Campaign News

Talking to your friends and neighbors about what to vote for? Here’s why everyone should vote for Initiative 732:

1. Makes polluters pay: I-732 includes the strongest price on carbon anywhere in the U.S. No more “polluting our skies for free.” It changes the math so that clean energy becomes even more attractive and we can make the switch to clean energy more quickly.
2. Makes our tax system fairer: In Washington, the less you earn, the bigger share of your income goes to taxes. I-732 gives our tax system a push in the direction of greater fairness. It uses money that polluters will pay to cut the sales tax by a full point. That’ll put hundreds of dollars each year in the pockets of everyone in the state.
3. Helps households hardest hit by climate change: I-732 will fund a 25% match of the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which has been called the country’s best anti-poverty program. With I-732 some 460,000 households will receive direct checks of up to $1,500 every year.
4. Will inspire other states to put a price on carbon pollution: Washington can lead the way to a clean-energy future. Groups in other states are also working on pricing carbon — but none have gotten this far. They tell us that I-732 inspires them. Let’s pass it and lead a national movement.
5. Leaves a better world for our children: The world is warming at an alarming rate. Audubon’s recent Birds and Climate Change report says half of bird species in the U.S. and Canada are seriously threatened. Climate scientists and economists agree that putting an effective price on carbon is the single most important thing we can do to reverse this trend. By voting Yes on I-732 we’ll be able to tell our kids and grandkids that we did the right thing.

You can read a lot more reasons why I-732 deserves your support in this column by Ramez Naam in The Stranger, and this column by climate scientist Richard Gammon in Yes! Magazine.

Photo from Drew Hays via Unsplash.com.