Washington state judge rules citizens can’t hold state agencies accountable as he dismisses suit over emissions reporting

Todd Myers, Vice President for Research at the Washington Policy Center and author of Time to Think Small, joined The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI to break down the case—and its troubling implications for transparency, accountability, and taxpayer trust.

Under state law, Washington’s Department of Ecology and Department of Commerce are required to release carbon dioxide emissions data at the end of every even-numbered year. That means new data for 2022 should have been released by December 2024. But the most recent data available is from 2021, and even that wasn’t released until late.

“We sued to say, ‘Look, you're not following the law,’” Myers said. “How can we know whether the things we are doing are working if we don’t even have current data?”

“The state agencies didn’t deny the allegations. In court, they admitted they were violating the law, but claimed it wasn’t their fault,” Myers recounted. “They said, ‘You're right, we are breaking the law. But it’s too hard to follow.’ Can you imagine a citizen using that excuse and getting away with it?”

Even more alarming was the agencies’ legal argument: that private citizens lack the standing to force them to comply with the law. “The Department of Ecology claimed that we—Washington residents—don’t even have the legal right to hold them accountable. And the judge agreed.”

The ruling, Myers said, sets a chilling precedent. “It means government agencies can admit they’re violating the law and still face no consequences. They are now effectively above the law when it comes to transparency,” Myers said.

The state’s environmental bureaucracy has for years demanded massive public investment in carbon reduction programs—fuel surcharges, regulations, and mandates—justified by climate data. But now, those same agencies are refusing to show whether any of it is working.

“This is the same Department of Ecology that calls climate change an existential threat,” Myers said. “They say only they can solve it, but they can’t even provide data from three years ago. Yet they claim they can plan the economy until 2050?”

“The mindset is absurd,” Myers added. “They already know what policies they want. The data is immaterial to them.”

Despite the legal setback, Myers says the fight isn’t over. “We’re considering an appeal and asking the judge to reconsider. There’s strong precedent that citizens do have standing to enforce these laws.”

At stake isn’t just one dataset—it’s public oversight of billions of taxpayer dollars being spent in the name of climate action. “There’s no accountability if the government doesn’t have to show its work,” Myers said. “We were all told in school: show your work, or you don’t get credit. Now the government doesn’t have to.”

The court ruling comes as the state’s green policy agenda faces other major blows. On Thursday, President Donald Trump signed legislation rescinding California’s Clean Air Act waiver, which Washington relied on to enforce its electric vehicle mandate. That rule would have required 35 percent of all new car sales in Washington to be EVs by 2026, despite the state currently sitting at only 22 percent.

“There was no way Washington was going to make that jump,” Myers said. “There aren’t enough EVs, especially not trucks, to meet that demand. And yet the state pushed forward anyway, because facts don’t seem to matter anymore.”

Myers added, “People should have the freedom to choose the car that fits their lifestyle—whether that’s an EV, a hybrid, or a good old-fashioned gas guzzler. Mandating the market just doesn’t work.”

The Trump administration also reversed a controversial Biden-era plan to begin decommissioning the Snake River hydroelectric dams—a key source of carbon-free energy for the Pacific Northwest.

“The president signed a memorandum rescinding Biden’s secret agreement with dam opponents,” Myers said. “That plan would have crippled our power supply in the name of helping salmon—despite there being little evidence that dam removal is the silver bullet environmentalists claim.”

“It made no sense,” Myers said. “You can’t mandate EVs and then destroy the power infrastructure needed to charge them. That’s not climate policy—that’s chaos.”

He credited Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) for tirelessly fighting to protect the dams and said Trump’s action was “‘dam’ good news.”

Myers concluded, “This is a huge win for common sense. These dams are clean, reliable, and essential to keeping our grid running—especially if you're trying to push everyone into electric vehicles.”