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Critics say the quarterly carbon auctions have driven up the price of gasoline, though the amount is hotly debated.

“There's multiple things going on with gas prices, which is why it's a little hard to tease out how much is potentially from this policy versus how much is from supply and demand fundamentals in the market,” Western Washington University economist Zoë Plakias said.

Plakias said businesses’ payments for their carbon emissions have not come close to covering the damage that their pollution causes.

“Emissions are incredibly costly for us as a state, right? They are costing us, and so the goal of this policy is then to reduce that social cost,” Plakias said.