Campaign News

Time for another sports metaphor!

Longtime supporters know that we’re fond of using sports metaphors-most famously, that we’re the relief pitcher who’s going to take a swing at the ball-and it’s time for a football analogy to explain the current state of affairs. Here goes: It’s the fourth quarter, we’re behind, and we’re running out of time. But we’ve got the ball and Initiative 732 has managed to slip past the opposing defense and we are wide open in the center of the end zone. The vast majority of people we talk to—70% of the people we meet via door-knocking, phone-banking, etc.—want to throw us the ball, and if they do we have a good shot at winning the game, but the far left and the far right have come together with the goal of throwing the ball away so that we can “try again next year”. The far right doesn’t want to throw us the ball because they’re “football deniers”.

(Translation: they think it’s hot outside because the sun is hot.) And the far left doesn’t want to throw us the ball because we’re in the center of the end zone and they only want to throw the ball to the far left side of the end zone. But nobody is open on the far left side of the end zone-and we are wide open in the center of the end zone-and so to cover up their embarrassment they’re throwing out lots of excuses: that we said mean things about them in practice last year, that we didn’t show up to all the Blue Team meetings, that we should wait until next year, and that we’re not actually in the very center of the end zone, we’re actually an inch or two on the right side of the center line. But the truth is that we are in the very center of the end zone-“to the best of anyone’s ability to forecast it”-and remember that we’re running out of time and we’re wide open in the end zone.

Translation: We are entering the final stretch of the campaign. We have an opportunity to implement one of the strongest climate policies in the world. We continue to add new endorsements (see below!) and to engage in debates across the state but we still need to reach thousands of voters before November 8th. We need all of you to pick up your phones, walk your neighborhood, and flyer at your local events. Not sure how you can help? Check out our For Volunteers page for everything you need to get started or to find an event.

New matching challenge: dollar for dollar up to $57,000 by the end of the month!

Last month we had a generous donor put up $5,700 for a matching challenge. This month we have some generous donors who are putting up $57,000 for a matching challenge. (That’s right: $5,700 last month, and $57,000 this month! And next month… well, next month we’ll figure out next month.) Right now let’s get this $57,000 matched by the end of this month. Donate here and/or come to our Cliff Mass event this coming Wednesday at the Mountaineers. Thank you… we’re on the home stretch!

New Endorsements

• State Senator John McCoy (D-38th, Tulalip): “I endorse Initiative 732. We are facing a climate crisis that threatens our salmon, our birds, and our way of life. I-732 is a crucial first step to control climate change while it protects working families and manufacturers and economic development. We owe it to the generations that follow us. Vote yes in November and visit Yeson732.org.”
• State Senator Maralyn Chase (D-32nd, Edmonds): “Carbon dioxide in our atmosphere has reached dangerously high levels, already causing global climate disruption. We owe it to our children and grandchildren to reduce carbon pollution to leave them a cleaner, healthier planet. I have long felt that a carbon tax is the most efficient mechanism to reduce carbon emissions. Initiative 732 is an elegant and effective solution that will reduce pollution and make our tax code more progressive. I am a strong supporter of Initiative 732 and disappointed that many environmental organizations are not out pounding the pavement to help pass I-732 as they should be. We can’t wait any longer to act on climate. I urge a Yes vote on Initiative 732.”
• Also we have new endorsements from the San Juan County Democrats, the 36th LD Democrats (Ballard, Magnolia, Queen Anne), and from the Whatcom County Green Party… and Bonnie Raitt gave I-732 a shout-out during her concerts last week!

Upcoming events

Last chance to buy tickets for the Mountaineers Club! On W Sept 28 in Seattle with UW meteorologist Cliff Mass we will have a wine-and-cheese reception followed by a lecture at The Mountaineers (7700 Sand Point Way). Details and tickets here! Also:

• Sat Sept 24: Staffer Megan Conaway will be at the Snohomish High School Annual Campaign Breakfast.
• Sun October 2: Forum at noon at Saltwater UU Church in Des Moines (25701 14^th Place South, Des Moines 98198).  
• W Oct. 17 Seattle CityClub October Civic Cocktail – Yoram will take part in a moderated debate about I-732; details and tickets here!
• Much more to come! Email us if you have other ideas to fill up the calendar and get the word out!

