Campaign to launch carbon tax initiative set

Published 11:44 am Wednesday, April 22, 2015

The launch of the North Olympic Peninsula campaign for the Washington State Carbon Tax Initiative I-732 will be at 7 p.m. April 28, at the Port Townsend Community Center, 620 Tyler St., Port Townsend.

Kyle Murphy, campaign co-director for CarbonWA, the organization leading the initiative, will explain how this initiative’s revenue-neutral carbon tax works to reduce carbon emissions while lowering taxes on working families.

After the presentation, there will be a training for people who want to help collect signatures to put I-732 on the ballot in 2016.

The I-732 initiative would improve air quality and reduce airborne toxins; help slow ocean acidity and sea level rise; reduce the state sales tax by a full percentage point; fund the Working Families Sales Tax Rebate to help working families; eliminate the Business and Occupation (B&O) tax for manufacturers; and pay for these tax reductions with a carbon tax of $25 per ton of CO₂.

The initiative has been endorsed by a variety of Washington business leaders, economists and others, including the Seattle Business Magazine. For more information about the initiative, see CarbonWA.org.

For information about the local event, contact Dick Stockment at 775-4790 or at rstockment@aol.com.

The event is sponsored by CarbonWA and its Jefferson County and Clallam County chapters.