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Tyranny and Virtue Signaling at the Climate Summit by Editorial Board Capital Press, November 24, 2022

Every voice counts, unless it's in opposition
to the "clean energy" agenda.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee went to the U.N. climate conference at the Red Sea resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt to say that "regulatory reforms" are needed to prevent local opposition from stopping the siting of "clean" energy facilities.

Inslee seems more than willing to use regulatory force to stamp out opposition and upend the rights of local stakeholders to serve his agenda.

"I do believe we need some change because the nimbyism that we will now be facing will be prolific," he said.

Inslee made his remarks on a panel organized by the Climate Registry, a nonprofit that helped pay his trip to the U.N.'s 27th climate conference. He was there to tout Washington's progress on meeting emission goals and its fealty to the climate change agenda.

Nimbyism is a reference to the acronym NIMBY -- "not in my back yard."

For most Washingtonians, it could stand for "never in my back yard," for these facilities won't be sited in the urban areas that are clamoring for electric cars and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. They will be built on farms and ranches in Eastern Washington -- whether the people who live there like it or not.

Wind and solar projects have encountered opposition in Eastern Washington, including from several boards of county commissioners who are concerned about losing control of land-use decisions to the Inslee administration.

As well they should be.

Inslee said he will propose that Washington spend more money to speed up reviews of energy projects. Lawsuits and reviews without deadlines threaten to prevent timely approvals, he said.

"We've got to make decisions, and this will be controversial," he said. "We have to confront it. We have to succeed."

Energy companies can already bypass counties by applying to the Energy Facilities Site Evaluation Council. Most voting council members belong to the Inslee administration.

The Legislature this year, at Inslee's request, broadened the council's authority and made changes intended to shorten reviews.

Inslee has made numerous statements about the need to defend democracy from the nefarious forces that would rob Washingtonians of their voice.

"Democracy is served when more people participate. I'm proud to be able to say that Washington state is doing everything we can to help make sure that every community, every voice and every vote counts," he said, after signing a bill to increase voter registration.

Every voice counts, unless it's in opposition to the "clean energy" agenda. In that case, Inslee thinks a band of political appointees should be able to ram through any project that produces or transmits "clean" energy, regardless of the consequences.

Tyranny and virtue signaling all in one panel discussion. Stunning, yet somehow not surprising.