Group sues Washington state over late reporting on greenhouse gas emissions

Amanda Zhou, The Seattle Times on Jan 22, 2025

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SEATTLE — A conservative think tank filed a lawsuit Wednesday against two Washington state agencies over delays in reporting the state's greenhouse gas emissions.

The Washington Policy Center said in a news release that it filed the lawsuit against the Washington State Department of Ecology and the Department of Commerce to force the agencies to comply with a state law that requires timely emissions reporting.

According to state law passed in 2008, the two agencies are required to report the state's total greenhouse gas emissions at the end of even-numbered years. The reports also must include "the total emissions of greenhouse gases for the preceding two years, and totals in each major source sector," according to state law.

In January, Ecology released the state's latest emissions inventory through 2021. The report showed that overall greenhouse gas emissions dipped 13.8% in 2020 during the pandemic but rose 8.8% in 2021, largely driven by the transportation sector.

The state is required by law to release data through 2023, according to the Washington Policy Center.

In a news release, Todd Myers, the group's vice president for research, accused the state of "wasting hundreds of millions of dollars on frivolous and ineffective climate projects" and said the delay in reporting accurate emissions data hides the failures of state projects.

"Washington state claims to be a leader in climate policy but policymakers don't even have recent data to determine if our policies are working," Myers said in a news release.

The state primarily relies on data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to produce the emissions inventory and the most current data is only available through 2021, according to the state's emissions report.

The report was able to show emissions from electricity use in 2022, which are still below prepandemic highs. According to Seattle's greenhouse gas report, emissions crept up in 2022 but are also still below prepandemic totals.

The Department of Ecology has said that it is aiming to reduce the reporting lag in the future by rebuilding the emissions inventory with state data.

In a statement, Ecology spokesperson Caroline Halter said that the department is "committed to providing more current emissions updates to lawmakers and the public" and will be able to do that "thanks to recent funding appropriated by the Legislature."

"Climate change is an urgent issue, but there are no quick fixes," Halter said. "The state has enacted a strong suite of policies to reduce climate pollution to net zero by 2050, and it will take time to assess their impact."

The lawsuit was filed in Thurston County Superior Court. The Washington Policy Center is represented by the Citizen Action Defense Fund, a conservative legal advocacy organization.

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