Initiative 2117 News
State fire councils say ‘No on I-2117’
Port Townsend Leader | July 17, 2024
“The Washington State Council of Fire Fighters and the Washington Prescribed Fire Council have each endorsed the coalition working to defeat Initiative 2117. The two organizations join more than 300 other endorsers, including Tribal nations, labor unions, businesses, environmental and community organizations, who have endorsed the ‘No on 2117’ campaign. If passed, I-2117 would prohibit any state agencies from implementing a cap-and-trade or cap-and-tax program, but the fire councils have warned it would also cut funding from projects to increase wildfire resilience and prevention…”
Statewide Firefighting, Prescribed Fire Organizations Endorse No on 2117
No on 2117 Press Release | July 15, 2024
“The No on 2117 campaign today announced that the Washington State Council of Fire Fighters and the Washington Prescribed Fire Council have each endorsed the coalition working to defeat Initiative 2117 (I-2117). The two organizations join over 300 other endorsers — including Tribal nations, labor unions, small businesses and leading companies, environmental groups, and community organizations — who have endorsed the No on 2117 campaign.…”
WA ballot initiative would cut $848.6M of environmental programs
Crosscut | July 3, 2024
“The money being raised by Washington’s new Climate Commitment Act — the formal name for the cap-and-invest program — is doing more than shore up the state budget. The more than $2 billion collected from quarterly carbon auctions is being used to address climate change and for climate-adjacent projects like the ferry system.A November referendum has been set in which Washington voters will decide whether to repeal the program funding hundreds of projects like the new ferry, which is expected to transport about 200,000 vehicles and 400,000 passengers a year…”
Funding for wildfire resilience is another reason to vote ‘no’ on Initiative 2117
Cascadia Daily News | July 3, 2024
“Last year Washington experienced numerous devastating wildfires, emphasizing the importance of voting ‘no’ on Initiative 2117 to safeguard funding for wildfire resilience. The Climate Commitment Act currently provides significant state funding for wildfire prevention and resilience efforts. If Initiative 2117 passes, this funding could be jeopardized, potentially undermining critical programs aimed at reducing the risk and impact of wildfires in Washington State…”
Letter: I-2117: Why the secrecy
Seattle Times | June 7, 2024
“They are admitting that not only is their campaign misleading, they don’t want clarification added to the ballot. They seem to fear that voters, knowing the real deal, would not vote against their own self-interest. Otherwise, why spend money on lawyers to keep voters in the dark? [A Thurston County judge ruled against the Republican leaders Friday.]…”
No on 2117 Campaign Announces New Endorsements As Unprecedented Statewide Coalition Grows to Over 200 Organizations
No on 2117 Press Release | June 6, 2024
“New Endorsers Include AAA Washington, Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, American Farmland Trust, the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, League of Women Voters, the Puyallup Tribe, Quinault Indian Nation, the Seattle Foundation, SEIU Healthcare 1199NW, SEIU 775, SEIU 925, the Snoqualmie Indian Tribe, Washington State Building and Construction Trades Council, Woodland Park Zoo, Washington State Catholic Conference, Washington State Labor Council, and the Washington State Medical Association…”
GOP backers sue to keep fiscal impact of WA initiatives off the ballot
Seattle Times | June 5, 2024
“The GOP backers of three initiatives that could repeal or alter a trio of significant state policies are suing to keep information about the possible budget implications of each measure from appearing on voters’ ballots in November. State analysts have said the initiatives, if passed, could reduce funding for education and environmental projects by billions of dollars. On Initiative 2117, which would repeal the state’s carbon market, Walsh and Martinez argue the measure doesn’t require a disclosure statement because it’s not a tax or a fee, but instead created allowances for carbon emissions and authorized the state’s Department of Ecology to auction them off. Lawyers for the state in response say that the state’s Office of Financial Management found that the law that created the market, the Climate Commitment Act, did raise a tax or a fee. A fiscal note prepared during the legislative process said auctions generated nearly $2 billion in 2023…”
