Climate Bills Advance, the Case for Electric Trucks, and More

Climate Bills Move Out of House of Origin

It has been a busy week in Olympia as policymakers worked to advance legislation before the house of origin cutoff on Wednesday. Clean & Prosperous Washington (CaPWA) congratulates the Legislature for advancing commonsense, effective climate bills, many with significant bipartisan support. 

CaPWA is supporting House Bill (HB) 1975, which makes technical amendments to the Climate Commitment Act (CCA) that boost the long-term success of the program by building resilience against market volatility and preparing us to link with carbon markets in California and Quebec. These include a directive to the Department of Ecology to produce regular analysis related to cap compliance, carbon market supply and demand, and allowances issued. 

HB 1975 passed 84 to 11, and has been referred to the Senate Committee on Environment, Energy & Technology. 

HB 1409, which amends the Clean Fuel Standard to create a steadier compliance schedule without sacrificing aggressive emissions reduction targets, passed out of the House 54-41. The bill now awaits a hearing in the Senate Committee on Environment, Energy & Technology on Wednesday. You can read more about HB 1409 in our Mid-Session Update newsletter. 

CaPWA is also highlighting the following bills, all of which passed out of their house of origin: 

• HB 1018, which supports the development of fusion energy facilities in Washington
• HB 1302, which creates incentives for industrial symbiosis, which is a process by which neighboring industrial facilities collaborate to dramatically reduce waste
• HB 1819, which supports transmission capacity by making it easier to build infrastructure 
• HB 1912, which addresses the implementation of promised CCA exemptions for agricultural producers
• Senate Bill (SB) 5036, which requires annual reporting of statewide emissions data

To help these bills become law, you can click on each of the links above and send a message of support to your legislators. At CaPWA, we’ll continue to closely track these bills through the remainder of session. We’re grateful to the Legislature for working collaboratively to ensure Washington state remains the leader in commonsense, effective climate policy. 

Making the Case for Electric Trucks

Clean & Prosperous Washington is proud to be part of a coalition of more than 60 organizations, including trucking associations, truck manufacturers, chambers of commerce, cities, counties, and nonprofits, calling on the Legislature to recommit to the Washington State Department of Transportation’s (WSDOT) Zero-Emission Medium- and Heavy-Duty (MHD) Voucher Program. This program accelerates efforts to decarbonize trucks, which account for a significant portion of our state’s emissions. 

Earlier this week, our partners at Climate Solutions and the Washington Trucking Associations published an op-ed making the case for urgent state action to decarbonize trucks. You can read the full-oped here. 

Environmental Defense Fund: “Washington’s cap-and-invest program remains strong” 

From the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF): 

This month’s auction is the second held since voters decisively rejected an attempt to repeal the cap-and-invest program in November, and today’s results demonstrate the program’s durability. The December auction, conducted soon after the defeat of the ballot initiative, saw prices rise as market participants adjusted to greater confidence in the program’s future. Today’s results build on that trend, with a price increase signaling continued strong demand for allowances, as covered entities prioritize compliance and long-term planning in a program where the number of available allowances declines annually.

Read the full story from EDF here. 

Follow Us on Social Media! 

Follow Clean & Prosperous Washington on social media to stay up-to-date on our work to advance policy solutions that power a clean economy. You can find us on these channels: 

• Instagram: @cleanprosperouswa
• Linkedin: @clean-and-prosperous-washington
• Bluesky: @cleanprosperouswa.bsky.social