Sound Transit has made a habit over the last 20 years of making up stories to try and pry more tax dollars out of the wallets of people living in King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties. As Shift has reported many times, whether it’s about finishing projects on time and under budget, or that light rail will reduce traffic congestion, Sound Transit bureaucrats will never let the truth get in the way of a good story.
Now, with ballots getting ready to out for Sound Transit’s biggest money grab ever – $54 billion in taxes for projects that won’t be done for 25 years (or more) – the agency is training its site on the issue it hopes will move young voters its way – climate change.
Essentially Sound Transit has decided to declare its own “War on Cars”, based on a recent email sent by the campaign. The email sets up the battle in the subject line: “Proposition 1 v. #1 Polluter”
And that “#1 Polluter” is none other than the vehicle that gets most of us to work, or gets the kids to schools, or allows us to enjoy the place where we live.
Of course, the Sound Transit propagandists can’t help themselves, bragging that “Sound Transit Proposition 1 will curtail over 793,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas each year when the mass transit system is built out across the Puget Sound region.”
So, if you will only tax yourself $1,000 a year or so, for the next 25 years (at least), sometime after 2041 the allegedly complete light-rail system will reduce tons of pollution.
However, what all the environmentalists lining up behind Sound Transit 3 (or Regional Proposition 1) won’t admit is that the actual construction of the fixed-route rail lines – you know, the concrete and equipment required to tunnel and assemble the system, will be spewing pollution all over the region for decades.
And since, Sound Transit officials admit that their train set won’t actually reduce congestion, the alleged savings in “tons of greenhouse gas each year” is a bit of complete fabrication – as those cars will still be on the road for decades to come.
But, why let facts get in the way of a good story, eh? These Sound Transit folks have voters to fool, if they are to slip the state’s largest-ever tax increase past them next month.
