The following editorial appears on Bloomberg View:

Voters in Washington state will be asked next month whether they want to adopt the nation’s first carbon tax -- a powerful way to curb greenhouse-gas emissions. You’d think environmental groups would be doing everything they can to back that idea. You’d be wrong.

Initiative 732 will be on the ballot on Election Day. It calls for a $25-per-ton carbon tax, and it says how the proceeds should be spent: Trim the state’s sales tax, cut taxes on manufacturers, and give tax rebates to low-income households.

Oddly enough, this plan has failed to impre...