Articles & Media

Did you know?

  • Cap-and-Invest carbon pollution funds are
    constructing new ferries for Puget Sound
  • Cap-and-Invest carbon pollution funds are
    building dairy digesters near Pullman for the Knott Dairy Center’s “Cougar Gold” cows
  • Cap-and-Invest carbon pollution funds are
    helping the Yakama Nation install large-scale solar power generation

These, and thousands of other treasures are mapped on the Clean & Prosperous Institute’s new interactive map, “Risk of Repeal: Mapping Washington’s Climate Commitments”.

In the Evergreen State, we value clean air, healthy communities, and forward progress. That’s why we lead the nation in natural beauty, quality of life, and clean energy. Because of the Cap-and-Invest Climate Commitment Act, it’s no longer free to pollute in Washington. The state’s biggest polluters are funding significant investments in projects and programs that have far-reaching, long-lasting benefits. 

Yet the Climate Commitment Act remains vulnerable to repeal by Legislative, Executive or other actions, putting thousands of projects and dozens of programs in communities all across the state at risk of being eliminated, scaled back, or delayed. Without this Cap-and-Invest program, ferries would lose funding. Road and bridge improvements could be delayed. Plans for port electrification and vehicle charging infrastructure would be scuttled. Federal funds and private investment would redirect to other states. And we’d continue our dependence on price-volatile and polluting fossil fuels.

Without Cap-and-Invest funding, the legislature would need to raise substantial new taxes or make severe program cuts to balance the budget, and employ more costly strategies to meet state climate goals.  

This map, inspired by the California Climate Investments map, is a tool to dig deeper and learn how the Climate Commitment Act is putting shovels into the ground across this state, leading Washington towards a cleaner and more prosperous future.

The Risk of Repeal tool gives you the opportunity to explore where the state is investing Climate Commitment Act revenues and to grapple with which of those investments face the highest risk of disappearing if the Climate Commitment Act is dismantled. Investments are organized both as a map and as a downloadable database, enabling additional independent analysis. The Risk of Repeal map incorporates investments from the interrelated seventeen-billion dollar Transportation budget known as Move Ahead Washington (which receives $5.2 billion directly from the Climate Commitment Act over sixteen years). What endangered treasures will you uncover in your own backyard as you explore the map and database?

Scan this code to visit the Risk of Repeal Mapping Tool.