Which Industries Will Face ‘Pollution’ Tax Under Gov. Inslee’s Environmental Plan?

Which Industries Will Face ‘Pollution’ Tax Under Gov. Inslee’s Environmental Plan?

Which industries does Inslee specifically consider to be polluters? (Newstalk 870 file image)

This week,  WA Governor Jay Inslee released information about how he wants to spend $12-plus billion dollars to upgrade roads, bridges and transportation infrastructure in our state.

The plan, which  contains over a billion dollars in environmental incentives and "projects" not directly related to roads or travel,  is to be paid for by bonds, and what is essentially a pollution tax.

Inslee wants to implement the same cap-and-trade plan that from 2008-2010 never made it through Congress, and was tried - but abandoned - in Europe.   Simply put, it boils down to a hefty tax placed on certain industries to stay in business.   According to Inslee's transportation plan,  this tax will amount to $4.8 BILLION dollars in all for the life of the plan.

In his news release and press conference Tuesday, Inslee made a vague reference to industries he believes are polluters:

"Sources of major transportation-related pollution, such as the oil and gas industry, will pay a charge for every ton of carbon they emit into the air.”   (Bold lettering added for emphasis). 
We asked the Jaime Smith, who works for Inslee's Press Office, to provide specific examples of WHICH industries are going to face this tax.    Since 2008, the state has required certain industries to "report" annually what their estimated pollution rates are.  Smith sent us a graphic (pictured below) showing the state breakdown.
 This list contains the industries Inslee will be targeting,   their percentage of all CO2 emitted in our state, and we have included local examples of potentially affected businesses:
*Transportation Fuel Suppliers,  40%    Sun Pacific Energy and other suppliers of fuel to gas stations and convenience stores.
*Power Plants                                  15%    Since WA state doesn't have any coal-fired power plants anymore, this would presumably include dams, and the Columbia Generating Station at Hanford.
*Petroleum and Natural Gas Systems 10%    Cascade Natural Gas?  And other such powered energy systems.
*Pulp and Paper                                     8%    This would seem to include the Boise Cascade plant at Wallula.
*Food Production                                    9%    This would presumably include the numerous food processing plants in and around the Tri-Cities...the ones you see North of Pasco.
  Other industries on the list include, refineries (we only have one in our state) manufacturing, chemicals, and a few others who are ranked below the industries listed here.
  As we understand Inslee's plan,  the industries listed here will be paying some sort of pollution tax.   Or they will have to invest huge amounts of money to upgrade their production process to lower their carbon footprint so their tax is reduced or goes away.
  Either way,   these costs,  their share of the $4.8 billion, is going to have to be passed onto consumers in some form or another.   Industries simply cannot absorb huge financial hits like this without affecting OUR consumer costs.    When goods and services get too expensive,  WE stop buying them, which in turn, hurts those industries even more.
   We plan to ask Inslee's people if any sort of study has been done to determine the effects this will have on our state economy.   No such information was provided with Inslee's plan.

 

Filed Under: business, carbon tax, environment, Inslee
Categories: Business, Politics

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