Progress on reducing CO2 emissions is no longer tracked by Washington state. Despite giving climate policy a high profile, progress on climate outcomes is not one of the categories tracked by Results Washington.

In February, we noted that the previous climate targets had been removed and replaced with a promise that new metrics on “Combating Climate Change” were “in development" and would be released in the Spring of 2019. The old targets – which the state was failing to meet – were moved to archive, but any mention of and links to those targets were removed.

Now, “Combatting Climate Change” has also been removed from the web page and replaced with “Keeping the Columbia River Healthy,” which they promise is “coming Spring 2019.”

When I e-mailed Results Washington to ask about dropping climate change as a goal, they indicated the goal had not been dropped and that it would be released in mid-May. There is still no sign of the metrics, however, and the placeholder that was on the page in February has also been removed. If that changes, we will provide an update.