Gov. Jay Inslee (D., Wash.) acknowledged Tuesday that greenhouse-gas emissions have increased during his gubernatorial tenure.
When Inslee announced his presidential campaign, he said it's because he's the only candidate who will make "defeating climate change our nation's No. 1 priority." On MSNBC's All In Tuesday, he attributed the increase in Washington emissions to the 130,000 people who moved to the state.
"We have taken big steps. We've now built a wind turbine industry to $6 billion. We're the most per-capita, biggest users of electric cars. We're spinning carbon fiber to go into electric cars. I just got to cut the ribbon of our largest solar farm, and we're making bio-fuels—you can fly airplanes on biofuels now," Inslee said. "We need to do more."
MSNBC host Chris Hayes did not appear convinced by the list of environmental steps Inslee was listing off.
"Doing a lot is not enough. This is the whole problem with this problem. I have been hearing you're doing a lot for a long time. They've got to go down," Hayes said.
"What do you say to someone who says, 'Look, you've had the chance to bring emissions down in your state and you haven't done it. How the heck are you going to do it with a Republican Senate maybe or in the even-more-difficult-to-manage federal government?'" Hayes asked.
Inslee, who has been serving as the governor since 2013, said Washington voters have finally given him a Democratic majority in the legislature, where they have proposed several bills to "move the needle" on decreasing emissions in the state. He went on to say he hopes Hayes has him on his show in a couple months so they can "pop the champagne corks" to celebrate the progress they will have made.
Inslee went on to talk about the importance of getting rid of the filibuster in Congress, saying it will only stop Democrats from "saving the planet." He said jettisoning the "antiquated" filibuster is "absolutely necessary if we're going to defeat this beast."
The Seattle Times reported earlier this year that that emissions increased about 6.1 percent between 2012 and 2015.