Prof. Richard Painter Quoted in the Seattle Times About a Ballot Initiative to Eliminate Washington State’s Climate Commitment Act

Professor Richard Painter, S. Walter Richey Professor of Corporate Law, was quoted in the Seattle Times about Brian Heywood, a local millionaire who was the force behind a ballot measure in the state of Washington this fall. Initiative 2117 seeks to repeal the Climate Commitment Act launched last year that requires Washington’s top polluters to pay for emissions by buying allowances at quarterly auctions. Over time, state officials will ratchet down the number of allowances sold, thereby reducing emissions. Opponents of Brian Heywood, who has been linked to investments in oil and gas companies, shipping, drilling, and mineral exploration, say there is a connection between his past business dealings and the ballot initiative and filed an ethics complaint in August accusing him of illegally trying to sway voters. But Prof. Painter, a former White House ethics lawyer, said any such connections would be difficult to determine as there aren’t many disclosure laws requiring the scrutiny of people posing ballot initiatives.