More than 100 companies, tribal groups, union organizations, environmental nonprofits and political groups are backing a campaign to defeat a November ballot initiative that would scuttle Washington state’s most impactful climate policy.
Amazon, Microsoft, REI, BP America, the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and the CleanTech Alliance, as well as climate startups including First Mode, Myno Carbon, and multiple solar companies are all supporting No on 2117.
“We cannot afford the cuts Initiative 2117 would inflict on our efforts to reduce carbon emissions and secure healthy air, water, and forests for future generations,” said Marc Berejka, REI’s divisional vice president of community advocacy and impact, in a statement on Wednesday.
No on 2117 reports that it has donations and pledges of more than $11 million. Individual donors include former Microsoft CEOs Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer; Connie Ballmer; Tableau co-founder Chris Stolte; and Craig McKibben, co-founder of the software company WRQ, and his wife, Sarah Merner.
The campaign also has more than 1,200 “grassroots” donors, with 95% of the campaign contributions totaling $100 or less.
I-2117 is targeting Washington’s Climate Commitment Act, a measure that created a marketplace in which the state’s biggest carbon emitters bid on permits that allow them to release greenhouse gases. Over time, the number of available permits decreases.
The initiative would eliminate the marketplace and forbid the creation of a similar program in the future.
The market has held five quarterly auctions so far, raising $1.9 billion for programs that support the deployment of clean energy solutions including new technologies, electric vehicle charging devices, solar power and grid improvements; assist communities and tribes that are hardest hit by climate change; and fund transportation infrastructure, among other programs.
Washington state has established itself as a leader in many emerging climate technologies, including innovation in batteries, green aviation, hydrogen fuel, fusion energy, nuclear fission and climate-related software and services.
Opponents to I-2117 caution that the measure would undermine these businesses and the jobs they create.
“Without this engine of Climate Commitment Act revenues, we would not be as competitive in any of those sectors as we are today,” said Michael Mann, executive director of Clean and Prosperous Washington, an organization aligned with No on 2117.
Amazon and Microsoft, meanwhile, have poured millions into various climate-related initiatives to reduce emissions and the environmental impact from their own operations.
Supporters of the initiative say the policy has created what amounts to a “hidden gas tax” that has made petrol prices unaffordably high in the state and driven up electric bills.
“It’s important that we remember who is bearing the brunt of hidden gas taxes in the first place. It is going to be those lower-income homes, people [who] are working multiple jobs, and they’re driving to and fro,” said Hallie Balch, spokesperson for Let’s Go Washington, which is sponsoring the initiative.
Opponents of I-2117 acknowledge that gas prices increased following the auctions, but note that the costs gradually came down. To help with electrical bills, which are on the rise nationally, the state is giving utilities $150 million from the auctions to pass through to low-income customers as credits of $200 to help pay energy bills.
I-2117 has been largely backed by Brian Heywood, a resident of Redmond, Wash., and a hedge fund manager. Heywood spent more than $6.2 million on a successful signature-gathering campaign for six proposed initiatives that align with conservative agendas, including the one that became I-2117.
When asked about the initiative’s supporters and donors, Balch said by email: “We don’t have an official list of big corporation or billion-dollar sponsors because the people of Washington state are the supporters.”
