OLYMPIA, Wash.- A new cap-and-trade bill aimed at aligning Washington with the emissions limits set by 2021’s Climate Commitment Act has passed the state senate.
Cap-and-trade policies create a statutory limit on the amount of carbon pollution companies are allowed to emit within a given jurisdiction over the course of a year. Washington passed a cap-and-trade bill in 2021, creating a market for carbon allowances within the state.
The bill, SB 6058, links Washington’s carbon allowance market with California and Quebec, both of which have their own emission markets. If signed into law, the policy would require the Department of Ecology to pursue agreements with the California-Quebec market.
Joel Creswell, a researcher with the Department of Ecology, speculated that the earliest the markets could merge would be late 2025.
Primary sponsor Senator Joe Nguyen (D) argues that SB 6058 marks a victory for both consumers and the environment.
“Linking markets with California and Quebec is expected to have major benefits for Washington’s carbon market. With a larger and more stable market, it’s expected that allowance prices would be significantly lower than at the 2023 auctions, with lower impacts to the gas and energy prices for consumers,” his office said.
Republican Minority leader Senator John Braun voted against the passage of the policy, and expressed skepticism toward the bill during a Senate Ways and Means Committee meeting on Feb. 2.
He argued that legally requiring the Department of Ecology to pursue an agreement with the California-Quebec carbon market may yield poor results if such a merger would result in higher prices for the current California-Quebec market.
“Are we confident we’re getting everything we need to get to make that negotiation possible?” Braun said.
The department asserts that such a merger with the California-Quebec market is feasible given that Washington and California law have comparably strict standards on carbon regulation.
The bill passed with 29 affirmative votes in the senate chamber and is awaiting introduction in the House.
