The Yes on I-1631 campaign and Washington’s solar industry are celebrating a milestone. This week Washington’s Secretary of State announced that Initiative 1631 has qualified for the ballot in the November 2018 election. The initiative would protect local health and build a cleaner future for Washington by putting a pollution fee on the state’s largest polluters, like the oil industry and utilities that have not yet switched to clean energy. It would invest in clean energy infrastructure, protecting and improving our state’s clean water and healthy forests, and transitioning local communities to a clean energy economy.
Yes on 1631 volunteers and coalition leaders delivered roughly 375,000 signatures to the Secretary of State’s Election Office last month. 260,000 verified signatures are required to qualify for the General Election Ballot. More than 2000 volunteers, organized through more than 200 organizations across Washington, worked over 12 weeks to gather signatures for this initiative.
Initiative 1631 is supported by the broadest coalition in Washington state initiative history, including labor unions, health professionals, businesses, communities of color organizations, tribal nations, faith organizations and environmental and clean energy advocates. The Solar Installers of Washington has endorsed the initiative, as have many of its member companies.
“Passage of I-1631 would dramatically accelerate the deployment of renewable energy in Washington. Funds generated by the carbon fee would support a multi-fold increase in solar installations and create thousands of new local jobs in the solar industry,” said Allison Arnold, Executive Director of Solar Installers of Washington.
