John,

Washington Conservation Action worked fiercely to mobilize the broad coalition that made the Climate Commitment Act (CCA), our state’s historic carbon pricing law, a reality in 2021. This effort built on years of learning and relationship-building to make sure that environmental justice and those most affected—Tribal Nations and frontline communities—have a role in crafting climate solutions, and that polluters pay to reduce emissions and mitigate harms from pollution.

One of the key parts of the CCA is how the law handles “carbon offsets.” But what are these exactly? Why are they important? How does the CCA address them? 

We’ve put together a short backgrounder to answer these questions. It will help you to become an immediate expert on how offsets help our state to fund bold action to both burn less carbon and to cope with problems that unchecked pollution is already creating.

It’s easy to forget what a watershed moment this is: The CCA is only the nation’s second economy-wide carbon pricing law. The first two CCA auctions this year have already generated more than $850 million. In the coming decades, the CCA is expected to produce resources once unimaginable—an estimated over $2 billion in the next two years alone.

Click here to learn more about how the CCA works and what lies ahead.

Washington Environmental Council and Washington Conservation Voters are now unified under one brand, Washington Conservation Action.