The National Federation of Independent Business released the results of two scientific polls taken of likely voters and small business owners in Washington State regarding Jay Inslee’s fuel mandate plans.
The results indicate that most Washingtonians are completely unaware that any carbon reduction proposal exists—79% of voters and 86% of small business owners admitted they did not know of Inslee’s plans. However, an overwhelming majority (96%) of respondents feel that Inslee should follow an open and transparent process in proposing any carbon reduction plan. Only 10% of voters and 5% of small businesses believe that Inslee should take unilateral executive action to force his agenda on our state.
NFIB also discovered that 67% of voters and 69% of small business owners want to vote on Inslee’s proposal via a state ballot measure. Also, 66% of voters and 78% of small business owners prefer to wait and see the environmental and economic impacts of California’s low carbon fuel standard policy—which will go into effect in January—before making any decision for a similar plan in Washington State.
NFIB points out that survey respondents believe the price of gas/diesel and the availability of renewable energy to be the two most important energy issues facing Washington State. The majority of respondents (54%) said Inslee’s proposal should not be considered if it raises the price of fuel. Voters (80%) and small business owners (75%) believe an increase in fuel prices by $.13 to $1.47 per gallon is too much to pay.
Additionally, 62% of voters and 74% of small business owners do not believe Inslee’s proposal should be considered unless the increase in fuel prices can provide clearly defined environmental benefits for Washington State. Considering the fact that Washington State’s emissions comprise 3/10 of 1% of the world’s carbon emissions, no clearly defined benefits can be proven. It appears that our green governor’s “I believe what I believe” explanation for his fuel mandate is just not good enough.
You can find the NFIB’s full survey results here.
