learned how magnificent these animals are. It takes time to gain their trust before they let you into their lives. Peanuts could sense my emotions. If I was having a difficult day, he knew and was careful around me. I learned something every day from this beautiful animal. Most importantly, he taught me to be calm in spirit. It was difficult to l...
WASHINGTON D. C.–"Mr. President, our farmers love you!" President Trump looked up, smiled, walked over to me and shook my hand. What a moment! It was the culmination of more than a year's worth of effort, seeking support from legislators in Olympia, our local governments, and especially from our farmers for the proposed United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). I have a deep love for agriculture. From growing up in Idaho, to studying plant science and crop management at the University of I...