Critic: Dept. of Ecology releasing ‘out of date’ emissions data on climate goals

(The Center Square) – Newly released emissions data from the Washington State Department of Ecology shows the state is behind on climate goals set by the administration of outgoing Gov. Jay Inslee.

According to a Monday news release from the Department of Ecology, “total state greenhouse gas emissions dipped 13.8% in 2020, falling below the legal limit for that year. Emissions rose 8.8% in 2021 but stayed below 2019 levels.”

However, according to state law, “By December 31st of each even-numbered year beginning in 2010, the department [Ecology] and the department of commerce shall report … greenhouse gases for the preceding two years.”

“So for 2024, the preceding two years are 2022 and 2023, but they didn’t release that,” said Todd Myers, vice president for research at the Washington Policy Center think tank.

He told The Center Square that having current emissions data is needed to gauge the success of taxpayer-funded climate-related projects and policies.

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“It’s not just an academic exercise,” Myers said. “The data are supposed to be useful for decision making, and when the data are several years old, they are essentially worthless in terms of assessing the impact of policy.”

Myers explained Ecology measures emissions via gas and diesel consumption.

“You simply look at the amount of gas and diesel sold in Washington and the vast majority of that is going to be CO2 emissions,” he explained. “Then there’s natural gas, and you can look at how much natural gas was delivered to homes and then calculate the related emissions.”

Myers says Ecology should be able to provide more up-to-date emissions numbers and suggests that what was released this week is nothing to brag about.

“What they say is we met the 2020 target,” he said. “But that’s because it was COVID and nobody was going anywhere, so if your climate strategy is shut down the entire economy for a year, that’s a ridiculous strategy to take credit for. That is just foolish and irresponsible.”

The Center Square reached out to the Governor’s Office for a response to what Myers had to say.

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“They do not appear to understand the data sources and analysis involved in creating the state emissions inventory,” an Inslee spokesperson emailed The Center Square. “And they’ve long been deliberately obtuse over the fact that some of our biggest emissions reductions policies, which required legislative action, took effect after these data reporting periods.”

The email also indicated that the Climate Commitment Act, a cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, is wildly popular with voters because it is fulfilling its promises.

Myers pointed out Ecology has produced no data on emissions reductions related to the CCA because they are years behind in reports.

Andrew Wineke, deputy communications director at Ecology, also responded to Myers’ criticism.

“Historically, emissions in Washington peaked in 2000, and are now 14% below that level,” he said. “We are successfully decarbonizing our economy. Between 2012 and 2021, Washington state had one of the strongest economies in the nation, but the amount of emissions per dollar of GDP produced in our state fell sharply.”

Wineke said the Legislature approved a program in 2023 to develop state data sources to replace or supplement EPA data.

“Ecology is working to provide more frequent emissions updates and decrease the lag time between emissions data and inventory publication,” he said. “Building the inventory team and developing the new inventory approach takes time. Ecology is aiming to achieve shorter reporting timelines ahead of the 2026 inventory.”

Myers suggested that the reporting lag time is irresponsible, given the high burden on taxpayers from recently implemented climate policies that Washingtonians were promised would produce results.

“Their policies are simply not working and 2021 was the ninth year of Jay Inslee as governor,” he said. “He claims he was the climate governor and yet during the first nine years of his administration, the state’s CO2 emissions went up 5%. The reason we have failed is that money has been spent on politics and ideology, not results, and the money from the CCA is being used in the exact same way.”

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