A carbon fee initiative (Initiative 1631) to combat climate change and transition Washington to a low-carbon future is poised to qualify for the November ballot. Boosters were able to secure more than 375,000 signatures blasting past the 259,222 necessary. The initiative comes on the heels of state legislators–who spent much of the 2018 legislative session dithering over how a carbon fee program should be structured and cutting deals with lobbyists–failing to come to agreement on whether or not to enact a carbon fee, despite strong support and a formal proposal by Governor Jay Inslee (D-Washington).
The carbon fee, if approved, will generally apply to all large emitters of carbon pollution in the state, which are loosely defined as utility providers using fossil fuel energy sources, sellers of motor vehicle gasoline products, oil refining facilities, and other sellers of fossil fuels. Consumers, by extension, will generally pay the cost of the fee through higher priced products that are carbon-intensive. The fee is designed to be pigovian by internalizing the negative social and economic costs that carbon has on our environment and diminish consumer use of carbon-intensive products over time. The fee will also be used to further aid rapid transition to a low-carbon economy and mitigate impacts to vulnerable communities.
Proponents tout benefits of the carbon fee to include the creation of 40,000 green energy-related jobs, a 20-million ton reduction in carbon emissions per year, and a healthier state.
Headed to Olympia to turn in signatures. Then headed to the ballot in November! pic.twitter.com/9DPHnqPWiy
— Yeson1631 (@yeson1631) July 2, 2018
