Washington voters have the chance this November to do something really significant to fight global warming, and that is to vote yes on ballot Initiative 732.

I-732 would institute a revenue-neutral carbon tax on fossil fuels that enter the state, starting at $15 per metric ton of CO2 and increasing yearly. The revenue would be returned to the people in the form of a 1 percent decrease in sales tax, elimination of B&O taxes on manufacturers, and funding the Working Families Tax Rebate for 400,000 low-income working households. Refineries, utilities and large manufacturers that use a lot of carbon based energy would pay the tax. Most families would break even, paying less in sales tax while paying a bit more for energy. It is essentially a tax swap.

I-732 would be the most aggressive form of carbon pricing to date in North America. It would reduce carbon emissions in Washington far more than the governor’s recent Clean Air Rule, and would be a model for passing national carbon pricing legislation, which is necessary to meet the standards agreed to at the Paris Climate Conference last December.

I-732 would also do more to reverse Washington’s highly regressive tax system than anything the state has done since 1977, when the sales tax on food was removed. It would stimulate the economy by reducing sales tax on building construction and provide a strong price signal to stimulate the more rapid deployment of renewable energy.

We can continue to do little about climate change, as our forests burn and our mountain snowpack diminishes, waiting until it is too late to prevent catastrophic disruption of society and ecosystems. Or we can act. You can act now to fight climate change, to leave a livable world for your children and grandchildren, by voting “yes” on I-732.

David Chapin

Redmond