CONTACT: Emily Moore, Sightline Institute, emily@sightline.org
October 11, 2024
SEATTLE, WA – Two measures on Washington’s November ballot, Initiatives 2117 and 2066, will affect the state’s climate goals. Nonpartisan regional research group Sightline Institute does not endorse or oppose ballot measures or candidates, but offers research-based analysis of the initiatives’ potential impacts.
Initiative 2117 would repeal the state’s cap-and-invest law and prevent Washington from enacting another one in its stead. Sightline published an explainer of the Climate Commitment Act that details the nuts and bolts of Washington’s cap-and-invest program: what it funds, how polluters obtain emissions allowances, how much revenue it has generated for Washington, how carbon offsets work in the program, its environmental justice requirements, and more.
Initiative 2066 would affect Washington’s efforts to transition off of natural gas and onto clean electricity, an effort consistent with the state’s greenhouse gas emissions requirements and the state’s energy strategy. It would repeal select provisions of House Bill 1589 that move the state’s largest utility, Puget Sound Energy, to more proactively plan for electrification. And I-2066—which has received far less press coverage than I-2117—would write new restrictions into state statute that could a) slow Washingtonians’ efforts to outfit new homes with high-efficiency heating and cooling systems and b) prompt challenges to Seattle’s new clean buildings law.
The Seattle Times editorial board endorsed a yes on Initiative 2066. Unfortunately, its editorial misrepresented the facts and omitted important information. We fact-checked the editorial’s errors and filled in its gaps.
“Sightline has studied climate policy in Washington for years,” says Emily Moore, director of Sightline Institute’s Climate and Energy program. “Our analysis shows that measures like those in the Heywood-backed initiatives would toss out some of Washingtonians’ best tools for taking the climate action we want and straitjacket us into fewer and dirtier energy choices for our future.”
Moore is available for comment on the policy implications of I-2066 and I-2117 for Washington state.
Full articles cited above:
- (Re)explaining Washington’s Climate Commitment Act | Understanding the cap-and-invest law that Washington Initiative 2117 would repeal.
- Explaining Washington’s Ballot Initiative 2066 | Four ways the initiative could affect Washington.
- Correcting the Record on Initiative 2066 | What the Seattle Times editorial board got wrong about the Washington ballot measure.
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Emily Moore is Director of Sightline Institute’s Climate and Energy program. She leads the organization’s work transitioning Cascadia away from fossil fuels and toward cleaner energy sources. Find her latest research here.
Sightline Institute is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank providing leading original analysis of energy, democracy, forests, and housing policy in the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, British Columbia, and beyond.
