Seattle gas prices hit $5.74 a gallon overnight, a new all-time record according to AAA. The national average is $4.23. We are paying $1.51 more than the average American. Look next door. Idaho is paying $4.40. Same Middle East conflict. Same president. Different governor. Different policy. Oregon is even more instructive than Idaho. Same coast. […]
Olympia’s fuel policies and gas taxes are raising costs for consumers, families and businesses at a time when they can least afford it. Washington’s gasoline prices are now among the highest in the nation.1
1 AAA state gas price averages
Washington state fees and taxes on gasoline are currently adding $1.47 per gallon to the cost of gasoline – increasing to an estimated $2.00 per gallon in just the next few years.2
2 Washington Department of Revenue; Oil Price Information Service (OPIS); Stillwater Associates; Washington Research Council; NERA
Washington should be a leader in developing cost-effective and achievable fuel policies – not badly flawed programs that are among the most costly and regressive in the nation.
IN THE NEWS
WATCH: Natural gas bills going up and the CCA is to blame
(The Center Square) – Thousands of Cascade Natural Gas customers can expect their power bills to go up again soon, which the utility attributes to the Climate Commitment Act (CCA) and Washington’s Clean Energy Transformation Act (CETA). … For homes hooked up after July 25, 2021, average monthly bills are expected to increase by 6.28%, […]
Washington broke the national diesel record — and the Climate Commitment Act made it worse
Washington just set an all-time diesel price record. Then it broke it again four days later. As of Friday, the statewide average for diesel hit $6.55 per gallon, according to AAA. That is the most expensive diesel ever recorded in Washington history. … Everyone is pointing at Iran, and they are not wrong. The U.S.-Israel […]
Washington state’s climate-fighting claim is hot air, officials admit
Washington state officials have issued a correction after they were caught exaggerating the benefits of state spending to curb climate change. Proceeds from the state’s quarterly auctions of carbon dioxide permits are keeping far less pollution out of the air than officials have been claiming. Since the first auction in February 2023, major polluters in […]
Welch: State’s climate act failing to deliver on promises
Democratic lawmakers in Olympia sold the Climate Commitment Act with this promise: higher fuel costs today would mean stronger protection from floods tomorrow. That pledge helped justify what amounts to a hidden tax, now adding roughly 57 cents per gallon to gasoline, pushing the CCA’s effective fuel tax above Washington’s long-standing 52-cent gas tax. But […]
WA carbon market revenue hits $4.3B as prices reach record
Prices in Washington’s carbon market have continued to trend upward as the price of emission allowances reached an all-time high this month. The state held four auctions between September and December and raised just over $1.1 billion by selling over 16 million carbon emission allowances. … Allowances cost $64.30 in the September auction and $70.86 […]
Washington Drivers Paying Nearly 45% More for Gas — State Among the Worst in the Nation
As of October 21, the average price per gallon in Washington is $4.402, a staggering $1.355 higher than the national average of $3.047. In the greater Seattle area, drivers are paying even more: $4.662 per gallon, which is 53% above the national average. That represents an increase of over 40 cents per gallon compared to […]
Here’s why Washington’s gas prices keep rising: regulation, taxes, and the CCA
Washington State now has the second highest gas prices in the country, sitting just behind California. This is despite having five refineries located within the state. So why are prices so high? According to State Sen. John Braun (R-Chehalis), the answer lies in a combination of excessive regulation, sky-high gas taxes, and, crucially, the Climate […]
West Coast fuel prices going up as rest of country enjoys reprieve
West Coast fuel prices, already the highest in the Continental U.S., will continue to rise, even as the rest of the country looks forward to gasoline dropping below $3 a gallon, the U.S. Energy Information Administration forecasts. … Hawaii sometimes has the most-expensive fuel in the U.S. But on the mainland, California, Washington and Oregon, […]
Make WA’s landmark Climate Commitment Act more accountable
Reducing carbon emissions is the fundamental goal of the state’s vanguard environmental policy known as the Climate Commitment Act. But measuring its success relies upon federal data that’s been taking years to compile and disclose. Results from 2021 were released earlier this month, an unacceptable lag that blinds Washingtonians from accurately assessing whether this consequential […]
Editorial: Washington’s carbon limits won’t help climate
Those opposed to green schemes that line some pockets and pick other pockets are called “climate deniers” by those who deny reality. Only reality deniers will see in the Washington Department of Ecology’s latest greenhouse gas inventory any sign the state is moving toward complying with its own carbon-reduction law. …. The problem is Washington […]