Harger: Seattle gas prices hit $4.62 a gallon. Idaho is paying $3.15. That difference didn’t come from Iran

Gas prices went up again overnight.

The Seattle average this morning is $4.62 a gallon, according to AAA. The national average is $3.20. We’re paying $1.42 more than the rest of the country.

That gap gets more interesting when you look at our neighbors.

Oregon is $3.99 a gallon. Idaho is $3.15. Oregon has its own climate regulations that push prices above Idaho’s. Washington has even stricter ones. And our prices are roughly 63 cents higher than Oregon’s per gallon. Idaho drivers are paying $1.47 less per gallon than we are.

What’s driving WA’s gas price gap?

Washington’s Climate Commitment Act (CCA) is a cap-and-trade program that charges businesses for carbon emissions. Those costs get passed to consumers at the pump. Analysts put the CCA surcharge somewhere between 26 and 46 cents a gallon, depending on who you ask. The state has never been fully straight about the exact number. Pick your favorite. They’re all painful.

Yes, there’s a global reason gas prices are climbing right now

Attacks on Iran. Tanker traffic disrupted near the Strait of Hormuz. Twenty percent of the world’s oil supply moves through that chokepoint. Crude jumped more than 8% Monday. Everyone in America is feeling it.

But Washington is absorbing that global price shock on top of a policy surcharge. We’re the third highest in the nation. When a crisis hits, you don’t want to be starting from a hole.

We’re starting from a hole.

The state’s own emissions math was off by a factor of 96

Last year, Washington’s Department of Commerce admitted its CCA emissions calculations were off by a factor of 96. Not rounding errors. Not a modeling footnote. Ninety-six times.

They had been claiming that the program reduced emissions by 7.5 million metric tons. The real number was 78,000.

If your accountant was off by a factor of 96, you’d be looking for a new accountant.

So I asked: Is the Climate Commitment Act actually reducing emissions, or are Washingtonians paying some of the highest gas prices in the nation for a program that can’t prove it’s working?

We still don’t have a clean answer.

WA produces less than 0.2% of global emissions. China opened dozens of new coal plants

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: I believe climate change is real. Emissions need to come down. If this program could be shown to actually work, this commentary would be a lot harder to write.

But Washington accounts for less than 0.2% of global emissions. China opened dozens of new coal plants while we’ve been running these cap-and-trade auctions. We’re on a strict diet. China ordered seconds. The planet hasn’t noticed the difference.

Now there’s a conflict in the Middle East. Tankers are dodging attacks in the Persian Gulf. Prices are spiking everywhere.

Idaho drivers are paying $3.15 a gallon. We’re at $4.62. That difference didn’t come from Iran.

Charlie Harger is the host of “Seattle’s Morning News” on KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of his stories and commentaries here. Follow Charlie on X and email him here. 

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