Category: Washington State

Washington voters have likely defeated what would have been the United States’ first-ever fee on carbon pollution.

Although votes are still being counted, on Tuesday night The Seattle Times reported that after officials tallied nearly 2 million votes from all the state’s precincts, 56 percent of voters opposed Initiative 1631 — the Carbon Emissions Fee Measure — which makes it exceedingly unlikely the law will pass. 

If it did pass, the fee would have raised an estimated $2.3 billion in its first five years by leveling a fee on the state’s largest carbon emitters.

The defeated proposition faced unprecedented financial opposition from Big Oil, which organized a formidable campaign sponsored by the Western States Petroleum Association, an influential petroleum trade group. Read more…

More about Science, Washington State, Climate Change, Carbon Emissions, and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

View More The first-ever U.S. fee on carbon is defeated, and Big Oil might be to blame