Members of the Citizens Climate Lobby, Citizens Advisory Network, and The League of Women Voters have all spoken out regarding upcoming ballot Initiative 2117. According to Ballotpedia, this initiative would “prohibit any state agencies from implementing a cap and trade or cap and tax program.”

Next month’s issue will have information on more topics related to the upcoming election in our annual Election Guide. In this issue, we encourage you to read these important perspectives on Initiative 2117. Steven Ghan digs into how Initiative 2117 will undercut the state’s Carbon Pricing and Emissions Reductions programs in “Initiative 2117 would gut the Climate Commitment Act”. Dori Luzzo Gilmour discusses the revenue and program losses Ben Franklin Transit would experience in “Citizens Advisory Network takes a stand against Initiative 2117”. And the League of Women Voters warns that cost to the world (and to Washington state) would be difficult to mitigate if we were to lose our source of CCA funding in “The League of Women Voters: Supporting democracy for over 100 years”. 

All of these articles describe the direct impacts Initiative 2117 would have on valuable programs for business and for the general public. They also detail losses to programs that benefit disadvantaged and vulnerable populations: low-income folks (reduced transit fare, low-income housing energy efficiency subsidies), children (zero-carbon school buses, Kids Ride Free transit program), and our elders and vets (Seniors Ride Free and Veterans Ride Free transit programs).

Please read the following articles and share what you learn with your friends and family, so that everyone can vote on Initiative 2117 with a fuller understanding of what is at stake.