Photo of Legislators Goes Viral After Pushing Along Carbon Tax

The picture was first posted on Facebook by former Gubernatorial candidate Bill Bryant (GOP) and has since spread rapidly. It came from a social media post about the Carbon Tax bill moving forward.

The picture shows Democratic State Senators Reuven Carlyle and Guy Palumbo (Seattle, Snohomish County) and Kevin Ranker (Orcas Island) appearing to be celebrating and some say 'giddy' about voting to send a proposed Carbon Tax to the Senate Ways and Means Committee. They were key movers in getting the bill to go forward.

In layman's terms this means it's cleared an important hurdle by a vote of 6-4. It's the first time any such carbon tax has even come to a vote in the Senate. The bill is a toned-down version of Gov. Inslee's proposal. It would kick in most of it's provisions by 2020.

According to a variety of sources, Inslee's original bill would have raised average household electricity prices about 5%, and the price of a gallon of gas would go up about $.18 cents.  Even with a 'toned-down' version of this bill, gas prices are estimated to rise anywhere from 10-20 cents per gallon. The bill taxes alleged pollution or carbon emissions. Numerous business and other leaders compare it to Obama's failed Stimulus program that cost billions, and made a national story out of failed solar company Solyndra, who defaulted on a huge Federal loan.

The contact numbers for these Senators (so you can voice your opinion) are as follows:

Senator Ranker: (360) 786-7678

Senator Carlyle: ((306)545-6565

Senator Palumbo (360)786-7569