Vote yes on I-732

A yes vote for Initiative 732 sends this message: The public is saying no to politics-as-usual and is taking action.

Fossil-fuel emissions and global warming are increasing. Heat waves, droughts, fires, floods and storms are intensifying. Young people will inherit a climate out of their control, one that includes huge sea-level rise and loss of coastal areas.

These dangers can be headed off. If we include the cost to society of fossil fuels, we can move quickly to clean energies. Costs of pollution and climate change tip the balance to clean energy, even when you don't count the cost, in money and lives, of protecting the global supply lines of carbon fuels.

The efficient way to decrease fossil fuel use is a steadily rising carbon fee collected from carbon companies and distributed uniformly to the public. Studies show that carbon fee-and-dividend encourages the economy, increases the gross national product, spurs employment and rapidly reduces fossil-fuel usage. Most people benefit.

I-732 would decrease the sales tax 15 percent and funds a Working Families Tax Credit for low-income families. Energy prices would rise, but the measure would spur investments in clean energy, giving Washington a boost in technology competition.

I-732 has not been influenced by special interests. A group of committed volunteers brought I-732 to Washington voters. They gathered 350,000 signatures, in the absence of support from certain well-known environmental groups.

This story was originally published November 5, 2016 at 7:23 AM with the headline "Vote yes on I-732."