Gas prices have fluctuated the past year, both in Washington and nationwide. You may have to adjust some of these goals or stretch them out.” Gas price debate “Some of the targets the state set were going to be challenging under the best circumstances. “ doesn’t need to be eliminated, it just needs to get fixed,” he said. He acknowledged that may set back the state’s deadlines for reducing emissions. Kevin Slagle, the group’s vice president of strategic communications, said lawmakers need to consider putting more allowances on the market and temporarily exempting fuel suppliers from the program. They argue that the law needs major adjustments. State officials blame the high prices on unexpectedly strong demand early on, and say prices are likely to settle over time as companies stockpile allowances to prepare for the first compliance deadline next November.īut some industry groups, such as the Western States Petroleum Association, say the high price for carbon has increased costs for consumers. In the first quarterly carbon auctions held under the Washington program this year, prices per ton nearly doubled those in California, triggering a pair of special auctions designed to bring reserve allowances onto the market when prices are high. While New York officials draw up their own program, the Washington leaders they followed are now playing defense. “It’s fair to say that the New York regulations are built upon the Climate Commitment Act, both politically and in terms of policy.” “We’re hopeful that we can help this scale to a national and worldwide level,” said Carlyle, who now leads a startup that provides consulting and financing for climate-conscious organizations. Earlier this year, New York lawmakers approved their own cap-and-trade law. Jay Inslee’s crowning climate achievement and a template for tackling climate change without leaving behind the communities it threatens most. Supporters hailed the law as Democratic Gov. And it requires a significant portion of the money raised by carbon auctions to be invested in marginalized communities. It creates stricter limits on the use of carbon “offsets” such as tree planting to skirt direct emissions reductions. It requires air quality monitoring in low-income and minority neighborhoods that have disproportionately suffered from pollution. Reuven Carlyle, a Democrat, to address criticisms that had plagued California’s program. Washington lawmakers designed the Climate Commitment Act, championed by then-state Sen. The state’s measure came 15 years after California passed its law, and just over a decade after President Barack Obama’s effort to create a federal program failed in Congress. This has implications not just in Washington state, it has implications globally.” Climate Commitment ActĬlimate advocates credit Washington’s enactment of cap-and-trade in 2021 with reviving momentum for such programs. Joe Nguyễn, a Democrat who chairs the Senate Environment, Energy & Technology Committee. “Why do you think I spent 80 hours a week on this?” said Washington state Sen. The future of cap-and-trade, some advocates say, may hinge on next year’s battle in Washington state. In other Northeastern states, which may follow New York, lawmakers are waiting for the dominoes to fall. And leaders in New York, where state officials are still drawing up their own rules for cap-and-trade, say they’re watching Washington with concern. The fight over the ballot initiative, regardless of whether it passes, could delay Washington’s plan to link its market with California’s. A voter initiative that’s likely to be on the ballot next year, stoked by anger over prices at the pump, threatens to repeal it altogether. With an established program in California, a newly created system in Washington state and a plan in New York that’s still in development, cap-and-trade is poised to cover a quarter of the American economy.īut less than a year into cap-and-trade, Washington state is facing backlash over the program’s perceived contribution to high gas prices. Organizations may trade or sell those allowances with one another. Such programs, known as cap-and-trade, limit carbon emissions to a set amount that shrinks each year, and require businesses to bid at auctions for permits known as “allowances” for each ton they emit. Some lawmakers across the country think the future of climate policy looks like this: A growing network of states forming a carbon market, forcing polluters to pay by the ton for the greenhouse gases they emit and reinvesting the revenues into clean energy and electrification projects.
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