Washington state’s carbon tax: All pain, no gain

The global warming extremists who advocate for a carbon tax to save the planet fail to realize that the successful implementation and administration of it will last as long as a sand castle in front of a tidal wave.

A carbon tax is going to reduce the standard of living for all who pay it and it’s not going to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere one bit.

Carbon tax initiatives, such as the recently passed Washington state Senate Bill 5126, are designed to force industries and companies like refineries, gas utilities and Boeing to reduce their carbon emissions or to pay for the right to release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The overall amount of pollution, as determined by the Washington state Department of Ecology, will be lowered each year, which will require businesses to pay more for an allowance or find a way to reduce their emissions.

Sounds great right?

Well as they say, the devil is in the details.

For starters this bill won’t take effect until Jan. 1, 2023, and only if, between now and then, the Legislature passes a statewide transportation spending package that includes an additional 5-cent per gallon gas tax. That’s a regressive tax that will fall upon the wallets of working people who have to drive to work, use gas vehicles as part of their business or purchase food delivered by a truck. So much for Democrats looking out for the incomes of the working class.

According to the Seattle Times, this bill, which covers about 75 percent of Washington state’s total greenhouse gas emissions, is projected to raise between $460 million in its first fiscal year and at least $580 million annually by 2040. A May 10 article in U.S. News & World Report titled “What’s Next for Washington State’s Climate?” states: “The revenue estimates are shaky, but the state expects to bring in nearly $1 billion a year at the program’s peak in the late 2020s.”

So you don’t have any accurate idea of how much money you’ll be paying but it’s certain that the money will come out of your pocket since the companies that pay them always pass them on to the consumer. Unfortunately, some of those costs will come out of my — and other non-Washington state residents’— pockets since those companies do business across state lines.

That’s taxation without representation, one of the reasons we used to declare our independence in 1776.

The money collected will, among other things, be used for: environmental justice, restoration of marine and fresh waters, energy conservation, renewable energy and public transportation and supporting the relocation of tribes as the sea rises. Some may be returned to working families as a tax rebate.

What could possibly go wrong with a program like that?

Well, as you can see, a lot of the money you’ll be paying will not be coming back to your pocket. And of those dollars that are scheduled to be rebated, one has to wonder how much will actually make it back. After all, in 2020 Gov. Jay Inslee’s administration did manage to send $600 million of federal COVID-19 relief money over to Nigeria.

As for the rest of the money?

Well, the administration costs of this program aren’t going to reduce any greenhouse gases and they are going to be substantial. Also, giving politicians of any stripe a pot of money without specifically designating where it will go is a recipe for disaster.

And that’s what will happen here. The money spent on the other projects listed above isn’t going to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. But it will be used for political payoffs under the guise of combating climate change to the benefit of career politicians.

How can I be so sure?

Well when SB 5126 was being crafted, Rep. Mary Dye proposed the following amendments:

l The first “requires the Department of Ecology (Ecology) to prepare a report that identifies all distributions of moneys from the Carbon Emissions Reduction Account, the Climate Investment Account, the Climate Commitment Account, the Natural Climate Solutions Account, and the Air Quality and Health Disparities Improvement Account.” This amendment passed.

lBut her second amendment asked for the following: “Requires Ecology to include in the report, at a minimum, the recipient of the funding, the amount of the funding, the purpose of the funding, the actual end result or use of the funding, whether the project that received the funding produced any verifiable reduction in greenhouse gas emissions or other long-term impact to emissions ...” The amendment failed.

Apparently accountability is not something important to “tax and spend” liberal Democratic legislators.

A carbon tax is nothing but an income tax in disguise because the costs to the public will always exceed any rebates. But Washington state doesn’t have an income tax so Inslee and his liberal cohorts, who have never seen a dollar of yours that they didn’t want to tax, pushed through SB 5126, which will tax your income for their pet projects and constituents.

It’s a slick way to take your money. But it’s going to reduce carbon dioxide as much as a sand castle on a beach.

Hassoldt is a field forester who lives in Kendrick.