XPost: seattle.politics, alt.law-enforcement, or.politics   
   From: a425couple@hotmail.com   
      
   Democrat Gov. Inslee lied when he said,"it would cost only “pennies.”   
   key is   
   Gov. Jay Inslee rejected my estimate, claiming it would cost only   
   “pennies.” His administration even went so far as to ban utilities from   
   showing the cost of the CO2 tax on home heating bills.   
   When the tax was put in place in 2023, The Seattle Times editorial board   
   noted there was “a palpable jump in the cost of gas in Washington,”   
   increasing prices about 40 cents per gallon last summer, the highest in   
   the nation.   
      
   from   
   https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/yes-on-i-2117-to-repeal-cli   
   ate-commitment-act/   
      
   Yes on I-2117 to repeal Climate Commitment Act   
      
   Sep. 22, 2024 at 12:00 pm Updated Sep. 22, 2024 at 12:00 pm   
   It is clear that the CCA will be yet another expensive policy that does   
   little for the planet while wasting money on political agendas, writes   
   the author. Pictured is Let’s Go Washington’s Gas Price   
   Rollback in Federal Way on Aug. 29, 2024. (Erika Schultz / The Seattle   
   Times)   
      
   It is clear that the CCA will be yet another expensive policy that does   
   little for the planet while wasting money on political agendas, writes   
   the author. Pictured is Let’s Go Washington’s Gas Price Rollback in...   
   (Erika Schultz / The Seattle Times)More   
   By Todd Myers   
   Special to The Seattle Times   
      
   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.   
      
   Related No on I-2117 to retain Climate Commitment Act   
   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.   
      
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   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.   
      
   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 the cost of the CO2 tax on home   
   heating bills.   
      
   When the tax was put in place in 2023, The Seattle Times editorial board   
   noted there was “a palpable jump in the cost of gas in Washington,”   
   increasing prices about 40 cents per gallon last summer, the highest in   
   the nation.   
      
   Despite that pattern of dishonesty, some still believe we can trust   
   politicians to competently fight climate change. That is wishful thinking.   
      
   In The Seattle Times editorial board debate on I-2117, Rep. Joe   
   Fitzgibbon admitted there is no system for tracking the results of   
   government programs funded by the CO2 tax. Instead, he said, the   
   spending is based on the “democratic process” of politicians picking and   
   choosing.   
      
   That politicized approach has failed repeatedly. Washington’s CO2   
   emissions consistently increased for a decade until 2019. After that,   
   the Inslee administration — in what is a pattern of hiding bad   
   information — stopped releasing the data.   
      
   The city of Seattle missed its 2020 emissions goal, even with the   
   COVID-19 shutdown. King County is worse, with countywide CO2 emissions   
   falling only 6% between 2007 and 2020, far short of the goal of 25%, and   
   that is with COVID.   
      
   For politicians, this system is fantastic — raking in billions of   
   dollars to spend on special interests with zero accountability for   
   repeated failures to deliver environmental results.   
      
   For the planet, it is a mess.   
      
   Supporters claim the CCA’s emissions cap law guarantees CO2 reductions.   
   That is another false hope. If Washington sticks to its existing CO2   
   cap, total state emissions would have to decline by the equivalent of   
   two COVID economic shutdowns in just the next six years. That would be   
   an economic disaster. That is why Fitzgibbon and other politicians are   
   already promising to make arbitrary changes to the cap if it is   
   politically useful.   
      
   There is a better way: Put power in the hands of innovators and people,   
   not politicians.   
      
   Across the political spectrum, many who previously supported political   
   solutions to climate change have turned to innovation. Many companies   
   developing those innovative solutions are right here in Washington   
   state, from smart meters built in Spokane to AI tools in Redmond and   
   Kirkland. Remarkably, the CCA actually bans many of these innovations as   
   a tool to meet the state’s CO2 goals.   
      
   Rather than locking us into a failed environmental path, voting “yes” on   
   I-2117 not only eliminates a regressive tax and reduces high energy   
   costs at a time of inflation, it gives Washington a chance to choose a   
   path that prioritizes our planet over politics.   
      
   Todd Myers is the Washington Policy Center’s vice president for research   
   and a member of the Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Center.   
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