On Sep. 23, 2026 Governor announced that California is moving to link its Cap-and-Invest carbon market with Washington State; the announcement was made during a fireside conversation at the North America Climate Summit, the Governor’s office said.
The Governor made the comment alongside Dr. Champa Patel of Climate Group; the event was hosted by the International Emissions Trading Association, according to the office. The Governor’s office framed linking as a way to make the program "stronger and more durable" and to expand cost-effective emissions-reduction options for industry; that description is the administration’s stated rationale.
The administration provided fiscal and program statistics as context. The office said the state delivered $886 million in utility-bill relief this summer through the California Climate Credit; millions of households received an average $75 credit. The office projects the Climate Credit will generate $10 billion in electric bill credits by 2030. Those figures and projections were reported by the Governor’s office.
The office also described the Cap-and-Invest program’s cumulative results. According to the office, over 13 years the program has generated $37 billion in climate investments, supported 143,000 jobs, and cut "millions of tons" of carbon emissions. The office said the program covers large polluters that account for 80% of the state’s total climate emissions and returns some proceeds to residents through the Climate Credit.
On international cooperation, the Governor met with Australian Ambassador to the United States Greg Moriarty and Australian climate officials; the office said talks covered energy security, battery storage, zero-emission transportation, and grid and technology collaboration. California and Australia previously signed an MOU in 2023, the office noted; the 2023 agreement informed Australia’s vehicle emissions standards and electricity market advice, according to the office.
Newsom also signed a new Memorandum of Understanding with Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen. The Governor’s office described the Finland partnership as a framework for cooperation on clean technology, aerospace and defense innovation, health and life sciences, emerging technologies including quantum computing and cybersecurity, research collaboration, and sustainable forest bioeconomy. Dee Dee Myers, director of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, and Minister Valtonen were quoted by the office in support of the agreement.
At the United Nations, the Governor participated in the Secretary-General’s High-level Event on Climate Action and the Just Transition. The Governor’s office said he criticized President ’s climate policy and positioned California as a subnational partner for practical climate implementation; the office listed panelists including Freetown Mayor Aki-Sawyerr, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Western Cape Premier Alan Winde, and former Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo.
The administration released broader clean-energy metrics alongside the Climate Week announcements. The office said that since 2019 California has added more than 37,000 megawatts of utility-scale clean and renewable energy, and that battery storage has expanded from fewer than 700 MW to more than 21,000 MW. The office said 67% of retail electricity sales were from clean energy at the end of 2024; it also said clean energy met 100% of the state’s electricity needs for at least part of the day on 279 days in 2025 and on more than nine out of 10 days in the first half of 2026. For jobs data the office cited a 2025 E2 report that put California’s clean-energy workforce at 552,300 workers and said the workforce grew by about 7,300 jobs in 2024, outpacing overall state job growth, according to the office and the cited report.
State
Gavin Newsom
Governor · Democrat
Named 4 times in this story.
Portrait: Official portrait
Federal
Donald J. Trump
President of the United States · Republican
Named once in this story.
Portrait: Daniel Torok / The White House (public domain)
Sources & methodology
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