Carbon-fee proposal might be put to Washington voters

SEATTLE — Washington state voters will likely decide in November whether to charge industrial emitters a fee for their carbon pollution, the latest effort yet to pass a carbon-pricing measure to fight climate change.

A broad, diverse coalition of tribes, community, labour and environmental groups said they have gathered enough signatures to put a “carbon fee” measure on the ballot. It comes two years after voters in this state rejected a carbon tax that would have been the first in the U.S.

Sponsors of Initiative 1631 said it would hold corporate polluters accountable. Money raised from fees would be spent on strategies that reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, including projects for renewable energy, forests and other natural resources.

Critics warned that implementing a fee would raise gasoline and energy prices on consumers, calling it a massive tax increase on families that expands government while negligibly reducing overall global carbon emissions.

Supporters on Monday delivered 375,000 petition signatures to the secretary of state’s office in Olympia. The campaign will need nearly 260,000 valid voters’ signatures to be certified for the ballot.

Washington state has been on the forefront of policy to curb greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming. But carbon-pricing efforts backed by Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, and other lawmakers haven’t gained much traction. Inslee proposed but failed to get support for a carbon-tax bill in the most recent legislative session.

Now, environmental, community, faithbased and other groups — some of whom lined up against the carbon tax measure that failed in 2016 — see this citizens’ initiative as the best opportunity to tackle climate change.

The proposal would charge $15 US per tonne on carbon emissions starting in 2020, raising about $1 billion. It targets about 100 industrial emitters such as oil refineries and natural gas power plants.