Even if Washington’s proposed carbon tax is revenue neutral, KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson believes the actual environmental savings are negligible.

“Statistically, we do not matter when it comes to climate emissions,” Dori said. “If you do something statistically, absolutely irrelevant &#8212 which this would be &#8212 and in the process end up costing people hundreds of dollars per year, per family, then what you’ve done is instead of helped, you have hurt.”

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Dori is referring to a recent ballot measure before the state Legislature that would make Washington the first state in the nation to impose a direct tax on carbon emissions from fossil fuels such as coal, gasoline and natural gas. The measure would create a carbon tax of $25 per metric ton of fossil fuel emissions burned in Washington while reducing taxes. Dori says the measure has more to do with creating a “feel-good” attitude than actually doing anything for the environment.

The proposal is designed to be “revenue neutral,” meaning that though tax revenues would increase for fossil fuels, it would mostly be offset by a decrease in other tax revenues, such as state sales tax.

Sponsors of the bill say the average family would pay a few hundred dollars more each year, mostly from higher gasoline prices, heating and electricity costs, while saving a few hundred dollars a year in sales taxes. The idea of revenue neutral is fine, Dori says, but not realistic.

“Does it ever work that way?” he asked. “Is any tax ever revenue neutral, like they’re claiming with this one?

“So much environmentalism is about just feeling good instead of actually doing something,” he added.

Dori argues Washington is responsible for one-tenth of one percent of worldwide climate emissions. In the process, business people and those who make a living on the roads will continue to pay.

“And they can’t just keep passing the costs along,” he said. “We’re a tiny part of worldwide emissions. If we raise the gas tax 25 cents per gallon and China and India keep pumping smokestacks of emissions into our atmosphere, then what have we done except end up costing all of the people of this state a lot of money?”