Washington state continues to show its impact on the international stage!
Alongside the Washington State Department of Ecology, we joined the International Carbon Action Partnership (ICAP) podcast “Carbon Market Conversations” this week to discuss our state’s nation-leading cap-and-invest program, the Climate Commitment Act!
We discussed the history of Washington’s efforts to launch our economy-wide carbon market, lessons learned from our first two years of implementation, and Washington voters’ defeat of a repeal effort at the ballot last year.
Clean & Prosperous Institute was grateful for the opportunity to share Washington’s successes and learnings, and we hope more subnationals follow our lead and implement this effective, ambitious pollution reduction program.
Listen to the podcast here, and follow ICAP on LinkedIn.
Washington is the ZEVergreen State!
Last week, Governor Ferguson and the Washington State Department of Ecology launched ‘ZEVergreen,’ a new effort to increase zero-emission vehicle uptake in the face of federal retrenchment.
“In Washington, we are proving that decarbonizing transportation is possible, and that it saves drivers money and creates clean energy jobs,” Ecology Director Casey Sixkiller said. “We are protecting our climate, lowering barriers to affordable transportation and improving people’s quality of life. We intend to keep up the momentum.”
At nearly 40 percent, transportation makes up the largest share of our state’s greenhouse gas emissions. Electrifying transportation is crucial for meeting our net-zero goals, improving air quality, and mitigating the effects of climate change.
For years now, Washington has consistently had one of the most robust electric vehicle markets in the country, and we can’t let federal rollbacks stall our progress.
If all that wasn’t enough, EV drivers in Washington state save an average of $3,700/year on fuel and maintenance, compared to those who drive gas-powered vehicles.
Learn more about ZEVergreen here, and sign up for an information session to share your ideas on how Washington state can continue to increase EV adoption.
CA Hits a Major Electrification Milestone
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) recently shared some great news: Zero-emission vehicles made up nearly a quarter of new medium- and heavy-duty vehicle sales in California in 2024. That’s double the state’s target and the highest sales total ever reported!
Since California’s medium- and heavy-duty incentive program began, the state has invested more than $820 million to deploy 10,500 clean vehicles. They’ve also seen zero-emission truck sales increase for four consecutive years.
On our Study Mission 2.0 we learned about California’s incentive program – called HVIP – and convened a Medium- and Heavy-Duty Working Group to bring something similar to Washington state. The result of that work is a $126 million new program called WAZIP, which launches later this fall!
Sign up for WAZIP updates here: https://calstart.org/wazip/
Follow CPI on Social Media
Follow Clean & Prosperous Institute on social media to learn more about our work to transition to a clean energy economy. You can find us on these channels:
- LinkedIn: @clean-prosperous-institute
- Instagram: @cleanprosperousinstitute
- Bluesky: @cleanandprosperous.bsky.social
