Governor announces proposal on clean energy and reducing greenhouse gases

As part of his budget roll-out, Governor Jay Inslee announced a five part proposal on clean energy and reducing greenhouse gases. The five areas with a total budget of $273 million are:

1. 100 percent clean energy by 2045; $59 million budgeted
2. Cleaner buildings – retrofitting old buildings and increasing energy efficiency standards; $83 million budgeted
3. Eliminating Hydrofluorocarbons (HFC) “super-pollutants”; $959,000 budgeted
4. Clean fuels – reducing the carb intensity of fuels 20 percent by 2035; $1.4 million budgeted
5. Clean vehicles – transition to electric vehicles; $129 million budgeted (includes retrofitting two ferries and building two new electric ferries)

One of the notable pieces not included in the Governor’s proposal is any thing related to a carbon tax.  There was some speculation that a carbon tax or fee might be considered, but given the failure of I-1631 in November, it appears that the decision was made not to pursue it at this time.

We will continue to track these proposals as they move through the budget and legislative process.