Inslee proposes carbon tax to raise money for schools

SEATTLE  — Gov. Jay Inslee will try to convince lawmakers to do something voters wouldn't last month — approve a new tax on carbon emissions from fossil fuels.

The Democrat is proposing a tax of $25 per metric ton of carbon emissions starting in 2018 as part of a two-year budget plan that seeks more than $4 billion in new revenue.

The tax would raise nearly $2 billion in the first year with half going into education and the rest toward clean energy, transportation, forest health and other projects.

The proposal comes just a month after Washington voters rejected a carbon tax ballot measure that Inslee and major environmental and labor groups did not support.

It's certain to face opposition in the Republican-controlled Senate.

Inslee's previous plan in 2015 to charge a fee for carbon pollution failed to gain traction in the Legislature.