A big case of Someone Else syndrome
Why Do Washington Voters Struggle With Climate Change Policies?
Despite environmental awareness and the public’s apparent desire for reform, statewide initiatives keep failing
Attempts to tax carbon emissions have twice failed on Washington state ballots and efforts in the Legislature have been stalled. And while activists say they’ll continue to push for greener policies, some researchers are suggesting the way these policies are constructed must be rethought. (big snip)
Aseem Prakash and Nives Dolsak are professors at the University of Washington who focus their research on climate policy. In an opinion piece published in The Hill, they write that while climate change itself will disproportionately affect poorer sections of society, climate activists have been unable to use that information to their advantage and are facing a populist backlash in France. Moreover, they point to this same trend in the U.S. In a November Gallup poll, only 2 percent of respondents listed environmental issues as the most important problem facing the U.S.
In an interview with Seattle Weekly, the pair said as people are forced to rank their list of priorities, climate change begins sliding down the list. When people are asked whether they support climate change, most people will say they do, but when asked if they think they should pay for measures to reduce it, support drops.
Dolsak said there is a strong sense of “we the people should not be taxed, it should be the corporations that should be taxed,†and added that “there is a sense of urgency, policy has to happen, but we the consumers should not be bearing the cost of policy.â€
Now, lots of Warmist groups and “climate researchers” will whine about fossil fuels companies and groups spending money to defeat these types of policies and initiatives, because Leftists only like spending money when it agrees with their views (because they are rather Fascist), but it really does come down to the notion that lots of people believe we should Do Something about man-caused climate change, they’re just unwilling to pay for it (much like with healthcare) themselves. Someone Else should pay for it.
They also never seem to understand that if Someone Else is getting nailed with carbon taxes, those extra costs will be passed on to consumers.
Maybe the voters don’t want to support the ruse because the thought of even more money taken by government from these voters motivated enough of them to start using the anti-Leftist behaviors of personal research and individual thought.
Washington state is free from a state income tax. People there like there 33rd ranking as far as overall tax burden. However anectdotal information comes to me from my Brother in law and his nephew who are trying to build new homes on property in the sticks.
They have to pay ridiculous sums and wait long periods of time for almost everything. In my state you can permit and build a home in a few months. They have been working on their home for over a year and still don’t have a foundation poured and they are paying cash.
So Washington is already hit by insane permit costs to do anything. Paying more taxes would be something I can see all but those living in Seattle as something they would be loathe to adopt.