Inslee mentioned for Cabinet post despite his promise

Whether running for president or running for governor, Gov. Jay Inslee has made fighting climate change the central issue of his campaigns.

“There is much work to be done in our nation and in our state and around the world of saving the health of our people against the scourge of climate change,” Inslee said at a news conference the day after the election.

Now there are reports President-elect Joe Biden has Inslee on his short list to lead the Department of Energy.

KC Golden was the state’s first energy policy director.

“He is remarkably familiar with all of the technologies, and the economic models, and the policy models that underlie this clean energy transition and drive this clean energy transition,” Golden said.

Golden said Biden adopted much of Inslee’s climate blueprint.

“The instruction manual is all there. And he wrote a lot of it and has a tremendous amount of experience actually delivering on it in Washington state,” he said.

At its core, the largest role of the Department of Energy is building and securing nuclear weapons, including managing nuclear weapons sites like Hanford.

Golden points out it also includes Bonneville Power, which generates much of the Northwest’s Electricity.

“So it’s a great place to be for leading the clean energy transition that is at the heart of the climate challenge. So it’d be a natural for him,” he said.

But there’s the question Inslee’s been asked ever since he took on the third term as governor: Will he serve the full four years?

“Yes, that’s my intention, and that’s what I would do,” he said while leaving the presidential race in August of last year.

We asked him again at the beginning of October, “Will you serve out a full four-year term if reelected?”

“Yes,” Inslee replied.

And after Biden was declared the winner on Saturday, Inslee was asked again.

“Well, I’d certainly take the call because I’m an admirer of his. But right now, I’m making sure I’ll be governor. … I am committed to this job,” Inslee said.

There is no response from Inslee today, but an aide said he has not been contacted by Biden’s transition team.

Cox Media Group