Talking with Washington State Legislators-Pollet — Read The Dirt Read The Dirt

Talking with Washington State Legislators-Pollet

by: Simon Davis-Cohen Posted on: August 26, 2012

Editor’s Note: We asked our state legislators a lot of questions, below are Representative Gerry Pollet’s answers to two of them.

Name: Representative Gerry Pollet

District: 46

Party affiliation: Democrat

With the “budget crisis”, numerous environmental laws are under attack. What is an existing law that is being threatened that protects both our environment and future economic stability? Explain.

The State Environmental Policy Act is under attack. It is the most basic environmental law requiring that the environmental impacts of projects and plans are considered and, sometimes, mitigated. Without consideration of impacts from many projects to ground and surface waters, for example, we will destroy this precious resource as it gets scarcer and scarcer.

In what ways is the Washington State Legislature dependent on the Federal Government to address environmental and natural resource issues?

Washington State should continue to be a leader in protecting our health and environment, and not depend on federal law. In many instances, Washington laws are more protective, and the federal government requires that agencies and others follow the stricter state law.

We depend on federal funds for cleanup and protection of waters, such as Puget Sound. Without federal mandates, it is likely that the State would constantly defer meeting goals to eliminate discharges or to attain clean air in various parts of the State.

Thank you for your time,

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