SPOKANE, Wash. — Washington voters will see multiple initiatives on their ballots this election season, and one of those three is Initiative 2117.
This initiative aims to repeal the 2021 Washington State Climate Commitment Act, a state law that provided a "cap and invest" program designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 95% by 2050.
The program sets a cap on the total carbon emissions within the state and forces businesses with emissions that exceed 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year to purchase allowance permits equal to their emissions.
This cap was designed to allow businesses that reduce their emissions to sell off any remaining allowance permits to other companies, incentivizing companies to lower their emissions.
The passing of Initiative 2117 would prohibit state agencies from implementing any cap and trade or cap and tax programs.
What are supporters saying?
Supporters of Initiative 2117 say the tax is what makes Washington’s price of living one of the highest in the nation, alongside California.
Initiative sponsor, State Representative Jim Walsh, said, "This cap and trade gas tax scheme is what is making Washington’s price of living the highest in the nation alongside California. This cap and trade gas tax scheme has created over $1.5 billion for Olympia bureaucrats in this year alone – paid for by working families – and it doesn’t actually reduce emissions. ... It punishes working families and doesn’t actually reduce emissions in our state. People still need to drive to work, and go to the grocery store, and drop kids off at school, and heat their homes. It doesn’t just stop at our cars. It’s directly driving up the price of our groceries and other goods in the supply chain. And it is driving up your home utility costs."
What are opponents saying about the initiative?
Those opposing Initiative 2117 say the program is the solution to lower transportation costs by incentivizing companies to find ways to move away from fossil fuels.
Michael Mann, the executive director for Clean and Prosperous Washington, said, "If we are concerned about the cost of transportation for Washington businesses and residents, we have to keep our focus away from the arm-waving of the variations of gas prices that we’ve suffered through for decades and really look to true solutions. And the true solution to lower our transportation costs is to get off of fossil fuels.”
For the full Initiative text and more details on who opposes and supports the initiative, visit this Ballotpedia webpage.