PORT ANGELES — Democrat Jay Inslee was excited after concluding a one-day swing through Clallam County as part of his campaign for governor.
“This is one of the most dynamic places in the country!” he exclaimed during a brief pit stop at The Blackbird Coffeehouse in Port Angeles.
Accompanied by aides and state Rep. Steve Tharinger, D-Sequim, a former Clallam County commissioner, he said he was impressed about what he had learned during his visit — citing high-tech Angeles Composite Technologies Inc. in Port Angeles and wind power research being done by the Sequim Marine Research Operation for Battelle-Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
Composites corridor
“I’m especially impressed by the plans to establish an Olympics Composite Corridor of manufacturers and the training and educational work to support this at Peninsula College,” said Inslee, 61, a former seven-term congressman from Bainbridge Island.
“This is exactly the forward-kind of thinking that I wrote about in my book [Apollo’s Fire: Igniting America’s Clean Energy Economy, published in 2007].”
Inslee was in Port Angeles and Sequim on Thursday, two days after he met in Spokane with Republican Rob McKenna, the state attorney general, for their first televised gubernatorial debate.
During the debate, Inslee opposed the two-thirds rule for the state Legislature to raise taxes.
McKenna supports the two-thirds rule and is fighting in court to save the requirement.
“The people who run Olympia are too ready to raise taxes too often,” McKenna said.
Inslee said the two-thirds requirement violates the principle of one man, one vote by giving too much power to tax opponents.
Recent polls show that McKenna and Inslee are locked in a close race.
They are seeking to replace Gov. Chris Gregoire, a Democrat who is not seeking a third four-year term.
Three local issues
While at The Blackbird, Inslee was asked about three local issues:
■ Does he support the biomass facilities under construction at Nippon Paper Industries USA’s Port Angeles mill and at Port Townsend Paper?
“I support biofuel development. But obviously, these projects must meet air-quality rules, air standards. Biomass, wind, solar — done properly, they are efficient and reduce our carbon footprint. It’s what we need to do.”
He noted that he has been campaigning on plans to encourage job growth through tax incentives to high-tech startup companies and making Washington a leader in “clean energy” and other new technologies.
■ To what extent does he support Rep. Norm Dicks’ compromise plan on the Wild Olympics proposal?
“It’s moving in the right direction [taking plans off the table to add about 30 square miles of private forest land to Olympic National Park]. It’s a matter of consensus. The goal remains to preserve the best part of the Peninsula.”
■ Do you support the state Department of Ecology’s proposed Dungeness Water Management Rule?
“I’m sorry, but I’m not really up on this enough to comment. I’m not familiar with the specifics.”
Tharinger gave Inslee a quick overview and noted there is a public hearing about its proposed regulations at Sequim’s Guy Cole Convention Center in Carrie Blake Park beginning at 5 p.m. Thursday, June 28.
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PDN Publisher and Editor John Brewer can be reached at 360-417-3500 or at john.brewer@peninsuladailynews.com
