Washington State Environmental Leaders React to WCI Recommendations

Today, the Western Climate Initiative (WCI) released its final draft recommendations for reducing global warming pollution through a regional “cap and trade” system. WCI is the largest cap and trade program in North America, representing seven Western states and four Canadian provinces with a total population of over 80 million people. 

Next Tuesday, July 29, the WCI is holding its third and final stakeholder meeting in San Diego to present and discuss its recommendations. WCI leaders will seek feedback throughout August and will release a final design after Labor Day. 

The WCI includes US states Arizona, California, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington and Utah and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec.

Below are statements issued by environmental leaders in Washington on the draft design:

Washington Environmental Council’s Executive Director Joan Crooks:
“We have no time to waste in setting firm limits on pollution and harnessing the power of the market to meet those limits. 

With Governor Gregoire’s continued leadership, the Western Climate Initiative has the potential to revolutionize how we reduce global warming pollution.  If done right, WCI could serve as a national and even international model for change. WCI needs to look at the whole picture, which means including emissions from transportation (the source of half of our region’s global warming pollution) at the start.

And to be fair, WCI should auction – not give away – pollution permits.  We also need real reductions in pollution, rather than too many emission “offsets” that delay action to clean up our biggest sources of pollution and don’t always deliver the climate benefits they promise.”

Climate Solutions’ Policy Director KC Golden:
“The Western Climate Initiative's draft recommendations are a welcomed step forward in breaking our addiction to fossil fuels and will create the most comprehensive cap and trade program to date in North America. However, the program is missing some key pieces that are essential in order for it to deliver effective climate solutions..

If the WCI cap and trade plan is designed well, it will reduce the pollution that causes global warming, boost the Northwest’s growing clean energy economy, and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels – which is the only sure way to reduce rising energy costs. The WCI can do all these things in a fair and efficient way that benefits everyone.

To achieve these goals, the WCI's draft recommendations need to be changed to include transportation pollution from the very beginning, uphold the principle of polluter pays and limit so-called carbon “offsets.” Transportation fuels are the largest source of global warming pollution in the Northwest, and are responsible for about half of our emissions in Washington, so they clearly need to be included in the plan from the start.

In addition, our atmosphere is a public trust and the public should be compensated for its use. Requiring polluters to pay for their pollution by “auctioning” 100% of pollution rights is the only fair way to design the system. The WCI proposal is currently silent on this issue.

In a fair and efficient cap and trade program, every sector of the economy will be working to reduce global warming pollution and speed the transition from dependence on costly fossil fuels to a clean energy economy. The current WCI proposal allows for industries to continue polluting while paying other sectors to reduce or store pollution as carbon “offsets.” The WCI must strictly limit the use of these offsets.

We look forward to working with the WCI as it continues to develop this important program.”