Keep Promises to WA Voters & Protect CCA Funds
This legislative session has seen the state propose using Climate Commitment Act (CCA) funding to fulfill existing general fund obligations. Recent reporting shows that lawmakers are failing to find a path forward to address the state’s budget deficit without supplanting CCA dollars.
Clean & Prosperous firmly believes that CCA revenue should be used first and foremost on projects that reduce climate pollution while growing our economy and creating jobs. That’s why we joined more than 145 members of the No on 2117 campaign coalition to call on the Legislature to keep its promises to voters and protect CCA investments.
In 2024, an unprecedented coalition of more than 600 Tribal nations, firefighters, doctors and nurses, businesses, labor unions, and nonprofits came together to defend the CCA against repeal. Now, a significant number of those coalition members are saying unequivocally: “We urge Washington leaders to use these dollars for their intended purpose: Grow our economy and create jobs, reduce climate pollution, support Tribal-led projects, and make our air healthier and safer for families across Washington.”
The state’s move to use CCA funding for general fund obligations comes as we are seeing historic climate and clean energy rollbacks on the federal level, including the just-announced repeal of the endangerment finding, which represents a wholesale rejection of climate science.
In the last several months alone, the federal government has subsidized expensive, dirty fuels while kneecapping clean energy businesses and the hundreds of thousands of jobs they can provide. In Washington – unlike most other states – we have a resource to do something about this.
We also have significant unmet needs, including oversubscribed CCA grant programs, meaning they have received significantly more applications for funding than are available. The Washington Electric Vehicle Charging Program Round Two (WAEVCP 2), which will award $19.4 million in CCA funds, received approximately $150 million worth of project applications. Some additional oversubscribed CCA programs include:
- Clean diesel grants for school buses
- Washington State Department of Transportation’s Zero-Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Partnerships grant
- Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates (HEAR)
- Washington low-income electric vehicle rebate
- Dairy digesters
- Tribal electric boats
From the coalition letter: “We want to make clear: CCA revenue must first and foremost be invested in clean air, good jobs, and more affordable and cleaner ways to get around. The proposal to use CCA funds for existing general fund obligations would break the legislature’s promises to Washington voters.”
Read the full letter and view all signatures here.
Solar Canopy Comes to UW’s Largest Parking Lot
This week, we joined UW Solar and the University of Washington Transportation Services to celebrate a new solar canopy over EV charging stations at the E-18 parking lot – a major milestone for student leadership and clean energy progress on campus!
With grant support from Washington State Department of Commerce, Washington State Department of Ecology, and Seattle City Light, the array is an 86.4 kilowatt system that feeds directly into the UW energy grid and shades 20 parking spaces equipped with EV charging.
The project took around 12 years to move from idea to completion – a testament to sustained student advocacy and partnership. Founded in 2012, UW Solar is an interdisciplinary student-led organization that has spent more than a decade analyzing campus solar potential and advancing practical electrification projects.
This is a pilot project that UW Solar hopes to expand! If the rest of the parking lot was covered with solar panels, it could generate up to eight megawatts of power, accounting for up to five percent of UW’s electricity use. Expansion is also expected to significantly lower the cost per kilowatt.
To learn more about UW Solar, visit their website: http://uwsolar.be.uw.edu/.
Relive the 2026 Future of Carbon Policy Forum!
Exciting news: Our 2026 Future of Carbon Policy Forum report is now available! If you attended in-person, you can relive the excellent panels and key takeaways. If you weren’t able to make it this year, we promise the report will make it feel like you were there!
Each year, the Future of Carbon Policy Forum allows Clean & Prosperous to bring together climate and clean energy leaders from across our state to set the agenda for the year ahead. We’re grateful to our hosts, panelists, moderators, sponsors, and attendees for making this event possible!
You can review the full report here.
Follow Clean & Prosperous
Follow Clean & Prosperous on social media to learn about our work to accelerate clean energy and power prosperity for communities across Washington. You can find us on these channels:
- LinkedIn: @clean-and-prosperous
- Instagram: @cleanandprosperous
- Bluesky: @cleanandprosperous.bsky.social