We’re (still) hiring…

We continue to have great feedback from volunteers that are engaging with voters across the State and so we are continuing to expand our team hiring fellows (in Seattle), canvassers (in Pierce, King, and Snohomish Counties), and unpaid interns (everywhere). Details here, please help spread the word! And feel free to come by and say hi to the ever expanding I-732 team and pick up a t-shirt, yard sign or bumper sticker!

In the news

Three I-732 supporters (Priya Cloutier, Jason Puracal and staffer Aaron Tam) have a great piece in Crosscut on “Tax carbon polluters, not working families“. Campaign co-director Duncan Clauson writes “Washington State millennials lead first-ever citizens’ initiative to put a price on carbon” on the #PutAPriceOnIt blog. (See also Jack Black and Cecily Strong.) Executive Committee member Sharon Nelson and I made the case for 732 in a debate on the Seattle Channel. Cliff Mass doesn’t pull any punches in his latest on I-732 (and come see his talk on Wednesday at the Mountaineers!) and along similar lines Shi-Ling Hsu writes on The Hill about “The environmental groups killing a carbon tax”. Local blogger Andy Silber chimes in on I-732: “My conclusion is I think you should vote for it (unless you think that climate change isn’t real, in which case, go jump in a lake that used to be a glacier).” Climate economics expert Dallas Burtraw of the high-powered DC think-tank Resources for the Future says the numbers in latest “study” from the No on 732 campaign are “implausible”. We also got articles in the (Spokane) Inlander and the Gonzaga Bulletin, plus the Seattle Weekly and a couple of shout-outs from Natasha Geiling of ClimateProgress in articles about Canada and carbon taxes and Inslee’s Clean Air Rule. And go back and re-read the article on Fusion.net, which quotes Rebecca Saldaña of Puget Sound Sage:  “We need an immediate and comprehensive shift away from fossil fuels and a carbon-intensive economy, and towards clean energy jobs and healthy communities.” That’s exactly what I-732 does (see here for more on health outcomes) and that’s why we’re telling everyone that we are wide open in the center of the end zone!  

LTEs: Congratulations and Thank You for LTE writers Marty Bishop in the Kitsap Sun, William Appel in the Columbian, Gail Gatton in HeraldNet, Gary Piazzon in the Whidby News-Times, Charles Forester in the Yakima Herald, Florence Vincent in the Nisqually Valley News, and staffer Quillan Robinson in the Kent Reporter. If you would like to submit an LTE of your own send an email to [email protected]. Keep them coming, and please read these guidelines and/or contact [email protected] if you need help or when you’ve submitted one!)

Elsewhere: The Seattle Times has “2016’s hellish summer weather: A told-you-so climate moment?“ There’s a neat comic from xkcd about the history and future of global temperatures. Climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe and Bob Inglis (of RepublicEn.org) make the Politico 50 list of the “thinkers, doers, and visionaries transforming American politics”. Not making the list is Bill McKibben, who manages to write an entire article in Yale 360 about how we need a price on carbon (and how “we need to do everything“) but fails to mention I-732. The Washington Post has an editorial on “With more people hitting the road, it’s time for a carbon tax“. And the California-style approach favored by some local Environmental Justice groups is struggling to provide environmental justice in California: see Laurie Mazur in Grist (“Cap-and-trade? Not so great if you are black or brown“) and Brentin Mock in CityLab (“The Racial Justice Flaws in California’s Climate Bill“), plus of course Sightline. And as one last piece of food for thought try Lionel Shriver in the NYT.

Game of Phones! 

We have more people earning their stripes and moving up the rankings! If you are looking for ways to help pass I-732 please visit our Volunteer Page.

Maesters: Luke Broderson – New, Jeff Silesky – New, Alisha Husain – New, Phillip Singer, Mary Paynter, Leah McClintock-Shapiro, Karissa Jones, Andrew Taylor, Alissa Neuman, Qijing Yao, Kyle Murphy, Mariana Garcia, Mary Stevens, Rheanna Johnston

Let’s win!

Yoram and the Yes on 732 team