Washington state could be a blueprint for climate action

In Washington State, voters upheld one of the most ambitious climate laws in the U.S. by rejecting a ballot initiative that would have repealed it. This comes as a new Donald Trump administration is expected to roll back federal climate policies. That has climate activists all over the country hoping that Washington State's system can be a blueprint for other states, as climate action shifts to the state and local level. For member station KNKX in Seattle, Bellamy Pailthorp reports.

BELLAMY PAILTHORP, BYLINE: Washington's Climate Commitment Act took effect in 2023. It puts a cap on carbon emissions and raises billions of dollars for programs that help the state prepare for and adapt to climate change. This year, a voter initiative sought to overturn it, led by Brian Heywood, a hedge fund investor. He argued that cap-and-trade carbon markets are ineffective at reducing pollution but good at quickly driving up gas and energy prices.

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BRIAN HEYWOOD: Governments around the world have found it's a fantastic way to raise money off the backs of commuters with a very inelastic effect.

PAILTHORP: That's Heywood speaking with member station KUOW before the election.

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HEYWOOD: Meaning you have to raise the price of gas enormously high before commuters quit driving.

PAILTHORP: Analysis estimates that Washington's climate law did raise gas prices by somewhere between 20 and 60 cents per gallon. The exact amount is disputed. Meanwhile, supporters say less than two years in, it's too early to see pollution reduction yet. Still, Washington voters resoundingly rejected the initiative by 62%.

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JAY INSLEE: The world needs hope, confidence and optimism in defeating climate change.

PAILTHORP: That's the state's governor Jay Inslee celebrating the win on election night. He said the world is desperate for places like Washington State.

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INSLEE: Who will show leadership in the ability to defeat this beast to keep the planet habitable - and the world looked to us for leadership, and Washingtonians responded big time.

PAILTHORP: Washington's Climate Commitment Act has been described as the gold standard of state climate laws by policy experts and advocates. By auctioning off carbon allowances to big polluters like oil refineries and steel plants, Washington's law has raised more than $2 billion. That money has to be spent on community climate initiatives - everything from electrifying buses and ferries to moving tribal nations that face sea-level rise to higher ground. It also requires that over a third of the money be spent in communities overburdened by climate pollution. Advocates say voters showed they cared more about these benefits than the cost, especially as they see the effects of climate change all around them.

BECKY KELLEY: I think it demonstrates that so many people have concerns about climate change.

PAILTHORP: Becky Kelley is a senior climate adviser to Governor Inslee. She says there are multiple climate laws that Washington State has passed, and these continue regardless of changes in D.C.

KELLEY: All of those things cannot be preempted by the federal government. They just can't. That's where a lot of our progress is going to come from in Washington.

PAILTHORP: Costa Samaras is director of the Scott Institute for Energy Innovation at Carnegie Mellon University. He says that cities, states and organizations all around the country will be looking to Washington as an example.

COSTA SAMARAS: A law like Washington State's law gives a model, gives results and gives quantifiable benefits to say to other states and other institutions that are thinking about this that it both works and that voters approve of it.

PAILTHORP: Washington's program is modeled on California's. At least three other states - New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland - are actively considering similar systems. For NPR News, I'm Bellamy Pailthorp in Seattle.