Washington just set an all-time diesel price record. Then it broke it again four days later.
As of Friday, the statewide average for diesel hit $6.55 per gallon, according to AAA. That is the most expensive diesel ever recorded in Washington history. …
Everyone is pointing at Iran, and they are not wrong. The U.S.-Israel war has disrupted oil tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most critical oil chokepoint … Every state is feeling it. But not every state is feeling it the same way Washington is, and that is where Olympia enters the picture.
Why Oregon diesel is $0.58 cheaper than Washington
Oregon shares our coastline, the same Iran crisis, and the same global oil disruption. … Washington’s Climate Commitment Act, the cap-and-invest program that forces fuel suppliers to purchase emissions allowances at auction, adds an estimated 40 to 60 cents per gallon on top of the state’s already-steep fuel taxes. That cost does not disappear. It gets passed directly to you at the pump.
… [Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy] pointed out it was hardly coincidental that both states with record-breaking diesel prices happen to have cap-and-trade or cap-and-invest programs pushing costs onto consumers. …
Democrats promised the costs would be manageable
Democrats in Olympia spent years insisting the Climate Commitment Act was a reasonable, modest policy tool. They argued the costs would be manageable and the cap-and-invest auctions would fund clean energy and transit. …
… [W]hen the Iran war eventually ends and prices recede nationally, Washington drivers will still be paying their Oregon neighbors’ version of normal plus the Climate Commitment Act premium.
That is the part Democrats do not want to talk about. The Iran war is temporary. Their climate law is permanent.
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