A state pollution tax raised $2 billion. Can it survive the backlash? Washington state’s “cap-and-invest” program has generated billions to transition to clean energy.

silence7@slrpnk.net to politics @lemmy.world – 96 points –
wapo.st

Washington’s first year of auctions raised more than expected, generating a flood of revenue for projects to hasten the renewable energy transition and adapt to climate change. In addition to greening the ferries, the money is paying to build and install air-quality monitors in parts of the state hit hard by pollution and wildfire smoke; to replace gas furnaces and install more efficient heat-pumps; and to allow everyone 18 and younger to ride public buses and ferries free.

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Just how much the program has contributed to gas prices remains hotly debated. Ecology officials now put the impact at up to 25 cents a gallon. Others, including the Association of Washington Business, say the program costs drivers 45 cents per gallon. At the moment, gas prices in Washington are 32 cents per gallon higher on average than in neighboring Oregon, according to AAA.

6

Does this also tax the industries causing a lot of pollution?

Yes, that's who pays. The tax got passed on to consumers, along with the oil industry using it as an excuse to raise their margins

The impact is to make it more cost-effective to choose machinery which doesn't need fossil fuels in the first place

Course not, they probably funded the bill that puts the onus on consumers. Through taxes, bottle deposits, and various fees, the consumer is being wrung dry trying to create the appearance of offsetting corporate environmental destruction. All we're doing is helping condense power and money into a shrinking pool of world destroyers.

Gotta love a comment that starts with a declarative "of course not" and immediately follows it up with wishy washy "probably."

Might want to read up on what youre making bold claims about if you just need to hedge your claims seconds later.