By Kate Yoder for Grist.
Broadcast version by Eric Tegethoff for Washington News Service reporting for the Solutions Journalism-Public News Service Collaboration

A new effort to tackle climate change in Washington state just got a boost of cash. On Tuesday, the state announced the results of its first "cap-and-invest" auction. It raised an estimated $300 million from polluting companies to fund projects such as building clean energy, reducing emissions from buildings and transportation, and adapting to the effects of rising global temperatures.

Washington has set a goal to cut its carbon emissions 95 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. In that effort, the state is putting a statewide limit on carbon emissions that gradually lowers over time. Under the cap-and-invest system, businesses buy "allowances" for the greenhouse gases they emit. But these permits will become more expensive over time - both an incentive to cut emissions and a method of raising money to address climate change.

In Washington's first auction, held last week, the permits sold out, averaging about $49 per ton of carbon dioxide. The price was nearly double that of the most recent cap-and-trade auction held by California and Quebec, where the average was $28 per ton.

"The auction price is potentially higher because Washington's program requires stronger climate pollution cuts than anywhere else in the country," said Kelly Hall, the Washington director for the regional nonprofit Climate Solutions. "There is strong competition for these allowances."

Washington's auctions, which will take place four times a year, are projected to raise nearly $1 billion annually. At least 35 percent of the revenue is slated to go toward projects that benefit communities historically and disproportionately impacted by pollution. By the end of April, once the budgeting process is ironed out, the state will begin the process of setting up these various climate initiatives, said David Mendoza, the director of public engagement and policy at The Nature Conservancy in Washington.

The state's cap-and-invest system, which began in January, follows in the footsteps of several state and regional cap-and-trade systems - with a few key changes. It relies less on carbon offsets and is also designed to address some equity concerns around cap-and-trade. In California, for example, studies have shown that pollution in Black and Latino communities actually increased in the years since that state's cap-and-trade program began.

Washington's system takes the novel approach of pairing cap-and-trade with a regulatory air quality program intended to crack down on large and small sources of pollution in the hardest-hit areas. While the state is still figuring out the details, last week, its Department of Ecology announced that it had identified 16 communities where it plans to concentrate efforts to improve air quality. South Seattle, Tacoma, and Spokane made the list, as did some rural areas.

Cap-and-trade programs are now up and running in more than a dozen U.S. states, including Oregon and a regional program in the Northeast. Still, the approach remains controversial. Washington's program has gathered criticism for giving some large emitters, such as petroleum refineries and paper mills, a free pass. While these polluters can buy allowances at little or no cost for the next dozen years, they are still covered under the program's declining cap on emissions.

The state is currently looking into linking up its cap-and-trade program with California and Quebec, which have already joined markets. In Washington, there's a requirement that they can only link the markets if the state determines that it won't result in a "negative impact on overburdened communities in either jurisdiction," Mendoza said.

After researching the potential benefits - and consequences - of linking the programs, the state is expected to issue a recommendation on whether to join California's market by the end of summer.

A new federal jobs program aims to mobilize tens of thousands of young Americans to address the growing threats of climate change.

The American Climate Corps is modeled after public works programs created during the Great Depression, with a new focus on building green energy and climate resilience.

U.S. Sen. Ed Markey - D-MA - called it ambitious, just and pro-union.

"The tens of thousands of American Climate Corps members will not just help us save the world from climate threats," said Markey, "they will help us build a world worth saving."

President Joe Biden created the program through an executive order after the effort was thwarted by Republicans in Congress, who questioned its cost.

American Climate Corps members can sign up online for paid training opportunities in land and water restoration, energy-efficiency technologies and more.

U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez - D-NY - said the program is an important part of the Green New Deal, a legislative proposal backed by climate activists.

"We are starting to turn the green dream into a green reality," said Ocasio Cortez. "You all are changing the world."

Ocasio-Cortez said the American Climate Corps will focus on equity and environmental justice, prioritizing communities that have been disproportionately affected by climate change.

Lawmakers credited young environmental activists for pressuring the White House to create the jobs training program. College student John Paul Mejia - an organizer with the Sunrise Movement - thanked President Biden for listening.

"Thousands of young people were out on the streets asking for more," said Mejia. "You got young people's attention. You decide what you do with it."

They're now circulating a petition, calling on the president to declare climate change a national emergency.

And five states also announced the creation of their own Climate Corps, bringing the total number of state-level programs to ten.




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In rural Alabama, where hurricanes and tornadoes are a constant threat, communities often struggle with damage and limited resources for extended periods.

The nonprofit Hometown Organizing Project is stepping in to help. Through their Climate Protection Canvass initiative, they are forming teams to support communities during severe storms.

Messiah William-Cole, mayor of Camp Hill, said rural communities rely on outside funding for storm recovery help. The support is crucial in his own community, which is still recovering from unprecedented flooding and damage caused by a hailstorm six months ago.

"All homes in our municipality's jurisdiction took damage, roofs were damaged," William-Cole recounted. "When we did a damage assessment 76 % of our towns cars were damaged. "

The Climate Protection Canvass will help communities in Colbert, Coosa, Dallas, Tallapoosa, and Walker counties. Organizers said it is a long-term, four-phase project, which will take place over two to three years. It includes story sharing, a community road tour, political education training, and the development of community protection teams.

Environmental Protection Agency data project Alabama will see warmer weather and more severe flooding and drought.

Michaela Lovegood, executive director of the Political Healers Project, will work with the Hometown Organizing Project on the canvass. She said weather pattern changes are a global problem, and stressed the need for long-term commitment to mobilize communities to take the lead in climate protection.

"The importance that we are putting here is that we are trying to create climate protection where local communities have the training development and the support in order to be able to create the kind of response, recovery work and plan they need," Lovegood outlined.

NOAA has recorded 15 weather-related disasters in 2023, each causing at least $1 billion in damage.


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Researchers at the University of Maine are working to develop a more resilient electric power grid to withstand the growing number of climate change-related weather events.

The goal is to help communities disproportionately impacted by such events build locally controlled microgrids fueled by renewable energy.

Sharon Klein, associate professor of economics at the University of Maine, said rural and remote communities identified as socially vulnerable often face the greatest effects when power lines go down.

"A lot of our northern communities are on that list," Klein pointed out. "Also a lot of the coastal communities who are going to be susceptible to a lot of the sea-level rise and flooding."

Klein noted researchers will also work with communities in Alaska, South Dakota and Puerto Rico to study how local microgrids could better ensure the lights stay on when extreme weather strikes.

Researchers said the key to developing microgrids is to first build strong relationships with communities to ensure their individual needs are met. Klein explained she is working with all of Maine's tribal communities, who have shared the effects they have already faced from climate change, as well as their vision for a more sustainable power grid.

"It's important to me personally that the communities that have not been part of the conversation as much, that they're accessing directly those benefits to transitioning to renewable energy and away from fossil fuels," Klein emphasized.

Klein added researchers and community members express a sense of urgency in ensuring America's aging power grids can withstand climate change. The bulk of America's transmission lines and transformers are at least a quarter-century old and were not designed to withstand the types of extreme weather conditions the U.S. is experiencing today.


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