Money from Washington's landmark climate law will help tribes face rising seas, climate change

SEATTLE (AP) — Tens of millions of dollars raised by a landmark climate law in Washington state will go to Native American tribes that are at risk from climate change and rising sea levels to help them move to higher ground, install solar panels, buy electric vehicles and restore wetlands, Gov. Jay Inslee announced Tuesday.

The money — $52 million — comes from the 2021 Climate Commitment Act, which auctions off allowances for heavily polluting companies to emit carbon, with the revenue invested in education, transportation and other programs. Conservative critics who blame it for increased gas prices are seeking to repeal the law in November.

Nearly every Native American tribe in Washington is receiving money. Among them is the 3,000-member Quinault Indian Nation on the Pacific coast of the Olympic Peninsula, which is getting $13 million to help relocate its two main villages to higher ground, away from the tsunami zone and persistent flooding. Part of one of the villages is below sea level, separated from the roaring ocean by a seawall, and high tides and storm surges have flooded homes and government buildings.

“The Quinault is a perfect example of two things: people who are threatened by climate change, and people who are willing to do something about it and are confident in our ability to do something about it,” Inslee said. “So when I think about what you’re doing, it’s very inspirational to me.”

The tribe has spent at least a decade on the relocation effort, but so far a patchwork of federal and state grants has fallen far short of the expected cost.

The money will help fund a new building to house child and elder services, an emergency shelter and a new water tank and pump house on high ground to serve residents, government buildings and a relocated public school. It will also help pay for the development of a master plan and architectural drawings for a new museum and cultural center.

“We are incredibly grateful for this funding allowing us to take a big step forward in our mission to get our people, our homes and our critical infrastructure out of harm’s way,” Quinault President Guy Capoeman said in a statement issued by the state Commerce Department. “It will allow us to serve our elders and children, our most precious resource, in a safe space while providing an emergency shelter and operations base when we need to respond to inevitable flooding and other natural disasters that are part of life on the coast.”

Inslee, a Democrat who is in his third and final term as governor, has frequently touted the Climate Commitment Act. Washington is in the process of connecting its carbon market with California and Quebec, which also have emission allowance auctions, but the law faces a ballot-box challenge in Initiative 2117, backed by conservative hedge fund executive Brian Heywood.

Inslee joined Capoeman and Commerce Director Mike Fong for a news conference Tuesday in Taholah, one of the Quinault villages being relocated, to announce the grants.

Twenty-eight federally recognized tribes in Washington, plus four others that are based elsewhere but have land in the state, are receiving at least $750,000 each.

The Legislature made the $52 million available in the 2023-25 budget, and the Commerce Department worked with the tribes to figure out how they wanted to use the money.

For the Skokomish Tribe north of Olympia, it's $2 million to weatherize homes. For the Makah Tribe on the northwestern tip of the Olympic Peninsula, it's $620,000 to install solar panels and battery backup at a community warming center, and $750,000 for new wells that will help respond to drought by providing more access to drinking water.

The Lummi Nation in northwestern Washington will use some of its money to restore salmon in the Nooksack River, and the Spokane Tribe in eastern Washington is looking to improve energy efficiency.

The Shoalwater Bay Tribe, on a small peninsula at the mouth of a harbor on the Pacific coast, was also awarded funding to help plan a relocation to higher ground, about $2.8 million.