Washington greenhouse gas emissions through 2021 dropped far below 2000 levels
Jan 7, 2025, 3:34 PM | Updated: 3:37 pm
Washington greenhouse gas emissions have continued to drop. (Photo courtesy of Ron Clausen via Wikimedia Commons via KIRO 7)
(Photo courtesy of Ron Clausen via Wikimedia Commons via KIRO 7)
Washington’s greenhouse gas emissions have been a focal point for the Washington State Department of Ecology (DOE). According to a new report by the department, the state’s greenhouse gas emissions dropped below peak 2000 levels but remain above 1990 levels. (A PDF of the report can be viewed here.)
A chart by the DOE shows in 2020, greenhouse gas emissions were 6% below 1990 levels and then in 2021 were 2.3% above 1990 levels. However, emissions have dropped a whopping 14.1% from the peak of 2000.
The rise and fall of emissions from 2019 to 2021 was likely driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, the agency report states.
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A chart of Washington’s greenhouse gases can be seen in this image. (Image courtesy of the Washington State Department of Ecology)
“We expected to see a rise in emissions coming out of the pandemic,” DOE Director Laura Watson stated in a news release Monday. “But we’re also seeing promising trends in energy efficiency, clean vehicle adoption and renewable energy production that will only grow stronger as a result of the climate policies Washington has put in place.”
Watson noted the increase in transportation emissions was driven by planes, boats and trains. She added emission levels from cars and trucks remained below 2019 levels in 2021.
According to the DOE, the electricity sector saw the largest drop with emissions decreasing 15% from 2019 to 2021 due to wind and solar production, along with lower coal and natural gas usage.
The Clean Energy Transformation Act also took effect in 2021, which required electric utilities to transition to 100% clean energy by 2045.
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The report states by law, Washington was required by 2020 to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to what they were in 1990. The state then must also reduce its emissions 45% by 2030, 70% by 2040 and 95% by 2050 according to the 1990 baseline.
However, Joel Creswell, DOE’s Climate Pollution Reduction program manager, said he is aware more work is needed to be done to reach the state requirement of brining emissions 45% below 1990 levels by 2030.
“It’s no secret that more work is needed to meet our 2030 limit, but we have a strong suite of policies in place to get us there,” he said in the release.
The DOE has more statistics listed on its website.
Contributing: Steve Coogan, MyNorthwest
Julia Dallas is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read her stories here. Follow Julia on X here and email her here.
