Welcome transparency for WA's Climate Commitment Act | Editorial

Gov. Bob Ferguson signed a bill this week to increase transparency with the state’s landmark Climate Commitment Act. Meeting the act’s lofty goals will remain challenging, but at least now Washingtonians can track the performance with clearer vision.

Currently, the state reports total greenhouse gas emissions every other year and relies on hopelessly out-of-date federal data. That means that state officials and members of the public lack the information they need to assess the state’s progress and to decide what adjustments might be needed.

Senate Bill 5036 will change that by requiring the state departments of Ecology and Commerce to publish annual emissions inventories. The bill had bipartisan sponsorship and support as it cruised to passage. Its chief sponsor was Sen. Matt Boehnke, R-Kennewick.

“Climate policy should be based on facts and outcomes, not politics or assumptions,” Boehnke said after the signing ceremony. “Regardless of ideology, we all benefit from better data and a clear-eyed look at whether our policies are delivering results.”

Boehnke’s bill delivers the better data, but the “clear-eyed” part is lacking. Who reviews the data matters, too. Lawmakers should work with Ferguson to develop third-party scrutiny of Climate Commitment Act spending to ensure that funds are used effectively and efficiently to achieve tangible emissions reductions.

Independent oversight could build valuable public trust and prevent another anti-climate policy ballot measure the next time gas prices increase. When the only reviews come from partisans, they aren’t very persuasive.

It also would have been better if the bill took full effect sooner. State departments will release data biannually until 2031, then finally go annual. These things might take time, but the slow rollout does not reflect the need for rapid change to fight climate change.

Washington is a national leader in climate policy, even more so as the Trump administration rolls back federal climate policy. The CCA and its cap-and-trade program aim to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions to 45% below 1990 levels by 2030 and even more in future decades.

The transparency created by SB 5036 will allow not just policymakers and the public to identify which climate policies work and to adjust the ones that don’t, but also other states looking to copy Washington’s success.