Congresswoman ill-informed

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers has recently been demonstrating her basic lack of understanding when it comes to major issues facing this country.

Recently on Fox News and other forums she announced that her party would enact legislation to “prevent the EPA from implementing cap and trade.” This rhetoric played well with many conservatives; however the statement is misinformed at best.

The EPA intends to regulate output of CO2, a greenhouse gas. Cap and trade is an entirely different mechanism that was developed on a bipartisan basis and narrowly failed to be enacted in the last Congress.

Cap and trade legislation would establish a single comprehensive, economywide climate policy. As drafted it would protect the economy and consumers with a reasonable ceiling on the price of emissions.

Unfortunately, the EPA is now preparing to step in without the economic protections that were built into cap and trade. This is the direct result of divisive party-line politics.

We should expect our representative to be informed and look beyond party talking points. Regrettably, McMorris Rodgers is not meeting this expectation.

Hugh Imhof

Pullman