Inslee Will Seek Carbon Tax, Low Carbon Fuel Standard
Gov. Inslee unveiled his plans for spending on climate change during the 2021-2023 legislative session.
He said the state must meet it's legislatively approved climate mandates. Inslee said the last two years were the "hottest on record," and said we have been a "state on fire" due to climate change. He believes like COVID, mankind can get climate change "under our control."
He said transportation is the biggest polluter, and he claims the fossil fuels industry refuses to adopt a clean fuel standard. Inslee wants to adopt a clean fuel standard, similar to CA.
Inslee wants to create a hybrid electric ferry, saying they are the single greatest sole polluters in our transportation grid (on the west side). He claims each new electric ferry would create 590 jobs.
House Rep Joel Fitgibbon of Burien discussed the low carbon fuel standard that Inslee wants to get passed, and said he believes it will make it through to his desk. A quick check from 2018 via the San Franciso Chronicle shows the very similar CA Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LDSF) had raised the price of gas for the average consumer between $.12 and $.14 cents per gallon.
Another source, Crosscut, took a look in 2019 at the LCFS proposal in our state, and got figures of anywhere from 13, to 15 to 30 cents per gallon in price jumps. Although Oregon and CA have not seen the "dollar a gallon" leaps, they are still in the early phases, and even Crosscut admits within a few years, gas prices could be very much higher.
Inslee, as predicted, came back with another attempt at a carbon tax. He's calling it the Climate Commitment Act. It would put a cap on what he called "the biggest emitters" in our state. Some of that money raised from this plan would go towards low income families. It's, in layman's terms, a carbon tax. A 'list' will be compiled of all industries in the state that are considered polluters. They then will be essentially charged a pollution fee.
He also wants to create an environmental justice committee, and plans to utilize this type of planning in various state agencies, whcn it comes to all state investments in the economy and growth.
By the way, by the halfway point in the conference, 229 people were watching.
To watch the press conference for yourself, click on the button below.
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