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Washington Policy Center's Vice President for Research, Todd Myers, just exposed a new report released by the state for providing false data. While the state claims revenue from the Climate Commitment Act reduced carbon emissions roughly equivalent of 40% of Washington's gas and diesel vehicle outputs for a year, this relies on small projects with clear data errors, which the Department of Commerce has acknowledge as incorrect.
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State CO2 report shows 86% of Washington’s claimed climate benefits are probably fake
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By Todd Myers
Vice President for Research
Washington Policy Center
The “Climate Commitment Act Investments” is a report published by the Department of Ecology that ostensibly detailed the spending of $1.5 billion of CO2 tax revenue from the first two years of the Climate Commitment Act (CCA). It was intended to show the many good things that are being done with CCA revenue to fight climate change, increase resilience and help “overburdened communities.”
Analysis of the report reveals the impact claimed by state officials is seriously overstated and staff that compiled the report at the Department of Commerce, along with the Department of Ecology, admit it, undermining one of the central justifications for the state’s CO2 tax.
The Department of Ecology’s press release announcing the report claimed “CCA investments made during the 2023-25 biennium are expected to directly reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a total of nearly 9 million metric tons,” an amount Ecology touted as the “equivalent of taking 40% of all gas and diesel vehicles in Washington off the road for a whole year.” According to the release, this was accomplished for a price of “$40 per metric ton.”
Both claims are false.
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