WCA Concerned About Possible State Carbon Tax

While the idea of a carbon tax failed during the 2018 legislative session in Olympia, that doesn’t mean the idea is gone for the entire year.  Several environmental groups have pushed to have a carbon tax go before voters this November.  What such a proposal would look like remains a mystery.  Sarah Ryan, Executive Vice President of the Washington Cattlemen’s Association said the idea of any carbon tax is concerning for producers across the Evergreen State.  She said since the ag industry is that of price takers, any additional taxes will have a negative impact.

“So, it’s not like you are an attorney or something and you’re able to say ‘look, all of my inputs went up so, I’m going raise my price $5 an hour’.  We don’t have the ability to do that so, any tax puts us at a competitive disadvantage to people in other states or other global markets.”

Ryan said this is the latest example of how challenging it has become to farm in Washington.

“It seems that our state is getting further and further away from recognizing that the food, whether it’s at Whole Foods, or Safeway or the farmers market actually comes from people that rely on agriculture; they are agriculturalists.  That these taxes they think will be beneficial to the environment actually could drive their food prices up further.”

If you have a story idea for the Washington Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail gvaagen@cherrycreekradio.com