OLYMPIA, Wash. — Just a few years after lawmakers passed the Climate Commitment Act in Washington, voters have a chance to overturn it.
A yes vote on Initiative 2117 would repeal the act that was passed in 2021. It’s mission was to cap and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the industries and sources that use the most.
Opponents of the law and supporters of the initiative say it’s created a hidden gas and energy tax, driving up cost of living and that the state hasn’t done enough to meet its climate goals.
Gas prices in Washington did go up just a few months after the act went into effect, but they have since gone down. Supporters of Initiative 2117 say that’s because companies have backed off this year.
In an email to Cascade PBS, Chevron said the program led the company to raise gas prices by about 10 percent.
The state says auctions put in place by the Climate Commitment Act have generated more than $2 billion so far and are expected to raise more than $3.2 billion by next year.
So, what’s done with the money and what happens if the act is repealed and it goes away?
Supporters of the CCA say repealing the act would impact children’s health.
A new ad for No On 2117 dropped this week and says, “When your child has asthma, every day, you worry about the next attack. So, the fact that initiative 2117 would mean more toxic air pollution makes it out of the question for me, 2117 is a bad deal for Washington.”
The state also says nine agencies that receive funding for these climate-related programs would stand to lose $50 million each in funding every two years.
A fiscal analysis done by the Washington Office of Financial Management says another $40 million would be lost for programs that would improve air quality and reduce health disparities in overburdened communities.
Critics of the Climate Commitment Act have been skeptical all along, pointing to the rise in gas and energy prices and what they call a lack of transparency.
Critics of the CCA say the government hasn’t met any of the goals it promised to meet.
A Yes on 2117 position video says, “Washington state has not met a single climate goal it has set in the last decade, and it has not released a report on its progress on the climate since 2017.”
The most recent data on emissions is from 2022, which shows emissions doubled from the years before. That was before this specific Climate Commitment Act went into effect.
The next set of data on emissions is expected later this year – after the election.
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