Voters in Washington state have chosen to uphold the Climate Commitment Act, a pioneering law aimed at reducing carbon emissions and generating funds for environmental programs. The law, passed just two years ago, requires major polluters to purchase allowances for their greenhouse gas emissions, with the goal of cutting emissions to nearly half of 1990 levels by 2030.
Conservatives had attempted to repeal the law, citing concerns about increased energy and gas costs in the state. However, supporters of the Climate Commitment Act argued that repealing it would jeopardize billions of dollars in state revenue that fund crucial programs such as habitat restoration, climate change preparedness, air quality improvement, wildfire prevention, and transportation initiatives.
The repeal effort, led by Let’s Go Washington and backed by hedge fund executive Brian Heywood, claimed that the carbon pricing program had raised gas prices by 43 to 53 cents per gallon. Despite these claims, gas prices in Washington had reached $5.12 per gallon even before the auctions began, with the state's historic high of $5.54 occurring months prior to the program's implementation in February 2023.
If the Climate Commitment Act had been repealed, the state stood to lose nearly $4 billion in revenue over the next five years. This loss would have impacted numerous state-funded programs that rely on proceeds from the carbon pricing program.
Washington's Climate Commitment Act is the second of its kind in the United States, following California's lead. The law's stringent annual emission reduction targets and potential for linking up with other states' carbon markets could have been jeopardized by a repeal.
