In Washington, Measure 1631, the Carbon Emissions Fee Measure, lost, with 56 percent voting no. The measure would have put a tax on carbon emissions, and it was the second time in two years that a ballot measure on a carbon tax was voted down in the state. Groups in favor of the measure were outspent by oil interests who poured more than $31 million into defeating it.

Carbon taxes are widely favored by economists, but this second failure to pass such a tax shows how difficult it can be to convince voters. This latest effort to install a carbon tax in Washington received 57 percent of the vote in King County, where Seattle is located, revealing an urban/rural divide. Supporters of the measure pledge to continue the fight. “This problem is not going away regardless of whether we come out on top or not,” Nick Abraham, communications liaison for Yes on 1631, told Crosscut Magazine.