Inslee proposes $941 million in spending for climate change and clean energy in Washington

Gov. Jay Inslee is asking the Washington Legislature to spend another nearly $1 billion next year to mitigate climate change through clean energy, environmental justice and transportation projects.

Money for the $941 million proposal would come out of revenue from a state program that charges large-scale polluters for greenhouse gas emissions. In 2023, lawmakers allocated $2.1 billion in state climate investments. The new climate money in Inslee’s proposed 2024 supplemental budget would spend unexpected revenue generated by the pollution mitigation program, named the Climate Commitment Act.

On Monday, Inslee also announced three proposed laws for the 2024 session to increase transparency over prices at the pump, link Washington’s carbon market with California and Quebec, and limit methane gas use by transitioning Puget Sound Energy away from fossil fuels.

The biggest slice of the proposed nearly $1 billion-sized pie this year would go toward environmental justice projects, such as distributing energy vouchers for low- and moderate-income Washington residents, improving school air ventilation systems and cleaning up the air in low-income and overburdened communities. Inslee’s plan proposed $322 million worth of investments in environmental justice.

Inslee announced the proposed bills and investments in the Miller Community Center in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. The governor stood in front of elementary school-aged children, state politicians and supporters as he spoke to a crowded gymnasium.

“Climate change is not a fair thing,” Inslee said. “It punishes the poor more than the rich. It punishes the kids who live next to a freeway, having to breathe diesel smoke their whole lives.”

One of the speakers at Monday’s event was Theo White, a dispatcher and bus driver for Highline Public Schools in south Seattle. The state recently granted six electric school buses to the district, which serves communities including White Center, Burien and Des Moines. White drives an electric bus on an almost daily basis, and he said students love the buses , especially how quiet they are.

“I have a son that has a hearing disability,” White said, “and driving this bus actually helps him out a whole lot.”

Part of the environmental justice funding in Inslee’s climate proposal would go toward further investments in zero-emission school buses.

State Sen. Joe Nguyen, who went to school in south Seattle, told the crowd he and several of his schoolmates grew up with asthma because they lived next to the highway.

“We didn’t know about environmental justice,” said Nguyen, D-White Center. “We were impacted by it as well. This is a fight for our future. This is a fight for our kids’ future.”

If it passes, $182 million of Inslee’s proposal would go toward projects that lower carbon emissions in buildings. The money would fund projects to transition state universities away from fossil fuels and to subsidize heat pump installation for low-income, multifamily households. Last month, the state Building Code Council voted to make it nearly impossible to use natural gas to heat newly built homes and buildings. Instead, the code highly favors builders installing heat pumps. The new code is set to take effect in March.

Another $170 million of Inslee’s proposed plan would fund green jobs and infrastructure, including investments in clean manufacturing and workforce development. The climate plan proposes the state match some federal grant funds obtained by local governments, tribes, utilities, ports, nonprofits, academic institutions and businesses.

Climate resilience and adaptation programs would get $140 million of Inslee’s climate plan. Grants would go to river fish passage projects for salmon in Washington state, as well as investments by the state Department of Transportation to treat stormwater runoff from state highways.

The proposal would earmark $52 million to fund clean transportation, including the installation of electric vehicle charging stations along state highways and the purchase of electric ferries.

On Wednesday, Inslee is scheduled to announce his full 2024 supplemental budget. The Washington Legislature convenes for its first day on Jan. 8.