The Washington State Council of Fire Fighters and the Washington Prescribed Fire Council have each endorsed the coalition working to defeat Initiative 2117.

The two organizations join more than 300 other endorsers, including Tribal nations, labor unions,  businesses, environmental and community organizations, who have endorsed the “No on 2117” campaign.

If passed, I-2117 would prohibit any state agencies from implementing a cap-and-trade or cap-and-tax program, but the fire councils have warned it would also cut funding from projects to increase wildfire resilience and prevention.

In 2023, Washington state recorded 1,884 wildfire ignitions, which is the second-largest number of ignitions in the state’s history. This includes two wildfires in Spokane County, that were the most catastrophic in the county’s history, and, for the first time, Western Washington saw more wildfires than Central and Eastern Washington combined.

I-2117 would cut $30 million in funding for wildfire resiliency and prevention programs across the state, that seek to make forests healthier by helping local governments, private landowners and communities prevent and prepare for fires in high-risk areas.

I-2117 does have notable supporters, including state Rep. Jim Walsh (R-19), who asserted that the state’s cap-and-trade carbon tax “is what is making Washington’s price of living the highest in the nation alongside California,” and further claimed that it doesn’t actually reduce emissions.

Brian Heywood, founder of “Let’s Go Washington,” also defended I-2117, criticizing the cap-and-trade carbon tax for being what he considers to be an onerous and duplicitous additional expense for the state’s households.