A Major Milestone for Subnational Climate Action

This week saw a major milestone for subnational climate action: Washington, California, and Québec signed an agreement to link their carbon markets. We were honored to attend the signing event alongside Governor Bob Ferguson and Ecology Director Casey Sixkiller.

*Governor Bob Ferguson and Department of Ecology Director Casey Sixkiller sign the linkage agreement in downtown Seattle on June 25, 2026*

By linking with California and Québec, Washington state will join the fourth-largest carbon market in the world. Clean & Prosperous is bullish on linkage: It will provide substantial near-and long-term benefits aligned with the Climate Commitment Act (CCA) goals, including program durability, market stability, lower compliance costs, reduced leakage risk, increased investment predictability, and the potential for enhanced collective ambition across jurisdictions.

The linkage agreement is a milestone moment for Clean & Prosperous, as well. Our organization was founded to help design, advocate for, and implement a robust carbon market that linked with other jurisdictions. We’ve hosted study missions in California, Québec, and Brussels to strengthen relationships between Washington and other jurisdictions that house carbon markets, and have seen the creation of Clean & Prosperous California, which has done yeoman’s work to facilitate linkage with our neighbors to the south.

What comes next? The Department of Ecology is completing rulemaking for market regulatory changes – notably the implementation of HB 1975 – although this rulemaking will be completed in the next few months and should not impact the linkage process or timeline. California and Québec must complete additional rulemaking, and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) must vote to complete linkage, before all three jurisdictions can hold joint auctions. Clean & Prosperous continues to anticipate that Washington will begin operating a linked market in 2027.

Congratulations to all jurisdictions and partner organizations on reaching this milestone!

Seeing Cutting-Edge Industrial Decarbonization Tech

The Texas Gulf Coast region is a historic hub of industrial activity, particularly refineries and hard-to-decarbonize sectors like chemical manufacturing.

*This map from RMI shows the proliferation of industrial facilities along the Texas Gulf Coast*

Industrial decarbonization is a policy conversation that will grow in importance over the next several years as Washington develops its policy to address Energy Intensive, Trade Exposed industries, or EITEs, as part of continued Climate Commitment Act implementation.

There are approximately 40 EITEs in Washington state, and they manufacture products vital to our daily lives including paper, food, steel, building materials, aircraft, fertilizer, and transportation fuels. Right now, EITEs are granted free allowances to comply with the CCA pollution cap in recognition of the difficulty of decarbonizing these sectors and their centrality to the Washington economy. However, in the coming years, the Legislature will determine how to bring EITEs under the pollution cap, so emitters will need to decarbonize their operations or start purchasing allowances.

Against that backdrop, we visited Houston to learn how businesses there are finding efficiencies and decarbonizing their operations. We were thrilled to get a preview of the kinds of technologies coming to market to do just that from our new friends at Greentown Houston. They provide entrepreneurs with mission-critical access to labs, equipment, customers, capital, talent, community and resources for business and leader growth.

*Study Mission 6.0 delegation, Greentown Houston, and Greentown Houston founders*

We heard from Greentown Houston Head Kelsey Kearns on the industrial modernization ecosystem in the Texas Gulf Coast region, and how the incubator’s founders are navigating a challenging, and ever-changing, federal funding environment.

We then heard directly from clean tech founders developing solutions ranging from carbon capture, to zero-emission chemical manufacturing, to alternative fuels. After a quick briefing, we got to peek behind the curtain of Greentown Houston’s lab space to see the founders’ technologies up close!

bp is one of Greentown Houston’s Grand Opening Partners, and refineries (and other hard-to-decarbonize industrial emitters) are likely going to be the chief customers for the kinds of technologies the lab is incubating.

Alongside our visit to Greentown Houston, we stopped by bp’s United States headquarters in Houston for a behind-the-scenes view of their energy trading floor to learn how the company connects producers, markets, and customers across global energy systems. Thank you to the team at bp for hosting our delegation!

*The delegation receives a briefing ahead of visiting bp’s energy trading floor*

Thank you to our sponsors for making Study Mission 6.0: Building Bigger & Faster in Texas possible!

Bringing More EV Chargers to Communities Across WA

Clean & Prosperous is proud to be awarded funding from the second round of the Washington State Department of Commerce Electric Vehicle Charging Program (WAEVCP)! In this round, we’ll bring 108 new electric vehicle (EV) charging ports online across Washington, bringing the total number of charging ports in our Charging Forward Together program to nearly 1,890.

One of the most effective ways to increase EV uptake is to increase reliable charging infrastructure in all corners of the state. The Climate Commitment Act (CCA)-funded WAEVCP is designed to do just that. In the coming years, it will bring more than 5,000 new EV ports to communities across Washington.

*A CCA-funded EV fast-charging station in Arlington, Washington*

As part of the second round of WAEVCP, Clean & Prosperous is working with our partners to bring EV charging infrastructure to more rural parts of Washington.

In partnership with OpConnect and Jefferson County PUD, we’re bringing six new L2 charging ports to Bayside Housing in Port Townsend. Read more in the Peninsula Daily News.

In partnership with Resound Energy, Tesla, and Douglas County PUD, we’re bringing six new public fast-charging ports to the East Wenatchee Mall. Read more in NCWLife.

Thank you to our partners at the Washington State Department of Commerce!

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