Letter: A carbon tax tackles global warming? Really?

The group Carbon Washington has submitted Initiative 732, which would create a tax of $25 a ton of CO2 on fossil fuels. They say it is the best way to tackle global warming. Really?

The state could eliminate all fossil fuels (gasoline, coal, natural gas) by 2030 and this would reduce CO2 in the atmosphere by .02 ppm. So, for example, in 2030 if the CO2 is 420 ppm with Washington eliminating all fossil fuels, it would only be 420.02 ppm if Washington took no action.

The ultimate goal of a carbon tax is to eliminate gas cars, forcing society to electric vehicles, even though over its total life an electric vehicle saves almost no CO2. It also makes Washingtonians live with scarce, costly (3 to 4 times more expensive), intermittent electricity from wind and solar, from sites typically all located in Eastern Washington.

There is nothing even remotely revenue neutral about this plan. It does nothing to stop the gradual global warming that has been going on since the Little Ice Age. Let’s add a box to utility bills — if checked, the user pays a higher electricity rate and the money plants millions of trees across the Evergreen State.

This story was originally published March 5, 2016 at 4:30 PM with the headline "Letter: A carbon tax tackles global warming? Really?."