Tesla-Targeted Washington Tax Bill Draws Climate Impact Rebuke

Washington state lawmakers are targeting Tesla with a bill that would tax its participation in a vehicle emissions trading program—a plan critics say would harm the environment more than it would punish the Elon Musk-led car company.

The bill on Gov. Bob Ferguson’s desk (S.B. 2077) would apply a tax for the first time to credits automakers earn for selling zero-emissions vehicles as the state phases out gas-powered vehicles. Washington, like California, has a market-based program allowing companies that sell more than enough vehicles to meet their ZEV goals to earn credits that they can sell to ...