Sunday, October 23, 2016

Yes on 732 Carbon Tax

David Roberts has a detailed perspective on the 732-carbon-tax-washington and the political push and pull between two groups that want to move forward with a tax on carbon in Washington State. Roberts treats both sides fairly and explains the difficult situation without really given an opinion.

A tough spot for some enviro groups. 732 may not be perfect, but then most regulations, taxes or laws are not going to make everyone happy. A lesson of politics is setting aside hard principles and getting to compromise. The enviro groups and their allies/partners were trying to get there but ran out of time at least this year. That in itself is a problem, and I suspect the 732 folks simply did not have confidence that the envro groups and allies were going to get there anytime soon.

I am not tribal enough to be on one side or another on this, but am of the view that a carbon tax would be a good thing. Hence, I am voting yes on 732. Maybe 732 will be like the marijuana vote four years ago and will be the surprise winner in Washington State this year.

 

2 comments:

grnchile said...

Thanks for the link to the David Roberts piece. I'd wondered about what was behind the lack of support for I-732 among some groups that I would have expected to be in favor of it. That made the article a fascinating read.

I-732 isn't perfect, but it's a start on addressing our carbon problem. Right now it's the only start we have and it's the only one we're likely to have in the near future. I'm voting for it as well.

Hollis said...

Interesting situation, and getting attention--PBS Newshour and The Economist recently. I'm pro-carbon tax but not sure about this specific approach. Perhaps Washington will be an example to follow or with modification.