If Climate Commitment Act is repealed, what local projects are at risk?

EVERETT — On Spencer Island, brackish waters have inundated the wetland at the heart of the Snohomish River estuary.

The flooding alone makes future restoration efforts challenging for county and state staff, who will need to use special equipment like amphibious excavators to create more salmon habitat.

Hundreds of birds wade in the island’s channels, with views of Mount Baker looming to the north and Mount Rainier to the south. Narrow trails, sometimes overgrown with blackberry bushes and nettle, balance on old dikes made of wood chips.

Project planners aim to lower and breach the dikes while preserving recreational opportunities on the island. But the project is at “high risk” of losing future funding from the Salmon Recovery Funding Board, if the state’s Climate Commitment Act is repealed, according to the Clean & Prosperous Institute.

Partners spearheading the restoration efforts received $500,000 from the funding board for designing the project. In total, the project is estimated to cost $14 million to $16 million, with construction starting in fall 2026, wrote Chase Gunnell, spokesperson for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, in an email.

Fish and Wildlife “will continue seeking additional funding as needed to complete this important estuary habitat restoration and salmon recovery project, including from state sources where they are available,” he wrote.

Money from the Climate Commitment Act has helped launch over 90 other environmental initiatives in Snohomish County, since Democratic lawmakers pushed it through the state Legislature in 2021.

In 2022, for example, the Adopt a Stream Foundation led an effort to remove salmon migration barriers in North Creek — work made possible with a $284,000 state grant. The legislation has also allocated thousands to cities like Lynnwood, Mukilteo and Everett to build electric vehicle charging stations.

The Clean & Prosperous Institute, a research organization specializing in climate change and carbon reduction, created an interactive map outlining current and future projects paid for by the Climate Commitment Act. The organization’s staff created the map to illustrate transportation, wildlife and other projects at risk of losing funding, if voters support an initiative that would repeal the Climate Commitment Act.

Critics worry the act has increased food, gas and energy prices. Initiative 2117 will eliminate the state’s cap and invest program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the state’s largest polluters.

The program sets an annual limit for Washington’s overall carbon emissions. Businesses are then required to buy allowances for every metric ton of pollution they emit at quarterly auctions hosted by the state Department of Ecology.

Last year, Brian Heywood, a hedge fund manager who has led opposition against the Climate Commitment Act, helped gather nearly 420,000 signatures in support of Initiative 2117.

He has largely funded the campaign through “Let’s Go Washington,” a conservative political committee that describes the carbon tax as a “hidden gas tax.”

On Nov. 5, voters will decide on the law’s future.

In February, Gov. Jay Inslee visited electric vehicle charging stations in Marysville to champion the legislation.

“If (the Climate Commitment Act) goes away, that knocks a $5 billion hole into the transportation budget,” Inslee said.

Through the Clean & Prosperous map — called the “Risk of Repeal” — interested Washingtonians can view information on Climate Commitment Act projects by county and legislative district. Locals can also see the extent projects are at risk of losing funding, based on the institute’s research.

“Mapped investments” describe efforts already in progress or completed, while “unmapped investments” are those in the early planning stages.

A $6.5 million sustainable aviation fuel center at Paine Field is one of those “unmapped” projects. The project is at “low risk,” though, of losing state funding because it isn’t dependent on the Climate Commitment Act continuing past 2024, according to Clean & Prosperous’s map.  

The state Department of Transportation’s proposal to build hybrid-electric ferries is the project with the largest Climate Commitment Act investment in Snohomish County. With over $32 million in authorized funding, Clean & Prosperous finds the ferry electrification projects at “high risk” of losing funding if the act is repealed.

“Our goal is to ensure that these investments are visible,” said Kevin Tempest, research director for Clean & Prosperous, in a press release. “The Risk of Repeal mapping tool is a vital resource to provide transparency and detail about how investments are already putting shovels in the ground to deliver benefits to communities in every county across the state.”

Ta’Leah Van Sistine: 425-339-3460; taleah.vansistine@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @TaLeahRoseV.