This story was originally published bygristand republished here as part thereofClimate Deskcooperation
The people of Washington state have elected to put in place the most ambitious carbon price in the country. The vast majority of voters,62 percentThe state rejected a ballot initiative to repeal the Climate Commitment Act, cap-and-trade legislation that has already raised more than $2 billion to clean up transportation, transition to clean energy and help people adapt to the effects of a changing climate.
On an otherwise disappointing election night for those who consider climate change a top concern, there was an air of victory Tuesday evening at the Seattle Convention Center, where Gov. Jay Inslee and several hundred organizers rallied to campaign against the repeal. With news that the Ghari Party was the favorite to win the presidential election, former President Donald Trump, many in the crowd did their best to focus on their success in rescuing the state’s landmark carbon-cutting law. Inslee, the outgoing Democratic governor whose signature climate legislation was at stake, said the results would encourage states to take action on climate change.
“I really think it was important from a national perspective, because every state legislator can now look to Washington and say, ‘This is a winning issue,'” Inslee said in an interview with Grist. “It’s something you can defend and win big. And we won big.”
Inslee said efforts to defeat the initiative emphasized the program’s concrete, local benefits to voters rather than getting into the weeds about how cap and trade works. “We’re focused on the easiest thing to wrap people’s minds and hearts around,” Inslee said, referring to the real economic benefits the repeal will bring: funding for transportation, schools and firefighting.
Putting any kind of price on carbon is long overdue Politically risky. Opponents of Washington’s Climate Commitments Act, including Brian Haywood, the hedge fund manager who is leading the repeal effort, blame it for raising gas prices. The ballot measure would not only lower the state’s price on pollution — it would also prevent the state from enacting similar policies in the future.
Widespread public support for Washington’s cap-and-trade program “continues to reverberate from coast to coast,” said Democratic state Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon, who helped pass the legislation in 2021, during a speech at the convention center. including state officials New Jersey, Maryland and New York Similar policies have been eyed, and they are watching the results in Washington to see how voters respond. “I know there are states that are thinking, ‘What can we do?'” Fitzgibbon told Grist. “And especially when there’s a vacancy at the federal level, that’s when I think you see the most motivation to move to state capitols.”
Cap and trade already exists in California, and in a more limited form A network of eastern statesbut Washington’s law is more ambitiousThe goal is to cut emissions by about half by 2030, using 1990 levels as a baseline, and 95 percent by 2050.
“Washington state is the gold standard for how we address climate change in a way that’s inclusive, in a way that’s politically popular, in a way that will actually decarbonize,” said state Sen. Joe Nguyen, a Democrat who chairs the state’s Environment, Energy, and Technology Committee. . This was found in a review of existing climate policies in 41 countries in August Carbon pricing programs were the most likely to lead to large emissions reductions of any policy.
2021 Climate Commitment Act passedMore than a decade of failed attempts to put a price on pollutionIn Washington state. It requires companies to buy pollution permits in quarterly auctions, a way to raise money for climate solutions while at the same time incentivizing businesses to reduce their emissions. The number of permits available decreases over time. The program has so far raised billions to free up public transit for youth, install energy-efficient heat pumps in homes and reduce local air pollution, among other measures.
Across the state, nearly 600 organizations joined the “No on 2117” coalition to protect the legislation in 2024, eventually $16 million. Many businesses, religious organizations, health advocates and agricultural organizations were on board. At Tuesday’s event, there was a security guard representing unionized labor, the chair of the Suquamish Tribe and a public policy manager for tech giant Amazon. “We’ve brought everyone together, the most extraordinary coalition in the history of this state, on any issue,” said Greg Small, executive director of Group Climate Solutions, in a speech at the convention center.
The initiative faced other headwinds. Ballots clearly warned voters about the financial cost of repeal, though Appeal to State Supreme Court The Washington State Republican Party got that language removed. And gas prices in Washington — which have gone up $5, the highest in the nation2023 – Now comes around $4 a gallon.
Another ballot initiativeThat would complicate the state’s plan to get off natural gas, too close to call Friday. With ballots still to be counted, 51 percent of voters approved the measure, which targets new building codes that make it more difficult to install natural gas and Legislation to help the state’s largest utility accelerate its use of clean energy.
Now that Washington’s cap-and-trade program has survived repeal, the state can move forward with the plan Link its carbon markets to those of California and Quebec. States can begin the year-long process of implementing the Climate Commitments Act’s program to regulate air quality. This summer, the state begins Release grants to help reduce air pollution in “overserved” communitiesBut according to David Mendoza, director of public advocacy and engagement for the Washington State Nature Conservancy, much work was on hold as the state waited to see if voters would uphold the law.
The whole withdrawal initiative could be a blessing in disguise, Nguyen said. It has given people an opportunity to focus on all the state’s work on climate change that might otherwise be ignored. “I want to thank Brian Haywood and his friends for actually putting this on the ballot, and affirming that all of us in Washington state care about climate change.”
