Alliance members are working to achieve the Paris Agreement’s goal of keeping temperature increases below 1.5 degrees Celsius by reducing emissions, accelerating action, centering equity, and tracking progress. 

Explore Washington's policies and actions across the Alliance's 10 key policy areas. Numbers presented below only reflect the number of policies in this database and thus may not reflect all climate policies pursued.

washington

GHG Targets + Governance

Just Transition + Equity

Industry

Pricing Carbon + Valuing Damages

Electricity

Transportation

Resilience

Natural + Working Lands

Climate Finance

Buildings

total

HB 1975 Price Containment and Linkage Amendments

Amending the climate commitment act by adjusting auction price containment mechanisms and ceiling prices, addressing the department of ecology's authority to amend rules to facilitate linkage with other jurisdictions, and providing for market dynamic analysis.

HB 1462: Reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with hydrofluorocarbons

Governor Ferguson signed a new law updating the state's approach to managing the phasedown of HFCs. The law establishes phased global warming potential (GWP) limits for bulk HFC imports into the state from 2027-2033, prohibits state-owned equipment from servicing leaks with HFCs above a certain GWP, and creates a refrigerant transition task force that will recommend how the state can adopt rules to transition towards ultra-low GWPs.

Washington law requires Ecology to establish a Refrigerant Transition Task Force under Chapter 70A.60.110 RCW (HB 1462).

The task force will help guide Washington’s transition to lower-GWP refrigerants and evaluate key issues related to refrigerant use and management.

Refrigerant Transition Task Force

SB 6058 Carbon Market Linkage

Makes numerous technical changes to carbon markets to help align Washington’s market with those of California and Quebec, and is an important step forward for the cap-and-invest program created by 2021’s Climate Commitment Act.

Updates to Washington Cap-and-Invest for Linkage

The Washington Department of Ecology proposes regulatory changes to link Washington's Cap-and-Invest market with the joint California-Québec carbon market, following a draft linkage agreement among the three jurisdictions. The proposal aligns technical market rules, such as allowance compliance deadlines, so the programs are compatible. It also keeps future allowance budgets consistent with Washington's statutory emissions limits and implements recent legislation, including exempt-fuel claims for farmers.

[Nick] Climate Commitment Act: Chapter 173-446 WAC

The Climate Commitment Act requires Ecology to adopt rules to implement the cap-and-invest program to achieve Washington's goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

This rulemaking establishes a structure to cap greenhouse gas emissions and implement an allowance trading market.

The Cap-and-Invest program sets a limit, or cap, on overall carbon emissions in the state and requires businesses to obtain allowances equal to their covered greenhouse gas emissions. These allowances can be obtained through quarterly auctions hosted by Ecology, or bought and sold on a secondary market (just like stocks and bonds).

The cap will be reduced over time to ensure Washington achieves its 2030, 2040, and 2050 emissions-reduction commitments, which means issue fewer emissions allowances will be issued each year.