The first thing you need to know about I-1631 (henceforth referred to as “the carbon fee”) is that the SECB—an ungovernable collection of maladapted hacks who hate each other as much as they hate themselves—support it unanimously. The carbon fee is the sort of history-making climate policy we sorely need. It’s not perfect, true, but the world is melting and doing this particular something is better than doing nothing.
Basically, carbon polluters will be charged $15 per metric ton of carbon emissions beginning in 2020. The fee would rise by $2 annually until the state’s greenhouse gas reduction goals are met. With this fee, the state hopes to raise about $1 billion per year for clean air and energy projects, clean water projects, and forest health. (Forest fires, ever heard of ’em?) Yes, gas prices will go up. But the carbon fee offsets the pain of the regressive tax by investing a portion of the money in low-income communities to help them reduce fossil-fuel use, cut pollution, and lower their energy bills.
