Connelly: Major oil companies raise $20 million to fight Initiative 1631

Security vehicles are shown at a gate to a Tesoro Corp. (now Andeavor) refinery , Friday, April 2, 2010, in Anacortes, Wash. A heat exchanger explosion killed seven workers. Security vehicles are shown at a gate to a Tesoro Corp. (now Andeavor) refinery , Friday, April 2, 2010, in Anacortes, Wash. A heat exchanger explosion killed seven workers. Image 1 of / 9 Caption Close Connelly: Major oil companies raise $20 million to fight Initiative 1631 1 / 9 Back to Gallery

Major oil companies, led by refiners operating in this state, raised $20.46 million to fight Initiative 1631, which would make Washington the first state in America to enact a carbon fee on major polluters.

The No on 1631 campaign reports spending only about $2.7 million, indication that direct mail is headed to your home and TV spots with women as narrators will blanket your television screen.

No on 1631 has topped even what the American Beverage Assn. spent -- $16.9 million -- in 2010 to repeal a statewide soft drink tax.

Its war chest is higher than the $13 million that Big Soda -- led by Coca-Cola and PepsiCo -- has raised to support this year's I-1534. The industry-inspired measure would prohibit other cities and counties from following Seattle's example and taxing sugary beverages, or other foodstuffs.

The No on 1631 donors are a who's who of major petroleum companies, with just a few visible in-state contributors.

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Phillips 66 tops the list of contributors at $7.62 million, followed by Andeavor (the former Tesoro) at $4.362 million. BP America has given $3.396 million, followed by BP at $3 million. American Fuel and Petroleum Manufacturers has forked up $1 million.

Chevron has given $500,000, while U.S. Oil and Refining, operator of a small Tacoma refinery, has donated $558,600.

The local donors? Cascade Natural Gas at $50,000, the Washington State Fruit Tree Assn. at $5,000 and the Lewis County Farm Bureau at $1,000.

The stakes are high: Washington has become a laboratory for ideas that supporters want to showcase to other states. Enactment of a carbon fee here would have national implications.

The carbon fee initiative has brought together environmental groups, labor unions, Native American tribes and some businesses. Support for I-1631 ranges from Expedia to REI to Red Hook Brewing to the Mazama Country Inn.

RELATED: Oil refiners, soft drink makers in 'Shock and Awe' initiative spending in Washington

The measure would enact a carbon emission fee of $15 per metric ton on January 1, 2020. The fee would go up $2 annually until the state's greenhouse goals are met.

Opponents say the fee -- don't call it a tax -- would raise prices at the gas pump. Supporters say the fee would raise money for clean energy investments, air quality, forest health and transportation.

Supporters, Clean Air-Clean Energy Washington, have collected $6.119 million and spent $2.64 million, according to filings with the state Public Disclosure Commission.

Gov. Jay Inslee is a big supporter of the initiative, with the carbon fee a key to the governor's "green agenda" of moving Washington toward clean energy.

Want to learn more? Turn to web sites, Don't Spoil WA or Vote No on 1631.