LETTER: Defeat the I-1631 carbon tax boondoggle

Initiative 1631 would give us the first carbon “tax” in the nation, even though it nowhere contains the words “carbon tax.”

It is a truly terrible 38-page long hodgepodge of boondoggles for special interests to be administered by an unelected board dominated by tribal and union representatives and environmental activists.

This initiative is not revenue-neutral such as the one from two years ago.

There is no offsetting tax decrease.

It is principally a gas tax, one of the most regressive forms of taxation with the burden falling on ordinary working folks, particularly in large and remote counties like ours.

The close to $1 billion annually it would raise would to a significant extent be spent on social engineering and income redistribution.

Large emitters of CO2, such as Boeing, aluminum manufacturers and the Centralia coal plant, are exempt.

This tax is expected to raise the average household’s taxes by about $200 to $300 in the first year, increasing to $700 to $900 by the end of the first decade.

The tax will continue to increase each year until the board overseeing it believes emissions trends are likely to meet state goals by 2050.

If the board fails to meet CO2 reduction targets it will continue to receive more money every year, providing a perverse incentive to miss the targets.

Funds will be dispensed by an “environmental and economic justice panel” to “reduce vulnerable population characteristics.”

“Vulnerable populations” include those suffering from “linguistic isolation” and “low birth weight.”

Defeat this initiative.

Kaj Ahlburg,

Port Angeles