Governor Inslee Signs Climate Commitment Act into Law

Source: PRNewswire, May 17, 2021

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Governor Inslee signing the Climate Commitment Act into law

Today Governor Jay Inslee signed the Climate Commitment Act (CCA), SB 5126, into law. The legislation paves the way for net zero carbon emissions by the year 2050.

Integrated with a transportation funding package, the Climate Commitment Act will be the state’s largest investment in climate protection, while also generating billions of dollars of investments towards the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Improving on California’s cap-and-trade model to form a Cap & Invest system, bill sponsor Senator Reuven Carlyle worked closely with House Environment Committee Chair Representative Joe Fitzgibbon to ensure the legislation would put both a decreasing cap on carbon and on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while making significant investments in new infrastructure, transit, agriculture, forestry, and shipbuilding projects.

Importantly, the Climate Commitment Act also includes several provisions to prioritize historically overburdened communities, including establishment of an Environmental Justice Council and a provision to ensure health disparities reduce over time.

Senator Reuven Carlyle and Representative Joe Fitzgibbon were both strong advocates for the bill and were instrumental in its ultimate passage.

The legislation also had strong support from a diverse group of supporters, including business leaders, social justice and equity advocates, environmental groups, labor unions, local employers and energy companies.

The CleanTech Alliance closely tracked the development of the Climate Commitment Act as well as other environmental and clean energy legislation during legislative session. You can read CleanTech consultant Brad Boswell’s weekly session reports here.

CleanTech Alliance members interested in public policy are invited to join our Government Affairs Committee. For more information, please email lindsay@cleantechalliance.org