Groups Urge Washington State to Eliminate Avoided Methane Credits in Clean Fuel Standard
Advocates push Department of Ecology to stop incentives for factory farm gas that harm frontline communitiesOlympia, WA — Today, a coalition of organizations submitted a joint comment to the Washington State Department of Ecology urging the agency to eliminate avoided methane credits from the proposed Clean Fuel Standard (CFS) rule. The groups argue that these credits—modeled after California’s deeply flawed Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS)—create perverse incentives that reward pollution-intensive factory farm practices and encourage expansion under the guise of climate action.
“Washington has the chance to do what California didn’t: stand up to polluting agribusiness and stop subsidizing them to continue harmful practices that communities have been fighting for decades,” said Molly Armus, Animal Agriculture Policy Program Manager at Friends of the Earth. “If the Department of Ecology is serious about environmental justice and climate integrity, it must not allow avoided methane crediting in its Clean Fuel Standard.”
“Washington attempts to rate the impact on greenhouse gasses by assigning carbon intensity scores to various fuels,” said Jean Mendoza, Executive Director of Friends of Toppenish Creek. “Wind and solar have scores of zero because there is no burning involved. Most other fuels have carbon intensity scores of plus 45 to slightly over 100. But methane generated from cow manure has a score of minus 150. Methane from cow manure is chemically identical to methane from fossil sources. Ecology must explain why this is not a gift to industrial animal agriculture.”
“Anaerobic digesters are often promoted as climate solutions, but in reality, they incentivize larger herds, divert resources from sustainable solutions, and expose rural communities, like the Lower Yakima Valley, to toxic pollutants,” said Coleen Anderson, 350 Yakima Climate Action. “Washington should not greenwash factory farm pollution as climate progress.”
“As Washington continues to work towards reduced climate pollution, policy makers must recognize the significant pollution that comes from dairies in our state and must pass policies that lead to sustainable and environmentally sound farming practices. The proposed rule does not do that,” said Selden Prentice, 350 Seattle.
The joint comment details how the policy:
- Replicates California’s mistakes by proposing to grant factory farms artificially negative carbon intensity scores for capturing methane they create through an intentional methane-intensive manure management strategy.
- Disregards upstream and downstream emissions from feed production, enteric fermentation, digestate use, and biogas combustion.
- Exacerbates environmental injustice, particularly in rural areas, low-income communities, and communities of color already facing air and water pollution linked to concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs).
- Fails to deliver real climate benefits, prioritizing combustion-based fuels like biomethane that rely on fossil fuel infrastructure over truly clean alternatives.
The groups warn that unless Ecology further amends the proposed rule, the CFS will continue to prop up the fossil fuel and factory farm industries at the expense of public health and climate goals.
Communications contact: Molly Armus, [email protected]