Environmental Group Wants Carbon Tax on 2016 Ballot

No, that's not a typographical error. Perhaps an example of how close the ties are between extreme environmentalists and Gov. Inslee, supporters of Initiative 732 began their quest to get enough signatures to get it on the 2016 ballot.

If Gov. Inslee and fellow Democrats are not able to pass a costly carbon tax on Washington citizens and businesses, this may become the new methodology for the enviros. A group calling themselves Carbon Washington want to propose a new tax that could raise prices at the pump as much as $.25 cents with the money supposedly going towards efforts to right global warming. If their efforts are successful, the tax would begin in July 2017...just in time for vacation season.

Here in Eastern Washington, there's a chance we might see some of these folks, but it's a lot less likely. They began their efforts at Monday's Mariner game, seeking signatures outside of Safeco Field. Chances are, if you go to a Mariner game this summer, they'll probably bug you about it.

Carbon Washington and other groups may be Inslee's backdoor way of trying to get his carbon tax placed on Washington drivers.  Inslee's singular focus throughout his tenure so far has to be labled the "greenest" governor in America; critics say it's to repay the extensive campaign support he got from such groups when running for election.

Carbon Washington's initiative would raise the gas price, but it would supposedly provide "rebates" of up to $1,500 for some 400,000 Washington state families. Who these families are, what their income levels are were not disclosed.  The group claims this would make the impact of the tax "neutral."

Personally, I am hoping I run into one of these people outside a store, or more likely, when our family visits Seattle later this summer to see a Mariner game.  We will have an interesting discussion, and I will suggest if they are that worried about an unproved and contested scientific theory (global warming) then they should be the first to empty THEIR wallet to fight the cause.

So, be on the lookout for people hawking Initiative 732.  Think of your gas tank when they ask you to sign the petition to put it on the ballot.