Letter: Letter writer was incorrect about Initiative 1631 info

Editor,

Norman Bodine’s anti-Initiative 1631 letter of Oct. 9 states, “95 percent of all electricity is from non-fossil fuel sources now, and we make our own energy.”

This is not correct; it ignores the substantial amount of electricity used in Washington that comes from fossil fuel plants outside of Washington. For example, PSE, which serves Whidbey Island, generates about 59 percent of the electricity it provides us from fossil fuels. PSE’s electricity mix is: coal, 37 percent; hydro, 31 percent; LNG, 22 percent; wind, 9 percent; nuclear, less than 1 percent; and other — biomass, non-biogenic, petroleum — less than 1 percent.

The opposition by the writer to I-1631 would have more weight if it was based on facts.

This letter also ignores the other “leg” of I-1631: helping to deal with the ongoing and increasing impacts of climate change and providing the infrastructure for the transition to get completely off of fossil fuels. For example, it will provide funding to begin the process of restoring the health of Washington’s forests, especially east of the Cascades. The longer and more intense wildfire seasons that have choked us for the last two summers are the result of climate change.

All proposals to spend the funds collected under I-1631 would have had to be reviewed first by expert panels and then approved by the legislature. Ultimately, the legislature would have decided how the money would be spent.

So, what was to keep the Legislature from just putting the money in the general fund? It couldn’t. Under Washington law, a “fee” and a “tax” are different.

I-1631 would have imposed a fee. Fees can only be spent on the purpose for which they were adopted. For example, funds that would have been raised by I-1631 could have been used to improve the insulation in schools, install more energy efficient heating systems or install solar panels on school roofs, but they couldn’t be used to buy desks.

Steve Erickson

Whidbey Environmental Action Network

Langley