Oregonians against expensive fuel mandate as Inslee looks to jam policy through in WA

According to a new poll conducted by DHM Research, Oregonians overwhelmingly oppose the implementation of a fuel mandate if it means the cost of fuel will increase. The poll used the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s own projections for fuel price increases under a fuel mandate program.

Oregonians were asked if they would “support or oppose” the implementation of a fuel mandate “if they knew the cost of gasoline would increase between 6 and 19 cents per gallon.” A whopping 56 percent of respondents indicated that they would oppose a fuel mandate. Only 38 percent said they supported the increase. Additionally, 41 percent indicated that they “strongly oppose” a fuel mandates—that’s almost double the number who strongly support the program (24 percent).

It is important to note that the poll was “conducted while Oregon was experiencing record-low fuel prices and, still, Oregonians overwhelmingly rejected increasing fuel prices” under a fuel mandate.

As Shift readers know, Jay Inslee has announced his intention to implement a fuel mandate. A poll conducted by the National Federation of Independent Business revealed that, like Oregonians, residents of Washington do not support it.

Voters (80%) and small business owners (75%) believe an increase in gas prices – from a range of estimates from 13 cents to $1.47 that Jay Inslee’s fuel mandate might cost according to various experts – is too much to pay for a policy that doesn’t benefit our state. Additionally, a whopping 90% of voters and 95% of small businesses do not want to see Inslee’s force a fuel mandate via executive order, instead of putting his proposal up for legislative debate.

Unfortunately, as Shift previously pointed out, most Washingtonians are unaware of Inslee’s fuel mandate proposal — 79% of voters and 86% of small business owners admitted they did not know of Inslee’s plans back in November. The numbers prove that Inslee’s fuel mandate lacks the support of the people, but they also prove that most Washingtonians have no idea about Inslee’s fuel mandate scheme — his plan to hide an extreme environmental agenda from all but his strongest special interest activists is working.

That’s why Shift launched a campaign to raise awareness, but we need your help. You can order pre-printed Post-It notes with information about Inslee’s gas tax scheme. Every time you fill up your vehicle, leave a sticky note behind on the gas pump to let the next person know about Inslee’s plans – and take a picture of the note to send to us, so we can add it to our statewide map.

Shift is proud to announce that our first run of note pads has already been completely spoken for – thanks to the support of people across Washington. Will you please consider joining in? Just click here and we will mail you a pack of 25 sticky notes so you can help spread the message to every corner of our state.