If voters vote “no” on Initiative 2117 , they will lock in place a badly flawed and highly politicized system that even its supporters admit does not make reducing CO2 a priority. At its core, the argument for keeping Washington’s expensive and wasteful tax on CO2 emissions, known as the Climate Commitment Act, is that “Climate change is a crisis, and we should trust politicians to solve it.” It is a strategy that should be absurd on its face. It becomes more absurd when we consider the miserable record of Washington state politicians at cutting CO2 emissions. This fall, Washingtonians will decide how to vote on Initiative 2117, which would repeal the state’s steeply regressive CO2 tax — the largest energy tax in state history. Some admit the very high cost, but argue it is worth it to do something about climate change. I have supported efforts to reduce the risk from climate change for two decades. It is clear that the CCA will be yet another expensive policy that does little for the planet while wasting money on political agendas. https://m-download.invintus.com/9375922947/b4aa01339fc87dbea575034c9c9d2d195a015174.mp4 The good news is that there is a way to cut CO2 emissions that is effective and accountable and is already used by innovators like Microsoft. Advertising Skip Ad Skip Ad Skip Ad How can I be certain the CCA will be an expensive failure? Because there has been a consistent pattern of political dishonesty and environmental failure among tax supporters. For example, before the CO2 tax took effect, using basic math every other climate economist uses, I predicted it would add about 46 cents to the cost of a gallon of gasoline. Gov. Jay Inslee rejected my estimate, claiming it would cost only “pennies.” His administration even went so far as to ban utilities from showing […]
Click here to view original web page at www.seattletimes.com