SEATTLE—The Clean & Prosperous Institute, a fiscally sponsored project of the Washington Business Alliance Fund set on reducing greenhouse emissions in Washington, launched a risk of repeal map intended to showcase how Climate Commitment Act (CCA) funds are used for community-based projects statewide and what’s at risk if the funds from the act are removed this November with Initiative 2117.
The interactive map spans more than 500 projects throughout all 39 counties, totaling $9 billion which are reliant on the Climate Commitment Act to continue, the institute says.
Users can access the map tool to see where and how CCA revenues are being invested in different projects from restoring salmon habitats; to electrifying ferry fleets; to community electric vehicle charging sites; to on-farm greenhouse has reduction grants; and then some. The tool also categorizes which projects are most at risk if the CCA were to be repealed.
“The Climate Commitment Act is less than two years old and as you know it’s been threatened with weakening or repeal since its inception, whether by legislative proposals, current campaign positions, and also ballot initiatives,” said Michael Mann, Executive Director of the Clean & Prosperous Institute. “Meanwhile more than three billion that has already been appropriated by the legislature and the projected none billion dollars in Climate Commitment Act funding, is beginning to show up in communities across the state. They’re literally turning smokestack emissions into neighborhood projects, to create healthy communities in every county in the state.”
Back in November of last year, Let’s Go Washington gathered approximately 469,000 signatures to get Initiative 2117 on the November, 2024 ballot. If passed by voters, the initiative would repeal the 2021 Climate Commitment Act which establishes the state’s cap and invest program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 95% by 2050.
The CCA sets a declining cap on greenhouse gas emissions and requires the state’s largest emitters to purchase allowances for “planet-warming pollution.” The law requires the Legislature to invest revenue from this cap-and-invest program to projects that reduce greenhouse emissions.
Let’s Go Washington says the Climate Commitment Act imposes a so-called “hidden gas tax,” prohibiting state agencies from imposing any type of carbon tax credit trading, including “cap and trade” or “cap and tax” programs, regardless of whether the resulting increased costs are imposed on fuel recipients or fuel suppliers. The Brian Haywood-founded conservative group also says the act is driving up general costs for general consumers.
On the other hand over 400 organizations, including medical professionals and first responders, as well as Tribal Nations, joined together last month to voice their opposition to Initiative 2117 arguing that it would devastate Washington’s transportation and infrastructure programs by taking away billions in funding, jeopardizing efforts to fix roads and bridges and reduce traffic congestion. It would also threaten clean water, lead to more toxic air pollution and wildfires, and result in more kids and adults with asthma and illness, the organizations argued.
The Clean & Prosperous Institutes new map tool is intended to be an educational resource for the public, as well as stakeholders, to understand the current scope of investments and potential risk if the act is repealed.
“The Climate Commitment Act faces many challenges that could significantly weaken or fully repeal it, whether by Legislative or Executive action or at the ballot box,” said Kevin Tempest, Research Director at the Clean and Prosperous Institute. “With this map tool, Clean & Prosperous Institute is shining a critical spotlight on the investments that CCA dollars are making into communities spanning every county in the state.”
“Investments enabled by the Climate Commitment Act are growing every month and in every county,” continued Tempest. “They are lowering the cost of clean energy for households and businesses, protecting key forest and fish habitat, catalyzing innovation, and providing an economic engine to power our communities toward a clean energy future.”
Lee Keller, Strategic Communications for Clean & Prosperous Institute, led a media briefing Friday, September 13, walking through how the map works. The institute also has various other resources on its website and adds project “one-pagers” weekly.
“Our goal is to ensure that these investments are visible and accurately tracked,” said Tempest. “This interactive mapping tool is a vital resource for all Washingtonians to understand that Climate Commitment Act investments are increasingly putting shovels in the ground to deliver benefits to communities in every county across the state.”
More About Clean & Prosperous Institute
The Clean & Prosperous Institute (formerly the Low Carbon Prosperity Institute) works to responsibly tackle climate change and carbon reduction at the state level. We leverage resources, prioritize truth-telling, and strive for improved government and private-sector collaboration. Our core focus is system design, delivering technically accurate, long-term greenhouse gas reduction strategies that guide policy decisions. We thoroughly explore opportunities and complex risk factors associated with crafting climate policy from the state level upward. We strongly believe in the power of business leadership, bipartisan problem-solving, and data-driven public policy.
Author: Kienan Briscoe
2 Responses
You failed to get any statements from the other side of this issue. This is the green new deal in sheeps clothing. Money is a finite resource, and while these projects may be doing good, they need to be prioritized with everything else. Instead the WA state Inslee government just took a lot of money from the people and gave it to his pet projects. Fair and balanved reporting is the only way to get to the truth.
Thank you, Lynnwood Times, for sharing this.
It looks like the local risks are a Lynnwood transit center remodel, a bunch of electric vehicle charging stations, and improvements to electric meters at Edmonds college.
It looks like all of those are low or medium risk. I’m guessing that part of the issue is the legislature isn’t promising funds they have not yet collected, so some of the projects on the map are already mostly funded from 2024 pollution fees. Seems like we won’t know what we would have missed out on in 2025 until we get there.