(The Center Square) – In early October, a lawsuit was filed in Thurston County Superior Court by a pair of state lawmakers and a public policy organization against two state agencies for what the plaintiffs say is the agencies’ failure to comply with a state law requiring the timely reporting of greenhouse gas emissions.
Represented by the Citizen Action Defense Fund, state Sen. Nikki Torres, R-Pasco; state Rep. Mary Dye, R-Pomeroy; the Washington Policy Center and WPC Vice President for Research Todd Myers filed the lawsuit against the Department of Commerce and the Department of Ecology.
State law requires the Department of Ecology to produce a greenhouse gas inventory every two years, helping lawmakers analyze the impacts of the Climate Commitment Act and track progress toward emissions goals. However, the most recent greenhouse gas data only goes through 2021.
“Can you show your work?” Dye asked. “What is the protocol that you use to measure that?” What is your protocol going to be to measure the carbon reductions? Is it going to be actuals in air quality or carbon dioxide reduction? We need to see the data.”
Myers provided some background information on the current lawsuit.
“When we sued earlier this year, the Department of Ecology was very candid that they were not complying with the law,” he told The Center Square on Wednesday. “Their excuse was that it was too hard to comply. That is not an excuse that is acceptable for anybody they regulate. So, it shouldn’t be an acceptable excuse for a state agency that answers to the people in the Legislature.”
A previous lawsuit by Myers was dismissed earlier this year by Thurston County Superior Court Judge Chris Lanese, who ruled Myers didn’t have standing in the case.
“So that’s why Rep. Dye and Sen. Torres joined this lawsuit, because if the argument is only legislators have standing, then they can sue and hold Ecology accountable,” Myers explained.
Dye told The Center Square that although lawmakers don’t have data showing that expensive climate programs are having the desired effect, they do know that Washington families are struggling because of these policies.
“We pulled $3.2 billion out of our economy – the productive part of our economy – because production means using energy and using it wisely,” she said. “And that’s what grows prosperity and human flourishing. Energy poverty is human poverty. And as this program is rolled out, we’re seeing our middle America, average middle-class people, struggling to pay their utility bill, and cringing at the pump.”
As reported by The Center Square, Senate Bill 5036, known as the Climate Accountability Act, passed the Legislature this session and was signed into law. It unanimously passed both the Senate and House and became effective on July 27. The law requires more frequent reporting of statewide greenhouse gas emissions to improve the effectiveness of climate programs.
A fiscal note attached to the legislation indicates Ecology would hire 5.4 new full-time employees over the next five years to compile the climate data, at a cost of more than $1.6 million.
“We’re hurting people on fixed incomes. We’re hurting young families just getting started on the first rung of economic success in our society,” said Dye. “We’re seeing people of means leave the state. And we’ve created a policy that we need accountability for … if the juice is worth the squeeze and we are genuinely impactful globally for climate improvements, let me know. Put it on paper. Show your work.”
Myers said that even before SB 5036, there is no excuse for the agency’s failure to produce evidence.
“They say that they don’t have the resources. They absolutely do have the resources,” he said. “The CO2 tax has earned more revenue than was expected. In fact, the Department of Ecology earlier this year put out a projection of what the prices would be this year and into the future. And the prices, the tax, the level of the tax is already higher than they predicted under the highest scenario for 2028. The state has the money, and the cost of the program is higher than even they expected. So, for them to say, ‘I’m sorry, we can’t do our job’ is just not a defensible position.”
The Center Square reached out to several communications staff members at the Department of Ecology for comment on the lawsuit and specific questions about the number of employees hired by the agency to administer the program, but did not receive a response.
