We knew it was coming. The moment lawmakers tried to get clever and thought they could gain support for a Low Carbon Fuel Standard (House Bill 1091) and Cap and Trade (Senate Bill 5126) by linking the policies with a future transportation tax package, it was clear what the governor would do – veto the restriction.

Never mind the fact it appears to be illegal to do this. But since he has previously issued questionable line-item vetoes, there was never any doubt that he would do it again to secure his top environmental priorities without any conditions. That’s exactly what Gov. Jay Insle...