Six lessons from the Evergreen State for America's national leaders.

Some insiders in Washington, DC, have given up on carbon pricing. Across the country in the state of Washington, advocates had for a while done the same, after more than a decade in which numerous carbon pricing bills collapsed in the Legislature and not one but two carbon pricing ballot initiatives crashed and burned at the polls. But just a few years after these disappointments, the Evergreen State put in place what veteran climate journalist (and state resident) David Roberts termed the nation’s most ambitious carbon pricing law.

The pioneering environmentalist Denis Hayes, founder of Earth Day, hailed the measure, saying,

“Finally, we have a bill that addresses climate change and reduces air pollution while enjoying support from much of the state’s business community, organized labor, environmental groups, tribes, social justice organizations, farmers, and religious leaders.”

How did Washington climate policy go from lead balloon to bubbling success? And what should climate advocates in DC take away from it? For one, legislators can accomplish a lot when they focus on working together and solving longstanding issues.

POLICY DESIGNED FOR IPCC GOALS

In 2021, the Washington legislature passed the Climate Commitment Act, giving teeth to its recently passed greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goals. Those goals had been set in line with recommendations from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: a 45 percent reduction by 2030, 70 percent by 2040, and 95 percent/net-zero by 2050. The Climate Commitment Act caps emissions at these levels and enforces the cap by requiring emitters to use a limited pool of allowances. The state will distribute some allowances to electric and natural gas facilities and manufacturing facilities, and auction the rest to raise revenue that can then be invested in accelerating emissions reductions and delivering other public benefits.

The program will cover 75 percent of Washington’s GHG emissions and will raise around $500 million per year in revenue. Some have called it the “gold standard” in state climate policy.

FEELING THE HEAT

Most Washingtonians are concerned about climate change and say they want climate action. Intense fire seasons in the Pacific Northwest in recent years may have added urgency to their concerns. Washington voters in 2018 gave Democrats control of the state House and Senate while continuing a trend of reelecting Governor Jay Inslee, a climate hawk, by ever-widening margins. His two-percentage-point edge in 2012 jumped to more than four points in 2016 and became a nearly seven-point advantage in 2020 after his presidential and state campaigns focused on a climate platform.

LEGISLATORS ROLL UP THEIR SLEEVES

Electing Democrats paid off for voters who wanted climate action because, once they gained control of both houses, Democratic legislators set about passing several climate and clean energy laws. In 2019 they passed an act to decarbonize the electricity sector by 2045, efficient building and appliance targets, and hydrofluorocarbon limits. In 2020 they passed a zero-emission vehicle standard, a low-carbon fuel standard, and the updated climate goals.

These successes helped lawmakers build confidence and momentum towards the bigger goal of economy-wide pricing. Representative Joe Fitzgibbon summarized the impetus behind this whirlwind of climate and clean energy legislation, saying,

“If you’re not in a place to push for a carbon price, push for whatever the best sounding complementary policy is, because everything we do to ratchet down emissions makes the next thing more doable.”

From his strategic post as head of the Senate Environment Committee, Senator Reuven Carlyle (D-Seattle) posited that starting with

“a sector-specific approach” paved the way for “economy-wide pricing.” Once we passed the 100 percent [renewable energy mandate], it opened the acknowledgment, I think, within political circles t...