Liberal Talk Radio

Typically, Washington State environmental groups oppose transportation packages that dedicate too much money to roads and not enough (in their opinion) to transit. This forms a potent coalition of green Western Washingtonians and anti-tax, anti-Seattle Eastern Washingtonians that can kill most major highway initiatives, like Referendum 51.

This time around, things are different. In the wake of R-51’s failure, the legislature this year (now in the hands of Democrats) passed the 9-cent per-gallon gas tax that R-51 would have provided. The mix of projects hasn’t changed that much, but all of a sudden, the enviros are on board! They’re also working to defeat I-912, which would repeal this tax. What happened?

The Seattle P-I explains:

“It was a real attempt to work together, to get away from the roads vs. transit mentality,” said state Rep. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, who chairs the state House Transportation Committee. “The environmental community was willing to say, ‘We support roads if we address some environmental issues.’ “

So they bought off the enviros with the promise of animal safety, in the form of animal bridges across I-90, and some HOV lanes. I have to say, I’m skeptical. I’m a green voter myself, but I’m voting No on 912 not because it satisfies my Green thirst, but rather because it’s time to get started actually DOing something about our transportation needs. I have to think that this has weighed on a lot of other people’s minds as well. I-912 support seems to be fading, which is a good thing.