A
Time for Turning, WA Ballot Initiative 1631
By
Rev. Carol Jensen and Ron Young
In the popular contemporary Christian hymn, Canticle of the Turning, the refrain
ends with the hopeful words, “the world is about to turn.” The famous Jewish philosopher, Martin
Buber, tells us, “the power of turning never reveals itself outside of crisis.”
A near total (97%) consensus among scientists tells us that we face a profound crisis
today over dangers from global warning, primarily caused by human activity and
specifically by over use of fossil fuels. A Gallup Poll in 2017 tells us that 84%
of Americans worry “a lot” or “some” about global warming, while only 16% worry
“not at all.” A poll this Spring reveals that most registered voters believe
the United States should reduce polluting greenhouse gas emissions, while only 4%
of voters believe the U.S. should not reduce its emissions.
Washington
state is playing a unique, leading role in the nationwide response to the problem
of pollution and scientifically verifiable dangers of global warming. The Trump
administration seems to ignore or deny the problems, pulling out of the Paris
Agreement on Climate Change, and prompting the EPA to gut long-standing health
and environmental protections, and cancel new positive regulations to reduce
CO2 emissions. This is the context in which signing, circulating and urging
others to sign WA Ballot Initiative 1631 is important, urgent, and the right
thing to do.
Initiative 1631 is already endorsed by
more than 100
Washington state organizations, including faith
communities, businesses, labor unions, environmental and clean energy advocates,
health professionals, Washington tribal nations, and communities of color
advocates. This may well be the broadest support of any initiative in
Washington state history. We all do our part to keep Washington clean, but
right now the largest polluters can pollute for free while we all pay the
costs. I-1631 would put a fee ($15 per ton) on the state’s largest polluters,
including the oil industry and utilities that have not switched to clean energy,
and would invest in protecting our air and water, clean energy infrastructure, and
in new jobs across the state.
In
addition to incredibly broad-based support for the initiative, another unique
feature of this proposal of a fee (different than a tax) is the requirement
that the revenue collected from I-1631 cannot simply be used by the state
government as general funds but will be allocated by a broad-based, publicly
accountable board, made up of experts and trusted community leaders. As
examples, I-1631 will invest in developing job generating clean energy
alternatives, including wind, solar and other renewable resources,
transportation alternatives, better home and building energy efficiency, and it
will provide support to communities hardest hit by pollution because the
neighborhood you live in shouldn’t determine if your air is clean and your
water is safe to drink.
It’s
almost impossible any more, no matter who you voted for in 2016, to ignore the
threats of pollution and global warming. Even with Trump appointees heading all
the national intelligence agencies, the Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S.
Intelligence Community recently warned,
“The impact of the long-term trends toward a warmer
climate, more air pollution, bio-diversity loss, and water scarcity are likely
to fuel economic and social discontent, and possibly upheaval…The last few
years have been the warmest on record. Extreme weather events in a warmer world
have the potential for greater impacts and can compound with other drivers to
raise the risk of humanitarian disasters, conflict, water and food shortages,
population migration, labor shortfalls, price shocks, and power outages.”
Our state has a legacy of
protecting the home we all share. We
know if we don’t act now, the threats from pollution and global warming will
only get worse and cause more harm to our communities and risks for our children’s
future. I-1631 is a practical first step in our state to ensure clean air and
clean water and represents a significant contribution in the larger campaign to
reduce the threat of global warming.
Faith
communities are supporting Initiative 1631 based on deep concern about the
disproportionate impact of pollution and climate change on communities of color
and on already impoverished people, as well as a fundamental commitment to care
for creation, a responsibility entrusted to us by our Creator. It will take faithful,
intelligent, persistent citizen efforts and action over many years on many
levels – local, state, national, and international – to creatively meet the
challenges of global warming. In the next weeks and months, the most important
contribution we can make here in Washington State is to get Initiative 1631 on
the Ballot and approved by Washington voters in November.
Rev. Carol Jensen is
Co-Chair of the statewide Faith Action Network.
Ron Young is an activist
and author. Ron’s memoir, Crossing
Boundaries
in
the Americas, Vietnam and the Middle East was published in 2014.
Carol
and Ron are married and live in Everett.
Ron
can be contacted at ronyoungwa@gmail.com
(This Commentary appeared in The Everett Herald on Sunday, June 10, 2018.)