Washington Governor's Climate Change Executive Order (In Lieu Of Legislation) To Be challenged In Court

From The American Spectator:

Washington State's Climate Exec Order Challenged


By Paul Chesser on 7.21.10 @ 2:05PM



Today the Evergreen Freedom Foundation's Constitutional Law Center announced they would, on behalf of Washington State taxpayers, sue Democrat Gov. Christine Gregoire because last year she issued an executive order implementing climate change measures that the Democrat-run state legislature had rejected.



“We believe Gov. Gregoire’s climate change executive order is an unconstitutional order,” said Michael Reitz, director of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation’s Constitutional Law Center, who represents the taxpayers in this case. “Gov. Gregoire violated the doctrine of separation of powers by snatching a failed bill out of the legislative process and issuing it in the form of an executive order. If the governor wants to pass laws, she’s in the wrong branch of government.”



Indeed, Gregoire is such an Unconstitutionalist (as a former attorney general, she should know better) that she admitted openly last year she wanted to circumvent Washingtonians' elected representatives, telling the Los Angeles Times, "I wanted cap-and-trade. I didn't get it."



Used to using threats to get what she wants, she instead used the hissy fit measure at her disposal and forced the state Department of Ecology to redirect hundreds of thousands -- if not millions -- of dollars from budget-authorized air quality programs to her global warming agenda. Among her directives were to join the wasteful Western Climate Initiative, force private business to report their emissions, and develop a low-carbon fuel standard. Kind of like her own, self-created EPA endangerment finding.



She's about as far out in left field as she can get, as the Washington Policy Center environmental director Todd Myers explained. "Her party controls both chambers, ... and they still wouldn’t pass it," he said. "When you’re pushing policy over the wishes of people in your own party, I think that’s very dangerous.” Even more so when you consider her approval ratings, although this is not an election year for her.