It takes a lot to shock me anymore.
I’ve covered the Washington government for years. I understand rounding errors. I get that numbers shift, estimates change, projections don’t always pan out. That’s bureaucracy. That’s life.
What the state quietly admitted Tuesday afternoon is different.
WA drivers are paying billions more at the pump. For what, exactly?
Right now, the national average for gas is $2.82 a gallon. Idaho is $2.80. Oregon is $3.39. Washington? We’re at $3.82 statewide. In Seattle, it’s $4.12.
We have the third-highest gas prices in the entire country. Washington families have paid billions more at the pump since the Climate Commitment Act took effect. Before the CCA, Seattle and Portland gas prices were basically the same. Now we’re paying more than 40 cents a gallon more than in Oregon.
We were told this sacrifice would deliver meaningful emissions reductions. We were told the costs would be pennies.
And on Tuesday, the Department of Commerce quietly admitted they have no idea if any of it is working.
WA admits Climate Commitment Act data was inflated by 96 times …
We’re paying among the highest gas prices in the nation, and the agency responsible for proving the program works just admitted they inflated the results of their flagship projects by 96 times. That’s stunning. …
Is WA’s Climate Commitment Act actually working? The state can’t prove it.
Washington families deserve to know: Is the Climate Commitment Act actually reducing emissions? Or are we paying the third-highest gas prices in the nation for a program that can’t prove it’s working?