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OLYMPIA–This Earth Day, I am reminded of the words of a judge’s decision regarding Seattle City Light’s claim that it is the “nation’s greenest utility.” After finding the utility wasn’t living up to its environmental promises, the judge admitted the claim was “mere puffery.” It could be said about so much of today’s environmental rhetoric. Washington’s governor Jay Inslee claims the state is a leader in cutting CO2 emissions. In fact, CO2 emissions have increased every year he has been in o...
As Washington’s CO2 tax, known as the Climate Commitment Act, heads to the ballot this fall, this logo highlighting projects that received funding from that tax will become more prevalent. And you are paying for it. The use of taxpayer-resources to promote the CO2 tax follows the decision by the legislature to send one-time checks of $200 to utility customers funded by the Climate Commitment Act just two-months before the November election. It is part of a pattern we are likely to see a...
What happens when cold temperatures move across the Northwest, there is less natural gas power available, and wind disappears? We found out on Saturday, as Puget Sound Energy (PSE) had to ask customers to conserve to keep the grid stable. It is a case study of the need to ensure Washington has energy sources that can be turned on when needed, and of the need to empower consumers by making energy prices transparent. As temperatures plummeted across Washington state on January 13, PSE sent a...
Washington's new tax on CO2 emissions ended up adding about 43 cents per gallon of gas for 2023. The final price was reduced by several market interventions by Department of Ecology staff, but prices are likely to increase next year. Ecology staff released the results from the fourth-quarter auction of CO2 emission allowances. The settlement price was $51.89, a significant drop from the previous auction price of $63.03. The average tax on CO2 in 2023 ended up at $54.74 per metric ton, which...
OLYMPIA–The state held its special auction for CO2 allowances last week. When the results were announced, they indicated that higher gas prices may be coming. As part of the state's new tax on CO2 emissions, known as the Climate Commitment Act, organizations that emit CO2, like BP or Washington State University, must purchase permits for every metric ton (MT) of CO2 emitted by their operations or products. There are a limited number of permits available, so the price is set at an auction. Regula...
Washington state's new tax on CO2 emissions is projected to add 46¢ to the cost of a gallon of gas as soon as next year, the state Department of Ecology reports. The Washington Research Council noted that an analysis from Vivid Economics and McKinsey & Company for Ecology projected the cost of a metric ton (MT) of CO2 to be $58.31 next year. That would add a tax of about 52 cents per gallon or just over 46 cents per gallon for fuels required to include 10% ethanol in accordance with Washington...
For just the cost of flying himself and his wife to Scotland in business class, Governor Inslee could have eliminated the CO2 emissions from his entire staff for more than one year. If you include the cost of support staff and security, he could have eliminated all staff CO2 emissions for almost all of his first two terms in office. According to The Center Square, the Washington State Office of Financial Management disclosed that taxpayers paid $12,510.08 to fly the Governor and his wife to...
Washington's wolf population saw another significant increase, growing by 16 percent in 2021 according to the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). The number of packs grew to 33 from 29 in 2020, and the number of breeding pairs increased from 16 to 19. The consistent growth of the wolf population is good news and is the result of hard work of WDFW staff, the Wolf Advisory Group, and the ranchers in NE Washington who have taken steps to reduce wolf attacks. These good numbers...
There is a push to include "environmental justice" considerations in prioritizing salmon recovery efforts in Washington state. Unfortunately, those considerations may end up undermining salmon recovery, by replacing science with political subjectivity, putting other social goals ahead of environmental efforts that focus on restoring fish populations. If environmental justice, however that is defined, is at odds with environmental science, the price will be paid by salmon, orca whales, the...
Since the beginning of the COVID pandemic early in 2020, Washington state leaders have said their strategy is to contain the spread of the coronavirus until a vaccine was available, at which point social and economic restrictions would be lifted. Now that the vaccine is available, the failure of state leadership to deliver vaccines to people is the latest example of how that strategy has failed, leaving the public to pay the price of government ineffectiveness. In mid-December, Governor Inslee...
For eight years, Washington state has consistently failed to meet our CO2-reduction targets even as energy-intensive industries have closed or left the state. Washington companies like Amazon and Microsoft have successfully met their CO2 targets. The contrast between their success and the state’s failure is telling. Unfortunately, the governor’s new proposal continues the trend of proposing costly and ineffective strategies that focus more on political special interests than responsible env...
To reduce the spread of coronavirus in our state, the Inslee Administration set a goal of reaching 90 percent of people with a positive test within one day in order to begin gathering information about where the virus was contracted and who else may have been infected. Now, the state’s most recent report on “Metrics for Case Investigation and Contact Tracing” is out and instead of reaching 90 percent of people within one day, the state is reaching only 6 percent. Six. Worse, the Washi...
As the wolf population in Washington state reaches a population considered “recovered” in many parts of the state, the experience of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation managing wolves and wildlife offers lessons on how the state Department of Fish and Wildlife can best manage wolves in areas of the state where they have recovered. A new video released by Washington Policy Center with cooperation from the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, sheds light on best pra...
Since the explosion in wildfire activity a few weeks ago, there has been a rush to use them to promote a climate agenda, including calling them “climate fires.” ABC News even went so far as to downplay the role of forest health, saying the claim that it played a primary role in fires of recent years as “contrary to evidence.” In reality, there is little disagreement about the serious threat posed by unhealthy and fire-prone forests. The Washington State Department of Natural Resources puts it...
Smoke from forest fires filled the air in [Western] Washington and immediately the finger of blame was pointed at climate change. Prior to the recent fires, the 2020 fire season had been extremely quiet. No matter how the season ends, however, blaming climate change is politics, not science. Not all the lands burned in the last week are forests, but forestland is a major source of the smoke we are seeing. The science is quite clear that timber harvests–including commercial timber harvests – are...
Smoke from forest fires filled the air in Western Washington and immediately the finger of blame was pointed at climate change. Prior to the recent fires, the 2020 fire season had been extremely quiet. No matter how the season ends, however, blaming climate change is politics, not science. Not all the lands burned in the last week are forests, but forestland is a major source of the smoke we are seeing. The science is quite clear that timber harvests – including commercial timber harvests – are...
After several attacks on livestock, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) killed a wolf in the Wedge Pack, located in NE Washington along the Canadian border. This is part of the state's wolf management approach, which authorizes lethal removal of wolves only after non-lethal techniques to deter wolf attacks have failed. In this instance, the Wedge Pack was involved in 11 incidents that killed three livestock since early May. The location of the wolf attacks is not surprising. Most...
Testing has taken an increasingly central role as state officials attempt to limit the spread and risk from the coronavirus. Increased testing to find and treat people who are asymptomatic – because people can spread the virus while they show no signs of sickness – can help prevent the spread of the virus and prevent those carrying it from passing it on to other members of their family. Understanding that, other states in our region are taking steps to increase testing. Since late April, Ore...
