Campaign News

Polling update

On August 17 an Elway Poll on Initiative 732 showed 34% Yes, 37% No, 30% Undecided.

On October 7 a KOMO-4/Strategies 360 poll showed 42% Yes, 37% No, 21% Undecided, a gain of 8 points for Yes (and 0 points for No). So we are moving in the right direction (!)… and there are still 21% of voters who are undecided. The shift in polling confirms what we’ve said repeatedly—that the more people hear about our policy the more they like it—so we just have to keep pushing! 

Two more days to our match goal of $57,000 so GIVE NOW! 

Part of “we have to keep pushing” involves meeting our $57,000 matching challenge, which ends tomorrow (Sunday) night! Contributions will be matched dollar for dollar up to our $57,000 total, so if you haven’t given recently then now is the time to re-up your commitment so that we can target swing voters and purchase targeted advertising. And if you have given recently then thank you and now is the time to make the case to your friends that they need to join you in giving to I-732! 

In the news

Another part of “we have to keep pushing” involves writing LTEs (Letters to The Editor), commenting and correcting misleading stories about 732, and-of course-sharing stories about 732 on Facebook and Twitter and beyond… including old-fashioned face-to-face connections!

The best stories to share this week are Natasha Geiling’s piece in ThinkProgress (“Opposition to Washington’s historic carbon tax initiative is coming from the unlikeliest of sources”) and a fantastic op-ed in NW Asian Weekly by Aaron Tam, Anne Shields and Judy Wu: “Washington’s fight for a carbon-free future — Yes on I-732”.

Another great piece to share is Bill Radke’s KUOW interview with campaign co-director Kyle Murphy and an opposition “activist” from OneAmerica (representing the Alliance for Jobs and Clean Energy). Kyle does an amazing job, but what will make your jaw drop is this exchange:

• Bill Radke: “Ellicott, on the No side, if this initiative failed, and no other carbon pollution tax passed, would you regret your opposition to this one?”
• Ellicott : “No.”

That just emphasizes our point that our “opposition from the left” is not just letting the perfect be the enemy of the good, they’re letting the non-existent be the enemy of the good! (You’ll get that same message from Ashley Ahearn’s KUOW news piece, starring CarbonWA’s own Ben Silesky; from the South Whidbey Record story about a debate featuring campaign co-director Duncan Clauson (I-732 “is better than the alternative — no policy decisions at all“); and from last week’s great piece on KNKX-formerly KPLU-from Bellamy Pailthorp:  “Initiative 732: A ‘Carbon Tax Swap’ To Address Climate Change“.) 

And if you want to get really mad then listen to this “panel discussion” on KUOW’s Week in Review, which somehow managed to feature three panelists who all said ridiculously negative things about 732. Shame on KUOW, but the bottom line is that politics ain’t beanbag and many journalists aren’t doing a good job of conveying basic facts. If that sounds familiar, it’s because those journalists are doing the same sort of he-said-she-said nonsense with I-732’s economic impacts that their predecessors did for years and years with climate science, ignoring a widely shared set of expert opinion in order to focus on “disagreements”. (As far as expert opinion is concerned, consider what MIT economist Christopher Knittel told ThinkProgress: “’In general, because a sales tax is even more regressive than energy taxes, if you use the revenue generated to reduce sales tax it then becomes a progressive policy.” And that’s not even including the Working Families Rebate, which will provide over $1 billion in cash benefits to low-income working families over the first six years.) Reporters are even ignoring the solid evidence that people of color disproportionately support I-732: if you look at page 8 of the KOMO crosstabs you will see disproportionate support from people of color, with 49% Yes and 16% Undecided.)

So go read the last two paragraphs of Paul Krugman’s latest op-ed, and then get mad. But don’t just get mad; get even. Talk to your friends. Write an LTE. (Please read these guidelines and/or contact [email protected] if you need help or when you’ve submitted one!) Speak out on social media and share the facts about 732, especially about the Working Families Rebate, a fabulous policy that boosts health outcomes and should get progressives “marching in the streets”. And you can march in the streets for I-732 by helping us knock some doors or make some phone calls because the ‘politics as usual’ approach to climate change hasn’t worked and it’s not about to – only we can mobilize, organize, and make the change we need – we are the ones we’ve been waiting for – so let’s get out there!

Upcoming Events

This coming Monday night in Seattle our Executive Committee rock star Greg Rock will be at Horizon House, and I will be at Naked City in Greenwood for Climate on Tap. On Tuesday morning in Port Angeles Mike Massa (also on our Executive Committee) will be part of a debate sponsored by the Port Angeles Business Association. And I’ll be in Pullman and Spokane on Th Oct 20 for debates sponsored by WSU.

And don’t forget to GIVE NOW because your donation will still be matched!

If you donate right now – your gift of $50 becomes $100 or your gift $500 becomes $1,000. Late stage fundraising like this will be used to ramp up our field program, buy much needed materials, and purchase targeted advertisements.  

Will you make a donation today?

PS. Stay tuned for a blizzard of additional news stories about 732 because we are taking a swing at the ball and making history.

We’ve got one month to go. Let’s win!

From the whole Yes on 732 team