When former Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed the Climate Commitment Act in 2021, it was a major step to set the state on a path to achieve the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 95% by 2050. The act took effect in 2023, requiring businesses that emit the most pollution to reduce their emissions over the years through a Cap-and-Invest Program.
At quarterly auctions held by the state Department of Ecology, businesses have to purchase allowances for their carbon emissions, and the number of allowances will slowly decrease to make sure the state achieves its mid-century goal through actual emissions reductions at facilities.
“Depending on the price in the carbon market at the time, the money that is raised from that then goes into the state’s Climate Commitment account, which then disperses funds to a number of different projects across the state,” says Matt Glazewski, the director of the Washington Climate Corps Network, or WCCN…