We've put together a Policy Brief – which you can read in full here – on I-732, the statewide initiative on the November ballot that would create a new carbon tax in Washington.

In brief:

• Initiative 732 would impose a tax on carbon dioxide emissions and at the same time lower other taxes. 
• The carbon tax would begin at $15 per metric ton of CO2 on July 1, 2017, jump to $25 per metric ton on July 1, 2018 and increase by 3.5 percent plus the rate of inflation every July 1 thereafter, until it reaches $100 in inflation-adjusted 2016 dollars. 
• The initiative would reduce the B&O tax rate for manufacturing from 0.484 percent to 0.0001 percent, reduce the state sales tax from 6.5 percent to 5.5 percent and fund the working families sales tax rebate program. 
• While its authors intend the initiative to be revenue neutral, the Office of Financial Management has estimated that the initiative will reduce general fund–state revenue by $797 million through Fiscal Year 2021.
• Carbon taxation has an uneven record on reducing greenhouse gas emissions: In British Columbia emissions are down slightly since a tax was enacted, and in Norway emissions are up slightly.
• The economic effects of a carbon tax have been documented in B.C., where according to the provincial Ministry of Finance it has had "a small negative impact on Gross Domestic Product." Additionally the Congressional Budget Office in 2013 asserted that a carbon tax "would have a negative effect on the economy."

The full Policy Brief is here.