Comment: Passing I-2117 would blast hole in transportation fixes
The Everett Herald | May 18, 2024
“What would it mean for our state’s economy, our commutes and our communities if we punched an I-90-sized hole in our state’s already stretched transportation funding plan? That’s a question Washingtonians should ask themselves as they consider their vote on Initiative 2117, which will be on our ballots this fall. As transportation policymakers and commuters here in Washington, we feel a responsibility to sound the alarm. If passed, I-2117 would repeal one of our state’s key funding sources for our overall transportation plan and put transit service, ferries and road and bridge projects across Washington at risk of delay or even cancellation…”
Letter: Reject Initiative 2117
The Columbian | May 14, 2024
“The Climate Commitment Act is essential for funding clean energy projects. Initiative 2117 seeks to repeal the Climate Commitment Act. The state budget contains millions of dollars from the Climate Commitment Act for hydrogen fuel-cell buses in Clark County. Those buses will connect Salmon Creek and Hazel Dell to the Columbia waterfront with bus rapid transit along Highway 99. We’ll be stuck with smelly diesel buses if I-2117 passes. If you don’t like smelling diesel exhaust, vote ‘no’ on 2117. If you want jobs in the clean energy economy, vote ‘no’ on 2117…”
Initiative to repeal Climate Commitment Act sees pushback from new coalition
My Bellingham NOW | April 18, 2024
“A diverse coalition of interest groups, tribes and corporations, including a global oil company with a refinery in Whatcom County, has been formed to defeat Initiative 2117.f passed in November, the initiative would kill Washington state’s Climate Commitment Act and the carbon pollution pricing system it established. The ‘No on 2117’ campaign said it has raised $11 million so far to defeat the measure. The campaign claims more than 1,300 individual donations and endorsements from over 100 businesses and organizations, including BP America. BP’s Senior Government Affairs Manager Tom Wolf said in the group’s news release that his company supported passage of the landmark legislation and opposes the initiative that would end it…”
Initiative to axe carbon emissions law could ‘slam the brakes’ on Washington’s climate tech sector
GeekWire | April 18, 2024
“Washington is leaning into the fight against climate change. Seattle-area tech giants Microsoft and Amazon have set ambitious carbon reduction targets and invested millions to meet those goals. The state is home to a multitude of climate tech startups tackling batteries, nuclear power, green aviation, hydrogen fuel and other clean energy challenges. Elected leaders have vowed to cut the state’s carbon emissions and passed groundbreaking policies to hit those targets. An initiative on Washington’s ballot this November threatens those efforts…”
Campaign to defend Washington state’s climate law raises $11 million, far outpacing opposition
KUOW | April 18, 2024
“A campaign focused on defending Washington’s Climate Commitment Act from repeal by voters launched Wednesday. The ‘No on 2117’ campaign announced it has obtained more than $11 million in pledges from environmental groups, unions, tribes, and corporations. It aims to defeat Initiative 2117 on the November ballot, the proposal to eliminate the state’s carbon auctions for large greenhouse gas emitters. Washington state passed the Climate Commitment Act in 2021 to reduce carbon pollution and to help communities withstand the impacts of climate change. A campaign video by ‘No on 2117’ touts the law helping to fund transit access, wildfire prevention, clean energy projects and sustainability initiatives for farmers and local tribes. Some of the more surprising funders of the campaign to preserve the state regulatory scheme include companies with a carbon impact like Amazon, Microsoft, and the oil company BP, which operates the largest refinery in the Northwest at Cherry Point, north of Bellingham…”
GeekWire: Amazon, Microsoft back campaign against initiative that would defund climate efforts in Washington
GeekWire | April 17, 2024
“More than 100 companies, tribal groups, union organizations, environmental nonprofits and political groups are backing a campaign to defeat a November ballot initiative that would scuttle Washington state’s most impactful climate policy. Amazon, Microsoft, REI, BP America, the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and the Clean Tech Alliance, as well as climate startups including First Mode, Myno Carbon, and multiple solar companies are all supporting No on 2117. ‘We cannot afford the cuts Initiative 2117 would inflict on our efforts to reduce carbon emissions and secure healthy air, water, and forests for future generations,’ said Marc Berejka, REI’s divisional vice president of community advocacy and impact, in a statement on Wednesday…”
