Why Washington Climbed to the Top of the Nation’s Gas Price Charts
Washington families already face some of the highest costs of living in the country. Groceries, housing, and utilities all seem to rise month after month. One of the most visible and painful examples of government policy hitting home is staring us in the face every time we pull up to a gas pump, and earlier this week Washington achieved a dubious distinction: The highest gas prices in the entire nation.
According to AAA, drivers here are now neck and neck in what we pay per gallon with Californians—a state long mocked for its extreme fuel costs. It isn’t a coincidence, and it’s not the fault of international markets. This crisis is homegrown, driven by policies passed in Olympia.
At the center of Washington’s record-high gas prices is the Climate Commitment Act (CCA). Passed in 2021 and implemented in 2023, the law created a cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions. Supporters promised it would fight climate change without hurting working families.
The reality has been very different. Since the CCA took effect, Washington drivers have paid an extra $700 on gas. That’s $700 siphoned from household budgets, not for groceries or school supplies, but for what amounts to an experiment in carbon pricing. Charlie Hager from KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM put it, “Washingtonians are paying billions for what feels like symbolic progress.”
The state’s most recent auction shows exactly how the system drives up costs. On September 3, the Department of Ecology required businesses to buy permits in order to keep emitting carbon, selling nearly 6.4 million of these permits at $64.30 each. The auction raised $446 million—adding to the nearly $3.5 billion the state has already collected since the program began last year. Because the price of these permits came in higher than expected, the state scheduled an extra sale to give companies a chance to buy more. But the reality is that companies don’t absorb these added expenses—they pass them on to Washington families through higher gas and energy prices.
And those prices are skyrocketing. Washington’s average for regular unleaded now sits at $4.65 per gallon, higher than California and far above the national average. Just one year ago, the statewide average was $4.15. Families are now paying nearly 50 cents more per gallon year-over-year—while political leaders in Olympia pat themselves on the back for raising revenue.
Lawmakers didn’t stop with the hidden gas tax of cap-and-trade. This year, Governor Bob Ferguson signed a six-cent per gallon gas tax increase into law, adding yet another burden on top of already strained budgets. Following that tax increase, an incredible 88% of respondents in a recent poll said gas prices in Washington were too high – just 2% said they were too low.
Politicians like to blame “big oil” whenever gas prices rise, but the truth is that state government has deliberately made fuel more expensive. For working families in Spokane, Clark County, or rural communities where driving is a necessity, these added costs are devastating.
Meanwhile, state officials point to excuses like “refinery maintenance” or “temporary pipeline issues” to explain the surge in prices. But the Department of Ecology’s own system is designed to keep costs high and our gas prices have consistently been some of the highest in the nation for the last couple of years. As Todd Myers of the Washington Policy Center explained, the cap-and-trade system deliberately drives up the price of gas, diesel, and natural gas by reducing the number of allowances available each year. In other words, higher costs aren’t a bug—they’re the feature.
Washingtonians haven’t sat back quietly. Last year, the grassroots group Let’s Go Washington gathered more than 400,000 signatures to put a repeal of the Climate Commitment Act on the ballot. The repeal ultimately fell short after environmental groups and government unions spent tens of millions of dollars to defeat the initiative.
When Governor Jay Inslee and Democrat lawmakers passed the Climate Commitment Act, they promised transparency and accountability. Instead, Washington families got skyrocketing gas prices, billions in new taxes, and no evidence the climate is any better off. In fact, state officials haven’t even released updated emissions data since 2019—meaning there is still no proof that this entire system is working. Yet drivers are forced to pay more every time they fill up.
Washington’s gas price crisis isn’t just about economics—it’s about trust. Lawmakers asked families to sacrifice, to pay more at the pump, all in the name of fighting climate change.
But they’ve delivered no results, no transparency, and no accountability. Until Olympia changes course, every trip to the gas station will serve as a painful reminder that in Washington, government comes first and taxpayers come last.