State Missing Biofuels Targets ...

Recent years have seen the rise of "long fuse politics." Politicians gather to celebrate the initiation of a process that promises great payoffs sometime in the future. They light the fuse, assume success, and depart before the big bang.

Back in 2005, as Jerry Cornfield reports, biofuels enjoyed such a moment.

In January 2005, Gary Locke, in one of his last acts as governor, set a goal for state agencies to be using at least 20 percent biofuel by Sept. 1, 2009.

A 2006 law signed by Gregoire put a tighter timeline into law. It required using a blend of not less than 2 percent beginning June 1, 2006 and reaching a 20 percent blend -- or 20 percent of total fuel use -- by June 1 of this year.

He notes that there were no penalties for noncompliance. And massive noncompliance ensued.

... in the second half of 2008, the state burned 10.2 million gallons of fuel of which 211,500 gallons, or 2.07 percent, was biofuel.

It's better when ferries are excluded, but still far from 20 percent.

All of which makes the ambitious long-term goals of climate change legislation even more suspect. Somewhere, somehow, we have to get realistic about what can be achieved and at what cost.