The price of pollution in Washington state hits $2 billion

Washington state’s latest carbon auction has raised nearly a half-billion dollars from businesses that pollute the climate.

Preliminary results from the Washington Department of Ecology show the Dec. 6 auction raised $480 million.

In total this year, big polluters in Washington have now paid more than $2 billion for the right to keep polluting. That money is destined for various projects aimed at fighting climate change and helping communities adapt to a hotter world.

Republicans and some business groups say the state’s system for capping carbon pollution has driven up the price of gasoline. They aim to weaken or overturn the carbon cap in the legislature or with a ballot initiative next year.

The Inslee administration aims to link the state's fledgling carbon market to the decade-old markets in California and Quebec. The aim is to help bring down the price of carbon, which has come in higher than predicted as businesses put a high value on the ability to keep polluting.

Climate scientists say carbon dioxide, methane, and other heat-trapping pollutants will almost certainly make 2023 the hottest year in recorded history.