Campaign News

Thanks to the large group of I-732 supporters who regularly send letters to editors in all parts of Washington. Here are excerpts from several recently published letters:

Every news cycle seems to illustrate there isn’t time to lose. Why not finally get pro-active about climate change? Grab the chance to show the rest of the country how it’s done: this November, help to finally establish a progressive state tax on greenhouse gas emissions (while cutting our regressive sales tax at the same time!). For the sake of our kids, vote “Yes!” on I-732. — Bruce Bonifaci, Poulsbo (Kitsap Sun)

Could Nov. 8 mark the day Washington state becomes an environmental national leader, again? . . . As an older I-732 volunteer, I take great pleasure watching and helping younger I-732 volunteers work to protect their own future generations. Should voters pass this initiative this November, a new generation of Washington state environmentalism will be born. This time it is not burning rivers and smoggy cities at stake but our entire carbon-polluted atmosphere. Our greenhouse earth can no longer control its own temperature. We can. — George Reynoldson, Sammamish (Issaquah Reporter)

Future generations are depending on us. We have a moral obligation to act on climate now. No one else in Washington has delivered on significant climate legislation yet. We can change that, by passing I-732. It’s time to make history. — Heidi Cody, Vancouver (The Columbian)

Washington State has traditionally been a leader in creating a better future, charging ahead with innovations in aerospace, agriculture, computing, and medical science. With I-732, we have a way to put the brakes on global warming while strengthening the economy and speeding up the transition to renewable energy. . . . As the catastrophes in Louisiana and California show us, the time to take strong, effective action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is now, while it’s not too late to make a difference! — Bart Preecs, Walla Walla (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin)

World and religious leaders know the truth of human-caused global warming. They are also frustrated and frightened by the lack of action, which is why 29-faith based organizations have come together to create an Interfaith Climate Action Conference to be held at University Christian Church on Oct. 8. . . Meanwhile, conservative economists and most businesses agree that we need to tax carbon pollution. They say it will create jobs and propel innovation. That’s why they support I-732 the Carbon Fee and Dividend initiative, and why you should also. — Gary Piazzon, Coupeville (Whidbey News-Times)

“Fatal floods catch South off guard,” reads the headline, but truthfully, this is looking like the new normal. NASA reports last month was the hottest recorded in the Earth’s history. Climate change is having a devastating effect on forests around the world and there are signs of trouble here in the Northwest. I witness the change even in my own garden as my native silver fir and hemlock have died. How will things be when my children and then my grandchildren are my age? — Linda Andrews, Olympia (The Olympian)

By putting a tax on carbon, I-732 will create an incentive to expedite the transition from the deadly and dying fossil fuel industry to renewable, clean sources of energy. Homegrown renewable energy, such as solar, wind, hydro and nuclear, puts us at a competitive advantage, now and especially in the future. — Lora Rathbone, Richland (Tri-City Herald)

The floods in Louisiana and the fires in California show us what more and more of the earth will be experience from global warming. The planet will be a very inhospitable place in a few decades if we don’t cut our carbon emissions quickly. Let’s not make our children and grandchildren pay the ultimate price because of poor decisions that we are making now. We need to act now to create a cleaner future for ourselves and for generations to come. For the climate and our children, vote yes on I-732. — Brian Anderson, Bainbridge Island (Bainbridge Island Review)

I, too, am concerned about helping low-income families while encouraging the use of alternative energy sources. But, in fact, that’s just what this revenue-neutral bill does. It lowers the sales tax and increases the Working Families Tax Credit (thereby helping poor families) while placing a tax on CO2 emissions similar to what British Columbia has done (thereby giving users an incentive to change energy sources and providers an incentive to develop greener ones). — John S. Selby, Tacoma (Tacoma News Tribune)

July was the hottest recorded month ever [“NOAA says July hottest on record,” Nation & World, Aug. 18]. Record-breaking temperatures are no longer the exception to the rule. I shudder to think what young people today and generations to follow have to look forward to. Fortunately, we have a chance to act in their best interests. There will be an initiative on the November ballot, I-732, that, if passed, would set an example for other states to follow. Experts all over the country have cited a carbon tax as the best way to lower harmful CO2 in the atmosphere — pollution that is rapidly killing our natural world. — Mary Stevens, Seattle (Seattle Times)

Fortunately, the obstruction is crumbling. Some dozen Republicans, including Washington’s own Dave Reichert, R-Auburn, have acknowledged the need to act on climate. And there is an approach that conservatives and liberals can agree on: Tax the things you don’t want, such as CO2 emissions, and return the money to taxpayers in the form of a rebate. Emissions go down, jobs go up, health improves, the economy grows. We must act now if we want to avert the worst effects of climate change. Let’s start with a sensible win-win, market-driven approach and see what that gets us. — Davis Oldham, Seattle (Seattle Times)

If you haven’t written your own letter to the editor supporting I-732, why don’t you do so now? Here are some ideas from our recent email newsletter.