Several new state-sponsored programs that aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions have popped up in recent months, but they may not be available for long.
The Clark County Council approved a nearly $1 million contract last month for a new program that would provide direct financial assistance for heating low-income households as well as help them replace inefficient, outdated or unsafe heating and cooling systems.
Not long after, the Washington State Department of Commerce launched its $150 million Washington Families Clean Energy Credit program to provide a $200 energy bill credit to low- and moderate-income customers statewide.
The programs are among about 70 funded by the state’s Climate Commitment Act, including large-scale solar arrays and free public transit for youth.
A statewide ballot measure, Initiative 2117, seeks to repeal large parts of the Climate Commitment Act and would cut funding for these programs.
The Washington Legislature approved the Climate Commitment Act in 2021, creating a so-called cap-and-invest program to reduce statewide greenhouse gas emissions.
The system differs from a traditional cap-and-trade market because profits from the auction go back into government programs meant to further reduce emissions.
Washington joined the Western Climate Initiative’s nonprofit auction platform in December 2021. The platform also serves the carbon markets in California and Quebec, as well as one in Nova Scotia.
Washington’s first emissions allowance market occurred in February 2023 and raised $299 million, according to the Washington State Department of Ecology. Businesses and individuals participate in the confidential auction, held four times a year, to buy allowances to cover their annual carbon emissions.
Over time, the number of allowances sold are set to decrease in line with the state’s goal to become carbon neutral.
Initiative 2117 would repeal this cap-and-invest system, thus putting an end to its revenue generation.
Demand for allowances dropped during the last auction as the campaign around Initiative 2117 heated up.
The June auction raised about $189 million, and the price for allowances was $29.92 for 1 ton of carbon dioxide emissions — about half of what the price was in the August 2023 auction.
The Legislature, however, appropriated $3.2 billion in Climate Commitment Act revenue for the 2023-25 biennium. If the initiative is successful, a handful of programs, totaling around $783.7 million in Climate Commitment Act funds, would end immediately.
Those include programs that administer the legislation, create an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions, set standards for air pollution in overburdened communities, and offer access to federal clean energy tax incentives.
Even if Initiative 2117 passes, the Legislature set up the budget so that most of the Climate Commitment Act-sponsored programs will continue to be funded until the end of 2025, said Hayden Mackley, deputy communications director at Washington’s Office of Financial Management.
“But not beyond that,” Mackley said.
