I have been working at Climate Solutions for more than 16 years. In that time, here in the Pacific Northwest we have won a lot of big victories on climate change together, especially in the past few years. We successfully fought coal companies' plans to export coal from our region’s shores, and pivoted successfully to 100% clean electricity. We have partnered with so many to campaign for clean fuels, electrifying our buildings, and more.
But in all my years here, the struggle that we are engaged in between now and election day is perhaps the most important one of them all—making sure an overwhelming majority of Washingtonians vote No on 2117.
This November, the people of Washington State will have the opportunity to make one of the most important decisions on climate change in the nation: voting No on 2117 to prevent a repeal of the state’s landmark climate law.
Join Climate Solutions for an exciting in-person event in Seattle on May 23rd that will focus heavily on the No on 2117 Campaign and bring together hundreds of people working on climate. Our featured speakers are former White House National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy and Washington Governor Jay Inslee. This will be a great opportunity to hear more from them about the national and regional impacts of this ballot measure and what you can do to get involved. You can find more information here
Why is this so important?
In 2021, the state passed the Climate Commitment Act, a bill considered the “gold standard” of climate laws in the nation. It firmly established Washington State as a national leader in taking action on climate through funding things that make the people of Washington winners—cleaner air by replacing polluting large diesel trucks and buses with clean electric ones; better understanding of health and pollution disparities through significantly more air monitoring in historically marginalized communities; and a lot more good jobs in existing industries and in new emerging technologies like sustainable aviation fuel and advanced batteries to power our vehicles.
All of these benefits are now showing up in Washington communities throughout the state, with more in the coming years. This law—along with our other major climate wins, Washington’s innovation economy and culture, and federal investments—positions us as perhaps the best state in the nation to make real the vision of cutting carbon pollution, creating good jobs, and addressing environmental justice. We are on that path.
If passed, Initiative 2117 would repeal the Climate Commitment Act. All of this progress, all of these benefits, will go away. Further, the state will be blocked from any action on capping pollution and making polluters pay for their carbon pollution moving forward.
Your vote and your voice are needed to make sure that does not happen. With ballot campaigns, voters often turn to those close to them—friends, family, colleagues—for advice on election issues, especially when opponents of climate progress are busily pushing a lot of misinformation. Join our action alert list now to stay informed about efforts to stop this bad initiative, including the formal launch of our campaign, coming soon.
Climate Solutions and an incredibly diverse coalition of allies are going to do everything that we can to make sure that this initiative does not succeed. Together, we are launching perhaps the broadest and biggest climate campaign in the state’s history.
We are launching a campaign of this scale because the stakes are so high, and the challenge so great.
Who’s behind this? An out-of-state billionaire who essentially paid to place the repeal measure on the ballot. He also funded the campaign to place other measures on the ballot to roll back important progress for Washingtonians. He will spend big and fight hard to accomplish his goals, never mind the cost to the rest of us.
If I-2117 passes, polluters will gain, and we all will lose the clean air, clean water, healthier forests, local jobs, and neighborhood benefits funded by Climate Commitment Act revenue. The industries that are most responsible for climate and air pollution will be free to continue to pollute. And repealing such a model, cornerstone law could mean ripple effects for our region and country on climate progress.
Join us in the No on 2117 Campaign! In the coming weeks, we and many partners will be rolling out more information on how you can get involved in being part of this effort. To sign up for more information, please follow this link and make sure you're signed up for Climate Solutions action alerts.
