Testimony in support of Cap and Trade Legislation

Last Thursday, March 12, I gave testimony before the Washington State Legislature House Appropriations Committee in support of Governor Inslee's proposed Cap and Trade legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. There was a packed hearing room and we each were limited to 90 seconds. Here's my testimony.

Chairman Hunter and members of the Committee: thank you for the opportunity to offer testimony on House Bill 1314.

My name is John Rosenberg. I am a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and I serve on the board of Earth Ministry, a statewide coalition of people of faith engaged in the stewardship of creation and advocacy on behalf of our communities and the environment.

Last Sunday, my wife and I worshipped at St. Benedict’s Episcopal Church. During the Prayers of the People, we prayed this prayer: “Give us all reverence for the earth as your own creation, that we may use its resources rightly in the service of others and to your honor and glory.” As I read over the provisions in the Carbon Pollution Accountability Act (HB1314), they look very much like a possible answer to that prayer.

You’ve already heard or will hear from others about how the Act dramatically cuts carbon pollution, thereby reducing its impact on climate change and global warming. At the same time, it generates much-needed revenue, builds the economy, strengthens communities, assists people who are hardest hit by carbon pollution, and protects public health. Those are all worthy features in themselves and make the act deserving of passage.

There are some who want us to believe that we can’t afford this legislation. But the fact is that the citizens in our state already pay a very high subsidy for carbon pollution in the form of climate change and its negative impacts. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has called attention to this reality.  In a recent speech, he said, “You show me a polluter and I’ll show you a subsidy. I’ll show you someone using political clout to escape the discipline of the free market by forcing the public to pay his production costs. That’s all pollution is.”

By holding corporate polluters to high standards in the same manner that many individual citizens of our state are already holding themselves to, HB 1314 removes the unfair subsidy all of us are currently forced to pay. In the process, we make it possible to honor our state’s statutory commitment to cutting carbon pollution. I urge you to support the Carbon Pollution Accountability Act. Think of it as an answer to a prayer!