SEATTLE — In just two years, Washington’s keystone policy to cut planet-warming greenhouse gases has raised more than $3 billion, but the question of where that money goes has been the epicenter of intense debate.

The money comes from polluters. The 2021 Climate Commitment Act requires the worst across the state to buy allowances in quarterly auctions, one for every metric ton of emissions they pump into the atmosphere. Over decades, the state will ratchet down the number of allowances sold, cutting the total number of emissions. The money raised by the auctions will all be earmarked for projects meant to guard against or recover from the worsening effects of climate change.

But the manner in which the state raises the cash has long been a pressure point for critics of the bill. They’ve

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