Governor authorized the legal findings on Monday, September 21 that allow the California Air Resources Board to begin the public regulatory process to link California’s Cap‑and‑Invest program with Washington State’s carbon market; the governor’s office announced the action in a press release dated September 23, 2026.
The action follows a formal request from CARB earlier this month and, according to the release, was taken consistent with advice from the Attorney General; under California law the Governor must make specific findings before CARB may proceed.
Linkage would let the two jurisdictions accept each other’s compliance instruments; that means regulated entities in one program could use allowances or credits from the other to meet obligations, the release says.
The governor’s office frames the linkage as creating a larger, more stable carbon market that can reduce compliance costs and direct investment into clean transportation, affordable housing, wildfire resilience, and other community priorities; those projected benefits are presented as state policy goals in the release.
The release also lists program outcomes attributed to California’s Cap‑and‑Invest over 13 years: $37 billion raised for climate investments, 600,000 projects funded, support for 143,000 jobs, and $16 billion in utility bill credits delivered to Californians; the state statement additionally says the program has achieved nearly 100% compliance and estimates Cap‑and‑Invest is four to six times more cost‑effective than prescriptive regulation.
California previously linked with Québec on January 1, 2014; the release says California and Québec signed a linkage agreement with Washington in June to begin the early phase of talks.
What is not yet decided: the markets are not linked. CARB must complete rulemaking and any administrative or legal challenges could follow; the release does not provide a timetable for final linkage nor independent estimates of how linkage would change emissions or compliance costs.
Analysis: the stated benefits are plausible because larger linked markets can increase liquidity and lower price volatility; however, the press release offers program statistics and effectiveness claims from state sources rather than independent verification. The next measurable milestone will be CARB’s public rulemaking documents and the board’s final vote.
State
Gavin Newsom
Governor · Democrat
Named 2 times in this story.
Portrait: Official portrait
Sources & methodology
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