Leaders from at least a dozen Washington tribes may soon meet with Gov. Jay Inslee’s administration to raise concerns and ask questions about the effects of the state’s new carbon-cap system on gas prices and tribal sovereignty.

Some say they’re taken aback by how much the system seems to be driving up gas prices, despite Inslee’s assurances that increases would be marginal.

Henry Cagey, a longtime council member from Lummi Nation who’s been working on the issue, said at least 12 tribes want to take part in the meeting about the Clean Fuel Standard and Climate Commitment Act, which were adopted in 2021 and took effect at the start of this year.

The laws require major polluters like fuel suppliers to pay to release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and to reduce their emissions over time. They’re designed to combat climate change by making the state mostly carbon free by 2050. But fuel suppliers are passing their new expenses down the line to distributors and customers, including Native American tribes, which are sovereign nations that shouldn’t have to pay, Cagey said.

State officials say the new charges are fees related to “compliance obligations,” rather than revenue-generating taxes. Either way, tribal members are now paying more for gas than they would otherwise, Cagey said, noting that lawmakers carved exemptions for other groups, including the aviation industry, fuel exporters, boats headed out of state and farmers.

“Somehow they had pity on the farmers but they didn’t have pity on the Indians,” he said. “These fees shouldn’t apply to our sovereign territory.”