Editor,

I’m glad everybody’s finally talking about Washington’s Initiative 732. This measure, appearing on our ballots this month after gaining 360,000 signatures last year, is the second most important voter decision in America, after the presidency.

I-732 would institute a tax on fossil fuels consumed in our state, offsetting that revenue completely by lowering our sales tax one percent and effectively eliminating the B&O tax on manufacturers. It also would also fund the state’s Working Families Tax Credit, making I-732 the biggest improvement in tax fairness in 40 years.

The Sightline Institute agrees that the measure would be revenue-neutral, “to the best of anyone’s ability to forecast it.”

I-732 is a conservative solution to climate change that brings accountability to energy markets. It makes polluters pay. It replaces taxes on things we want more of (new stuff from stores), with taxes on things we want less of (pollution).

Under I-732, Washingtonians would pay a little more for fossil fuels and pay a little less for everything else. Find details, including a helpful carbon calculator which shows how your family finances would change, at yeson732.org

People often say they want politicians of both sides to work together. I-732 has made this happen, garnering endorsements from Republican State Senators Steve Litzow, Joe Fain, and Mark Miloscia, as well as former Republican Senate majority leader Bill Finkbeiner and former Secretary of State George Schultz, who served four Republican administrations. It also has significant Democratic support, receiving endorsements from State Senators Christine Rolfs and Cyrus Habib, State Rep. Judy Clibborne, Congressman Jim McDermott and others.

One sign of I-732’s eminent reasonableness is that it has generated opposition from both the far left and far right in our state. But don’t be confused; I-732’s rational approach has many organizational endorsements, including from the Washington Audubon Society and the Citizens’ Climate Lobby. The Whidbey News-Times and South Whidbey Record have both endorsed I-732.

The last thing you should know about I-732 is that you should vote for it. We have a moral obligation to fight climate change, and a smart, precise measure with which to do it.

Bob Hallahan

Citizens’ Climate Lobby