No on 2117 Campaign Launches with Unprecedented Statewide Coalition of Washington Companies, Environmental Leaders, Tribal Nations, Labor Unions, and Community Organizations United to Defeat I-2117
No on 2117 Press Release | April 17, 2024
“No on 2117 (no2117.com), the campaign to defeat I-2117, officially launched today with an unprecedented statewide coalition of over 100 Washington companies, environmental leaders, Tribal nations, labor unions, and community organizations across the state. The total amount raised or pledged to defeat I-2117 now exceeds $11 million, including new contributions and pledges since April 1 totaling $5.5 million from Amazon, bp America, Microsoft, Steve and Connie Ballmer, The Nature Conservancy, and others. To date, the No on 2117 campaign also has over 1,200 grassroots donors, and 95 percent of donations to No on 2117 are $100 or less…”
The cost of repealing state laws on climate, health and capital gains
Seattle Times | March 22, 2024
“Climate change is warming the ocean, putting at risk the fisheries that Seattle-area fishing fleets depend upon. Global warming is affecting agriculture, too. For example, state cherry growers received federal assistance after suffering a loss of $100 million this past summer…”
Letter: Protect Climate Commitment Act
The Columbian | March 12, 2024
“Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger once said, if you want to fight climate change, do like California: Adopt a cap-and-trade program and an EV mandate. Ten years later, we did. Our Climate Commitment Act is a cap-and-invest program…Those investments will continue if we vote no on the initiative that repeals the Climate Commitment Act (I-2117).”
New food forest will bring year-round foraging to Tacoma’s South End
KNKX Public Radio | March 7, 2024
“The proposal was one of five in Tacoma that won big grants last week for urban forestry from the state Department of Natural Resources. The five grants total more than $1.3 million dollars, to improve tree equity and enhance urban tree canopy in the largest city in Pierce County…”
WA’s carbon pricing system may fund $200M for new electric ferries
Crosscut – Cascade PBS | March 4, 2024
“But if voters repeal the cap-and-trade program in a November referendum, the plan to convert three diesel vessels to hybrid may need other funding sources…”
Puget Sound counties want modernized ferry fleets. Voters decide their fate this fall.
KUOW | February 26, 2024
“Many replacement ferries and infrastructure upgrades are currently budgeted for in Olympia, said reporter Tom Banse, who’s been covering this story for the Salish Current. But that funding may disappear after Election Day if Initiative 2117 successfully repeals the state’s Climate Commitment Act, commonly known as the cap-and-trade program…”
Washington’s key climate law is under attack. Big Oil wants it to survive.
Grist | February 13, 2024
“Now the landmark law, the Climate Commitment Act, is under attack, threatened by a repeal effort bankrolled by a hedge-fund manager, and representatives for oil companies say they have nothing to do with it. In fact, oil giants want to keep it alive…”
Inslee visits Port of Everett, discusses electrifying WA’s maritime industry
Lynwood Times | January 18, 2024
“The port recently received a $5 million investment from the Climate Commitment Act funds to electrify its Pier 3 to serve all-electric tugs and barges. According to Port of Everett CEO, Lisa Lefeber, these upgrades should lead to carbon reductions of at least 640 tons per year by eliminating the use of diesel generators while also making infrastructure improvements which would enhance the resiliency of the Port…”
More data will help Vancouver make sense of report saying area is among hardest hit by air pollution
The Columbian | January 12, 2024
“The Washington Department of Ecology has rated Vancouver among 16 communities in the state most impacted by air pollution, including carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, particle pollution and sulfur dioxide. Residents in these communities die an average 2.4 years earlier than other Washingtonians and are twice as likely to have poor health, such as lung and heart disease…”