Washington Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee appears more inclined to push taxes on carbon emission than toss his support behind a nationwide crusade to sue oil companies for supposedly contributing to climate change.
Inslee expressed tepid support for King County’s lawsuit against ExxonMobil, telling Axios Thursday morning that he supports “people having access to the courts.” His position on the lawsuit matters, as he chairs the Democratic Governors Association and is an activist.
King County’s lawsuit, which was brought by Seattle-based law firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro, seeks to create an abatement fund addressing changes to infrastructure, like bridge maintenance, salmon recovery and public health. It’s similar to litigation Oakland and San Francisco filed in March 2018 against the same companies.
Inslee added: “I support the right to bring this lawsuit. I wouldn’t be in favor of shutting them down.” His position on his own county’s lawsuit contrasts with that of his fervent support for enacting a carbon tax on Washington’s industry.
Inslee made fiery remarks about his state’s ballot proposal imposing a fee on carbon. (RELATED: Gov Jay Inslee’s Carbon Tax Plan Goes Up In Flames Again)
“Let me tell you, if you’re voting against the [ballot] initiative, you’re going to be voting with Donald Trump, who is a climate denier,” he told Axios, implying that there is no daylight between voting for the proposal and denying climate change.
Inslee failed to push to tax carbon in March, despite Washington’s overwhelmingly liberal-leaning legislature. The state is not ready for a full-fledged attack against the oil industry, the Democratic governor told reporters shortly after it became obvious the proposal would fail.
The senate bill would have imposed a tax of $12 per metric ton of carbon emissions on the sale or use of gasoline and natural gas, which is lower than the initial $20 per ton Inslee initially proposed.
It would have begun in 2019 and in 2021 and would have increased $1.80 per ton each year until it hits $30 a ton. The tax was projected to raise $766 million and increase to about $988 million in the next biennium — Inslee’s failure wasn’t for a lack of trying.
Inslee went on a lengthy Twitter rant earlier in 2018 to convince legislator to tax carbon dioxide emissions. He warned there were “just 59 days” to save future generations from “an endless cycle of crop-killing droughts one year, and rivers spilling their banks the next.”
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