Washington's landmark cap-and-trade law hits a major milestone, as some of the state's biggest emitters of greenhouse gases line up to buy permits to cover their annual emissions.
Every year, the department will ratchet down the total number of pollution allowances available, with a target of cutting emissions to 95% below 1990 levels by 2050.
Corporations and other entities that release more than 25,000 annual metric tons of greenhouse gases must obtain enough allowances to cover their annual emissions. If they don't, they'll eventually face steepPolluters can buy the allowances at auctions like the one happening Tuesday, or trade later with another entity covered by the cap-and-trade program.
"It allows the market to determine the most cost-effective way to reduce emissions, which is really important for lowering costs overall, while still meeting the state's emissions reduction goals," Kjellen Belcher, manager for U.S. Climate Policy at the Environmental Defense Fund, an environmental advocacy group, told Axios.
While the new law includes some exemptions and safeguards to try to prevent consumers' energy costs from going up,State Sen. Drew MacEwen, the ranking Republican on the Senate Environment, Energy and Technology Committee, told Axios he's watching closely to see if the auctions will raise as much money as state officials, including Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee, have predicted.
The governor's proposed two-year budget would spend $1.7 billion in revenue from the Climate Commitment Act, a number Inslee's
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