Ian Siadak
Ian Siadak is helping Sightline with research on climate and energy policy, specifically carbon pricing. He is a life-long resident of Seattle and has spent many years working on environmental and workers' rights projects in the area, as well as nationally. Since attending the COP16 international climate negotiations in 2010, Ian has focused more on national and state policy to address climate change, and is particularly enamored of carbon taxes. Although he spends a majority of his days thinking about the fascinating details of climate policy, he also finds time to explore the mountains and waterways of the Pacific Northwest (he is a self-described half mountain goat-half salmon), and on sunny days you might find him busking a local park with his guitar.
SwatchJunkies
SwatchJunkies
Hog-Wild Loophole
Over the past six decades, Washington has given away hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue through a loophole that no one, in 63 years, has been able to properly justify or explain. The main beneficiaries of the loophole are some of the most profitable, and least responsible, companies in the world. And what’s more, the loophole was never intended to be used by these companies at all.
Say hello to the Extracted Fuel Exemption.
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Making BC’s Carbon Tax Even Better
Sightline is an unapologetic booster of British Columbia’s carbon tax. For good reason, other jurisdictions look to Canada’s West Coast as a model of a strong carbon policy. Yet, BC’s tax is not perfect. It’s come in for criticism from progressive groups in BC who wish the tax were fairer, stronger, and broader than it is now.
Let’s take a moment to examine three major criticisms of the tax. Then we’ll recommend some fixes that can make BC’s tax even better.
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Maintain WA’s Transportation Network with a Carbon Tax
Editor's Note: This op-ed originally ran in The Seattle Times print edition January 3, 2012, and online January 2, 2012.
We have a transportation problem. The governor’s Connecting Washington report identified a maintenance shortfall of almost $800 million per year over the next 10 years just to keep roads, bridges and ferries in safe working order.
We have a climate problem. Carbon concentrations in the atmosphere continue to rise, and the scientific consensus about the risks of global warming continues to build.
We can fix both problems at the same time. Economists from across the political spectrum agree that putting a price on carbon is the most effective and efficient way to reduce carbon emissions. British Columbia has proved them right: In the past few years our northern neighbor has reduced its carbon-dioxide emissions by 5 percent, and its economy has outperformed the rest of Canada.
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Deciphering the Impacts of BC’s Carbon Tax
In 2008, British Columbia rolled out the first large-scale carbon tax in North America. It is a somewhat unique tax ...
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