Lakewood Chamber of Commerce
Board of Directors
Policy Position
Endorse Initiative No. 2117 – Repeal the Climate Commitment Act
May 28, 2024
The Lakewood Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors endorses Initiative 2117 which would repeal “cap and trade” – known officially in the Legislature as the Climate Commitment Act (CCA).
The CCA is also called a “hidden gas tax” because it rides on the backs of anyone who buys gasoline.
Background
The “Climate Commitment Act,” passed in 2021, taxes Washington consumers and industries to pay for government programs that supposedly reduce greenhouse gases. It requires industries that emit carbon to purchase “credits” under an auction system managed by the state.
As of January 2024, this program amounted to a $1.8 BILLION hit to our economy and the people of our state. Since the Legislature passed the CCA and its cap-and-tax program, drivers around Washington have been forced to pay much more for gasoline than in nearly every other state except California and Hawaii.
According to AAA’s state-by-state gas price averages, Washington’s average gas price as of January 16, 2024, was $4.01 a gallon. At that time, only three states had gas above $4/gallon – Washington, Hawaii, and the most expensive — California.
Meanwhile, the national average was $3.07/gal. Washington’s gas was $0.94/gal more than the national average.
Besides being two of the only two states with the highest gas prices, Washington and California also are the only two states with “cap-and-trade” programs, and the other high-cost state – Hawaii – is in the middle of the Pacific Ocean – 2,000 miles from the U.S. mainland.
Governor Inslee – who said “cap-and-trade” would raise gas prices by only “pennies…if any” — and the legislature — has done nothing to reduce the higher gas prices, his chief policy advisor told members of the Senate Environment, Energy & Technology Committee that a “High Carbon Price” scenario with a CO2 price of $52 per metric ton would increase gas prices by 44 cents per gallon.
The governor’s office knew all along the impact would be in line with what the Washington Policy Center and an economist at the Department of Transportation projected. It also caused the price of home and business heating to skyrocket. I-2117 will repeal this hidden gas tax. Of the almost $2 Billion it has removed from the pockets of Washington citizens, not a single dime goes to build or repair failing roads and bridges. Clearly, low-income people have been hit especially hard.
Higher gas prices were just the beginning. This program is driving up the cost of everything that we buy in a store or have delivered to us. Cap-and-tax is one of the big reasons the cost of living in Washington is skyrocketing.
This program won’t do anything to affect worldwide climate change. Washington produces two-tenths of one percent of world greenhouse gases. Anything we do here is wiped out by emissions increases in China, India and the Third World.
We have no problem with the idea of transitioning to cleaner energy sources, but this is something that should occur naturally, over time, driven by market forces and the advance of technology. The CCA goes about it the wrong way.
No, the sky will not fall
- The majority party claims repealing the “Climate Commitment Act” would blow a $1 billion hole in the transportation budget. A repeal of the “CCA” impacts future spending, so there is “no hole” in the actual budget.
- Only 7% of the state’s $13.5 billion transportation budget comes from cap-and-tax revenues. Of the $969.894 million coming from cap-and-tax, no funds are used for 18th amendment road or street projects.
- The “Climate Commitment Act” forbids the use of funding from the cap-and-tax program for roads and bridges.
- Move Ahead Washington is expected to spend $5.4 billion of CCA money over 16 years on transportation items that are not highway related. This amounts to $337.5 million annually in a budget of over $10 billion every two years.
- Transit agencies are independent taxing authorities, so the state’s funding is supplementary to their operations budget.
- The biggest deception is the claim that this will greatly impact climate change. The governor and other advocates keep linking Cap-and-Tax to improving snow packs in the Cascades, stopping forest fires, and reducing ocean temperatures. They don’t quantify these empty claims because they can’t. Our world ecosystem does not depend on the policies adopted by the Washington State Legislature.
- Cap-and-Tax is the worst kind of “virtue signaling.” It imposes high costs on the state and burdens our most vulnerable citizens for very little benefit. About 420,000 people have spoken by signing petitions to put this issue before the Legislature. We should listen to them, do our duty, prioritize this, and pass this legislation.