WA Ecology Issues Rebuke Of Federal Climate ReportAnd Publishes Analysis Of Local Climate Impacts

“This is not a game – wildfire smoke, heat waves, and drought are putting lives and livelihoods at risk here in Washington. Denying climate change by cherry-picking information won’t alter the reality on the ground, where our communities and ecosystems are experiencing the damage firsthand.”— Casey Sixkiller, Director, WA Department of Ecology for Ecology News

Director of the WA Department of Ecology, Casey Sixkiller, issued an official rebuke of the draft report authored by Climate Working Group for the U.S. Department of Energy, “A Critical Review of Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Emissions on the U.S. Climate,“ on the grounds that the report is biased, lacks scientific integrity, is inconsistent with scientific evidence and observable facts, and fails to account for the best available science on climate change trends and greenhouse gas emissions. The federal draft report claims, among other things, that climate change “is not the greatest threat facing humanity” and that “CO2-induced warming might be less damaging economically than commonly believed, and excessively aggressive mitigation policies could prove more detrimental than beneficial.” The report also minimizes climate change-related risks to water, energy, and food systems. In contrast to the federal draft report, WA Ecology released its 2025 Summary Report on the Science of Human Caused Climate Change with findings based on the review of scientific studies that support maintaining current limits on greenhouse gases, recommend the development of statutory guidance for carbon dioxide removal to attain net-zero emissions, the development of stronger policies for methane and fluorinated gases, and the acceleration of emission reductions to achieve WA’s 2030 statutory limits.Read Sixkiller’s rebuke of the federal draft report and Ecology’s 2025 Summary Report of local climate impacts below.

Read Sixkiller’s Rebuke

Read WA Climate Impact Report