Washington State has been in the news recently for its twice-failed efforts to pass a carbon tax via voter initiative. The state would have been the first U.S. jurisdiction to impose a carbon tax, and its failure to enact the tax has been deemed a “parable” for the challenge of addressing climate change. Instead, it may offer a different lesson: a failure at the ballot box (or in the legislature) does not necessarily foreclose climate action.
February 21, 2019