WPC: Carbon Tax Would Have Direct Impact On Ag, Washington Workers

This November, voters in Washington will be asked to support a carbon tax, though I-1631.  If passed the tax would increase gas tax by 15 cents to start, up to 40 cents in the next decade.  Supporters say the initiative would raise $500 million to help environmental groups address climate and other issues.  However, the proposal is not all it’s cracked up to be, according to Todd Myers with the Washington Policy Center.

He said the argument that the carbon tax will impact only large companies that generate a lot of carbon pollution is not true.

“What research at Washington State University and elsewhere shows is that gasoline taxes are passed on entirely to the consumer.  So the irony is that while they’ll claim big polluters are paying, actually a lot of big polluters are exempted and it’s you and I who will end up paying both in our home heating and at the gas pump.”

Myers said such a gas tax increase would have an impact not only on delivery of Ag products, but also Ag workers trying to get from work to home and vice versa.  Myers said other efforts across the U.S., such as California’s Cap and Trade model have not been successful.

“The cost of energy has gone up radically in California, in New England, they have a similar system.  And what we have seen is manufacturing has left New England, even though total manufacturing jobs in the United States are going up.  Actually in New England, they are going down.”

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