The Penalty For Opposing Global Warmists In Washington State

After your humble correspondent’s Thursday mention of the whoppers Gov. Jay Inslee (D., Wash.) told about the costs of his beloved climate agenda, reader Don Hodun suggests that this column missed an important part of the story.

He has a point, because the governor’s official falsehoods may have been aggressively enforced within the state’s bureaucracy. [emphasis, links added]

Susannah Frame recently reported for Seattle’s NBC affiliate KING-TV:

A former state economist has filed a legal claim against two state agencies and the Office of the Governor for allegedly retaliating against him for refusing to keep quiet about his economic forecast on the state’s gas price.

For the last five years, Scott Smith of Tumwater was a transportation planner for the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT). He was the primary WSDOT employee tasked with forecasting fuel consumption, pricing and revenues from gas taxes and fees.

After 35 years working as a public sector economist, Smith said his career was ruined for his refusal to lie about how a new state policy, according to his mathematical calculations in early 2023, would jack up prices at the pump by 45 to 50 cents per gallon. He said the retaliation and pressure were so great he felt forced to resign.

Gov. Inslee has worn his global warming obsession on his sleeve for years. In 2021 he signed something called the Climate Commitment Act to limit carbon emissions with a version of a cap-and-trade system.

Sold by supporters as a “cap-and-invest” policy, the plan includes taxing the use of fossil fuels and then spending the money on a progressive wish list.

Perhaps Mr. Inslee’s biggest mistake was remaining in office into 2023 when the plan’s costs have finally been revealed. His administration seems to have avoided acknowledging them for as long as possible.

According to Ms. Frame’s recent report:

State leaders told consumers not to worry: the cap-and-trade system wouldn’t add much to the price of gas. Two months before the policy went into effect, a top official at the Dept. of Ecology said drivers wouldn’t notice…

On Ecology’s website, the agency featured a prediction that the Climate Commitment Act’s impact would be “very modest” and that Ecology had “evaluated prices under a range of potential market strategies.” That web page has since been removed.

“That (analysis) flies in the face of reality,” Smith said. “It’s really sixth grade math.”

In a legal claim filed against WSDOT, the Office of Financial Management (OFM) and the Office of the Governor… Smith alleges he was pressured in January to keep quiet about his calculation that cap-and-trade would lead to a 45- to 50-cent increase on every gallon of gas.

It didn’t take long for drivers to notice a big change. How could they not? Over at the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS), a Dow Jones corporate cousin, Steve Cronin reported on Dec. 4:

Washington routinely has some of the highest gasoline prices in the country since the cap-and-trade program went into effect this year, with its $4.3329/gal average price for regular unleaded Monday second only to California and 33.7% above the national average price of $3.2416/gal.

By comparison, the state’s average retail gasoline price in 2022 was… fourth behind California, Nevada and Oregon and 18.8% over the yearly national average…

Once the policy impact was clear here in 2023, one might have hoped that the person responsible would have accepted responsibility and tried to undo the damage.

But Gov. Inslee opted for another approach, holding a press conference last summer to attack business and claim that “the heart” of the problem was “greed” among oil companies.

Even now it seems his staff is still working hard to evade responsibility. According to the industrious Ms. Frame’s recent reporting for KING-TV on the whistleblower Scott Smith:

Representatives from the Office of the Governor, WSDOT, and OFM told KING revenue forecasting is a complex process. A WSDOT representative said they don’t take claims like these lightly.

“The Washington State Department of Transportation takes whistleblower allegations very seriously and what our agency can say is limited as this is both an investigation and legal matter,” wrote Kris Abrudan, WSDOT communications director.

An official from the Office of the Governor said KING shouldn’t be reporting on this story.

“It’s clear as we gathered information today about this, just how complicated the forecast process is and all the pieces that go into it. It would be prudent for (KING) to truly understand this process before drawing conclusions and reporting on claims that have not yet been investigated,” wrote Mike Faulk, deputy communications director for the Office of Governor Jay Inslee.

Forecasting can get especially complicated if one is trying to muzzle the forecaster. A recent report from KIRO’s Kate Stone has additional response from Team Inslee regarding the whistle-blower Mr. Smith’s complaint:

Mike Faulk, a spokesperson for Gov. Inslee’s office… said Smith’s claims of being told to “jimmy the numbers” are being looked into.

“The Office of Financial Management individual named in the letter has expressed surprise and no recollection of events matching Mr. Smith’s claims regarding how his analysis would be used,” Faulk said. “He does not recall ever talking with this individual about the Climate Commitment Act and does not recall needing to ‘approve’ or review reports from Mr. Smith.”

…“Mr. Smith claims he was denied leave to spend time with his mother around Thanksgiving, and that this denial was tied to some vendetta,” the governor’s office wrote. “In reality, Mr. Smith was the expert presenter at a meeting that conflicted with his date requests.”

Faulk said there will be investigations to determine if Smith’s other assertions can be substantiated.

Yes, let’s hope that all the relevant facts can be brought to light. It seems the only established significant fact so far is that, when discussing gas prices, Gov. Inslee is full of it.

h/t Steve B.

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