Breaking News…
The Climate Commitment Act has passed!
April 24, 2021
It’s done! The Washington State Senate concurred with changes that the House made on the Climate Commitment Act just moments ago, so the “strongest climate legislation” in the country is on its way to the Governor’s desk for his signature.
Bill Sponsor Senator Reuven Carlyle and House Environment Committee Chair Representative Joe Fitzgibbon worked closely with members of both houses to ensure the legislation would put both a decreasing cap on carbon and on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while making significant investments in new infrastructure, transit, agriculture, forestry and shipbuilding projects. The bill puts a hard cap on carbon emissions and lowers that cap year by year.
“This remarkable outcome could not have been achieved without the steadfast leadership of Senator Carlyle, Representative Fitzgibbon and a host of elected officials and other climate champions,” said David Giuliani, founder of Washington Business Alliance, inventor of Sonicare, and an early backer of the legislation. “Years of passionate advocacy and building alliances has enabled this moment, which eluded Olympia over the last decade.”
Importantly, the Climate Commitment Act includes several provisions to prioritize historically overburdened communities, including establishment of an Environmental Justice Council. “The impacts of climate change will not be borne equally or fairly, between rich and poor, women and men, and older and younger generations,” noted Paula Sardinas of the Washington Build Back Black Alliance. By passing SB 5126, she told legislators, “we are going to leave our children a far better planet than the one we all inherited.”
Our team at Clean and Prosperous Washington thanks all of our supporters, allies and partners for contributing to this remarkable achievement.