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Inslee acts to cap carbon emissions

After being stymied on climate policy in the Legislature, Gov. Jay Inslee announced he’s pressing ahead with executive action to impose a cap on carbon emissions.

Frustrated by legislative inaction on climate, Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday announced executive action to impose a regulatory cap on carbon emissions in Washington state.

Inslee directed the state Department of Ecology to step up enforcement of existing state pollution laws and develop the emissions cap — aimed at enforcing greenhouse-gas reduction targets that have been in state law since 2008.

“Carbon pollution and the climate change it causes pose a very real and existential threat to our state,” Inslee said in a news release.