WA Carbon Reduction Programs (CCA) Don't Track Progress

According to information released by The Washingon Policy Center, many of the programs funded by the new Climate Commitment Act, or CCA, don't even measure how much carbon they're removing from the atmosphere.

Some of the 'programs' and grants go to political groups

Todd Meyers, who is the climate expert for the WPC, wrote this week about where a lot of this CCA money is going. The CCA forces businesses to purchase pollution credits just to operate, and it's generated well over a billion dollars for the state. It's also driven up gas prices by at least $.52 cents per gallon, and natural gas prices.

Meyers reports:

"Supporters of Washington’s new CO2 tax argue the billions of dollars collected so far are necessary to help meet the state’s strict emissions targets. However, many of the grants that claim to reduce emissions don’t even measure or prioritize environmental benefits. Instead, grants are targeted to politically connected groups without consideration as to whether the funding actually helps the environment."

He points to a new program, a $9.6 million-dollar grant from the Dept. of Ecology that is supposed to "reduce" methane emissions from landfills.

Meyers says capturing methane is one of the most effective ways to counter greenhouse gasses, He says preventing methane from escaping or capturing it is far more effective than other efforts to reduce Co2 emissions. However, according to Myers:

"Despite that opportunity, the “Landfill Methane Emissions Reduction Grant Program” doesn’t even attempt to measure how much the grants reduce emissions. Grants are allocated based on a point system that scores each proposal using five categories.

In fact, Ecology staff admit they do not have the data necessary to “fairly and equitably award grants based on emissions reductions and reductions potential.” They don’t explain what “fairly and equitably” means."