Washington

A Washington initiative will let voters decide whether to repeal the state's Climate Commitment Act, which has brought in $1.8 billion so far

Published

2 years ago

February 29, 2024

Press Room

A Washington initiative will let voters decide whether to repeal the state's Climate Commitment Act, which has brought in .8 billion so far

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Washington has lofty climate goals. And unlike many other states, there’s a clear path to achieve them.

At least for now, that is.

This year’s November ballot will include six statewide initiatives, one of which intends to prevent the state from employing its main plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by half by 2030 and ultimately reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

In 2021, lawmakers passed the Climate Commitment Act (CCA), which established a cap and invest program. The program places an annual cap on emissions and requires large polluters in the state to purchase “allowances” (each representing 1 metric ton of emissions) at state auctions equal to their own emissions. The cap will get smaller each year, and if businesses don’t get enough of the dwindling number of allowances, they’ll need to reduce their emissions another way.

Meanwhile, the money from the auctions will be invested in climate projects, like improving clean transportation options, increasing climate resilience, and addressing issues of environmental justice and health inequity in Washington, according to the state Department of Ecology.

Not everyone in the state supports this program though.

“The CCA created a government market that’s wholly owned by the government,” says state Rep. Mary Dye, R-Pomeroy, who is the ranking minority member on the House Environment and Energy Committee. “It’s just a bunch of people that are convinced that we ‘have to do something.’”

Many people seem to agree with Dye — more than 460,000 registered Washington voters signed onto Initiative 2117, which proposes prohibiting all state agencies “from implementing any type of carbon tax credit trading, also known as ‘cap and trade’ or ‘cap and tax’ scheme, including the Climate Commitment Act.”

Dye says she supports Initiative 2117 because she believes the cap and invest program needlessly intertwines the state’s economy with its energy sector.

“We’ve ended up with public policies that cripple the future economy because we’ve shifted the wealth creating components of our economy over to our government,” she says.

But the two have always been linked, says Lennon Bronsema, vice president of campaigns at Washington Conservation Action, a nonprofit that advocates for environmental progress and justice in Washington.

“It’s always been connected — we’ve allowed the most polluting industries to transfer the cost onto the people,” he explains. “The CCA puts the cost onto those who are actually doing the polluting.”

So far, the state has brought in more than $1.8 billion from the auctions, and more than 100 projects statewide have received some slice of that revenue. Much of that money so far is being dispersed through the state Department of Transportation.

In Spokane County, most of those funds have gone to public transit planning and operations. The county received about $66,000 to help develop a plan to transition to a zero emission fleet, and a $2.5 million transit support grant.

The state also has plans for the next few years. Notably, $25 million is slated to improve air quality and monitoring in communities that are overburdened and highly impacted by air pollution. Spokane is one of the 16 places in the state that will get that air quality investment.

State lawmakers refused to act on Initiative 2117 and adopt it into state law this session, so now it’ll be up to the state’s voters to decide. If it’s approved in November, it would reduce the state’s ability to reach its emission reduction goals.

Because of this, Bronsema thinks that voters are going to reject the initiative.

“[The CCA] really matters to people’s health — you would see people truly harmed,” Bronsema says. “The things that we’re doing to mitigate that harm would be taken away from us.” ♦

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Washington

Tulip Day Washington draws buzz as sign-up site goes down

Published

28 minutes ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

WASHINGTON – Coming up this month, spring’s most colorful new event: Tulip Day Washington.

What we know:

On March 15, 2026, Tulip Day Washington will transform DC’s National Mall into a vibrant tulip-picking garden beautiful views of U.S. Capitol

This one-day event will take place from 11:15 AM – 4:15 PM, offering a floral showcase of approximately 150,000 tulips; visitors are invited to pick their choice of 10 tulips for free upon arrival.

Dig deeper:

The registration site for Tulip Day is currently down, showing users “This site is currently unavailable. If you’re the owner of this website, please contact your hosting provider to get this resolved.”

Users on social media say the event may be sold out.

Check tulipday.eu for updates.

The backstory:

The event is organized by the Embassy of the Netherlands and Royal Anthos, a Dutch trade association, in honor of America’s 250th birthday. The display of tulips will be in the shape of the number 250.

The bulbs come from the Netherlands, but are being grown in Virginia and New Jersey.

These won’t be the first tulips on the National Mall, however. The Floral Library, also known as the Tulip Library, features 93 beds of flowers near the Tidal Basin. The Floral Library was established in 1969, and is maintained by the National Park Services. These flowers, though, are to be enjoyed only – not to be picked.

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Washington

PHOTOS: Long Beach State Dirtbags vs. Washington State, Baseball

Published

13 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

PHOTOS: Long Beach State Dirtbags vs. Washington State, Baseball

The562’s coverage of Dirtbags Baseball for the 2026 season is sponsored by P2S, Inc. Visit p2sinc.com to learn more.

Long Beach State dropped a 9-7 decision against Washington State on Sunday afternoon, closing out a busy weekend on Bohl Diamond at Blair Field.

The visiting Cougars took the lead for good in the eighth inning when Long Beach Poly grad Ryan Skjonsby delivered a game-winning two-run single with two outs and the bases loaded. Skjonsby was 2-for-4 with a walk, a run scored and three RBIs for Washington State in their road victory.

For the Dirtbags, catcher Damon Valdez scored twice and had a key two-run single in the sixth to help lead a Long Beach comeback. Trevor Goldenetz had a pair of hits at the top of the order, including an RBI triple. Camden Gasser walked twice and singled, improving his on-base percentage to .574 on the season.

Long Beach State (4-7) will be back in action at home on Tuesday with an exhibition match against Waseda University from Japan. The Dirtbags will then visit San Diego State on Wednesday and open Big West play at UC Santa Barbara this weekend.

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Washington

Week Ahead in Washington: March 1

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) – Operation “Epic Fury” — the weekend military operations carried out by the U.S. and Israel against targets in Iran — tops the agenda for Congress as lawmakers return to Washington.

Sunday, President Donald Trump said the new leadership in Iran wants to talk to the Trump Administration.

Democrats in both chambers called for Congress to return as soon as possible for classified briefings on Iran, followed by a move to vote on the War Powers Act. The Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war on another country.

Congress’ return to Washington was originally delayed due to the start of the 2026 midterm elections cycle.

Tuesday, voters in Arkansas, North Carolina and Texas head to the polls for primary elections.

North Carolina and Texas are drawing significant attention, as both states are facing congressional redistricting and competitive primary races for Senate seats.

In Texas, incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R) is facing primary challenges from state Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt. On the Democratic side, Rep. Jasmine Crockett is facing state Rep. James Talarico.

In North Carolina, candidates are vying to replacing retiring Sen. Thom Tillis (R) . They include former Governor Roy Cooper (D) and former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley.

Also this week, the Rev. Jesse Jackson is laid to rest. He will be honored Wednesday in Washington before a final memorial service Saturday. Jackson died Feb. 17.

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