Washington state’s landmark climate law faces Election Day test
Three years ago, Washington state legislators passed a landmark climate law that positioned the Evergreen State among the nation’s frontrunners in climate action. Now that status is at risk, thanks to an upcoming ballot initiative this November. The 2021 Climate Commitment Act introduced a statewide cap-and-invest program — only the second in the nation after California’s — requiring businesses to purchase allowances to emit greenhouse gases. The system is designed to help Washington achieve its climate goals of nearly halving economy-wide emissions by 2030 and virtually eliminating them by 2050. Since its official launch in January 2023, Washington’s cap-and-invest program has raised over $2 billion in revenue — cash that’s already started to flow toward thousands of clean energy, public transit, energy efficiency, and climate adaptation projects in cities and towns across the state. This Election Day, Washingtonians could put a stop to all that. Voters will have the chance to weigh in on a ballot measure spearheaded by local hedge fund millionaire Brian Heywood that aims to repeal the state’s climate law and its signature cap-and-invest program. Proponents of the measure, I-2117, claim the policy has imposed burdensome costs on businesses and consumers. Environmental advocates say a repeal would jeopardize a crucial source of funding for hundreds of state programs, chilling climate progress in Washington and beyond. “It’s hard to overstate the impact” of a potential repeal, said Caitlin Krenn, climate and clean energy director for the advocacy group Washington Conservation Action. “We’re talking billions of dollars that would be lost” in terms of funding for clean energy and electrification projects. How Washington’s ambitious climate law came under fire Washington’s cap-and-invest law arrived after years of attempts to introduce carbon pricing in the state. The program sets an annually declining cap on statewide carbon emissions and creates a fixed pool of “allowances” based on that limit. Large businesses covered under the law, including utilities, refineries, and heavy industry, must bid to purchase allowances equal to the amount of carbon dioxide they emit. As time goes on, the number of allowances shrinks, raising carbon prices in an attempt to prod businesses to proactively reduce emissions. Revenue from the program gets funneled to decarbonization efforts. Close to 75 percent of the state’s emissions are covered under the system. While many states, Washington included, have passed climate policies targeting specific industries, such as clean fuel standards, cap-and-invest programs are one of the best ways to ensure states can reach broader emissions-reduction targets, according to Caroline Jones, senior analyst at the nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund. These programs “act as a backstop, or insurance policy, alongside those sector-specific policies,” Jones said. “So if those policies don’t deliver the level of reductions that had been hoped, there’s still a plan in place to make sure emissions are going down.” In terms of their scale, the emissions-reduction targets Washington aims to hit with its cap-and-invest program surpass even California’s goals. Washington’s law also includes provisions to identify and reduce harmful air pollution in communities most impacted by it. Taken together, these features make the policy a “gold standard” among state climate initiatives, said Jones. That same ambition has prompted major backlash from local conservatives, who are hoping to not only end the policy but also prevent the state from ever enacting a cap-and-invest program again. Heywood, who lives in the Washington city of Redmond, launched the campaign to repeal the state’s climate law last year. His political action committee, Let’s Go Washington, spent around $7 million — with more than $6 million coming from Heywood himself — to fund signature gathering for the initiative, along with several others that have successfully landed on this year’s ballot. Another measure, I-2066, aims to prevent restrictions on natural gas use in buildings, while two others target the state’s capital gains tax and long-term-care insurance program. Let’s Go Washington counts among its donors and top supporters the state’s Republican Party.
Three years ago, Washington state legislators passed a landmark climate law that positioned the Evergreen State among the nation’s frontrunners in climate action. Now that status is at risk, thanks to an upcoming ballot initiative this November. The 2021 Climate Commitment Act introduced a statewide cap-and-invest…
Three years ago, Washington state legislators passed a landmark climate law that positioned the Evergreen State among the nation’s frontrunners in climate action. Now that status is at risk, thanks to an upcoming ballot initiative this November.
The 2021 Climate Commitment Act introduced a statewide cap-and-invest program — only the second in the nation after California’s — requiring businesses to purchase allowances to emit greenhouse gases. The system is designed to help Washington achieve its climate goals of nearly halving economy-wide emissions by 2030 and virtually eliminating them by 2050.
Since its official launch in January 2023, Washington’s cap-and-invest program has raised over $2 billion in revenue — cash that’s already started to flow toward thousands of clean energy, public transit, energy efficiency, and climate adaptation projects in cities and towns across the state.
This Election Day, Washingtonians could put a stop to all that. Voters will have the chance to weigh in on a ballot measure spearheaded by local hedge fund millionaire Brian Heywood that aims to repeal the state’s climate law and its signature cap-and-invest program.
Proponents of the measure, I-2117, claim the policy has imposed burdensome costs on businesses and consumers. Environmental advocates say a repeal would jeopardize a crucial source of funding for hundreds of state programs, chilling climate progress in Washington and beyond.
“It’s hard to overstate the impact” of a potential repeal, said Caitlin Krenn, climate and clean energy director for the advocacy group Washington Conservation Action. “We’re talking billions of dollars that would be lost” in terms of funding for clean energy and electrification projects.
How Washington’s ambitious climate law came under fire
Washington’s cap-and-invest law arrived after years of attempts to introduce carbon pricing in the state.
The program sets an annually declining cap on statewide carbon emissions and creates a fixed pool of “allowances” based on that limit. Large businesses covered under the law, including utilities, refineries, and heavy industry, must bid to purchase allowances equal to the amount of carbon dioxide they emit. As time goes on, the number of allowances shrinks, raising carbon prices in an attempt to prod businesses to proactively reduce emissions. Revenue from the program gets funneled to decarbonization efforts.
Close to 75 percent of the state’s emissions are covered under the system.
While many states, Washington included, have passed climate policies targeting specific industries, such as clean fuel standards, cap-and-invest programs are one of the best ways to ensure states can reach broader emissions-reduction targets, according to Caroline Jones, senior analyst at the nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund.
These programs “act as a backstop, or insurance policy, alongside those sector-specific policies,” Jones said. “So if those policies don’t deliver the level of reductions that had been hoped, there’s still a plan in place to make sure emissions are going down.”
In terms of their scale, the emissions-reduction targets Washington aims to hit with its cap-and-invest program surpass even California’s goals. Washington’s law also includes provisions to identify and reduce harmful air pollution in communities most impacted by it. Taken together, these features make the policy a “gold standard” among state climate initiatives, said Jones.
That same ambition has prompted major backlash from local conservatives, who are hoping to not only end the policy but also prevent the state from ever enacting a cap-and-invest program again.
Heywood, who lives in the Washington city of Redmond, launched the campaign to repeal the state’s climate law last year. His political action committee, Let’s Go Washington, spent around $7 million — with more than $6 million coming from Heywood himself — to fund signature gathering for the initiative, along with several others that have successfully landed on this year’s ballot. Another measure, I-2066, aims to prevent restrictions on natural gas use in buildings, while two others target the state’s capital gains tax and long-term-care insurance program. Let’s Go Washington counts among its donors and top supporters the state’s Republican Party.