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Energy in the News
Western States Work on Reducing Greenhouse Gases
SALT LAKE CITY - Deciding to reduce greenhouse gases across seven Western states and three Canadian provinces is one thing. Figuring out how to do it is something more complicated. State regulators, business leaders, environmentalists, labor advocates and others from across the region spent Wednesday in a Salt Lake City conference room trying to hammer out how to put a significant dent in carbon emissions through a market-based program. The Western Climate Initiative's aim is to roll back greenhouse-gas emissions by 15 percent by 2020, based on levels from 2005. "No one's ever done this so we're learning as we go," said Janice Adair, chair of the group and special assistant to the director of the Washington state Department of Ecology. The group, formed with the approval of state governors and province leaders, is recommending a cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gases. The program would set a limit for emissions. Those that exceed the pollution cap could purchase credits from industries that are below the limit. Things get thornier from there. Climate-initiative officials are wrestling with whether credits should be given to industries for free at the start or whether they should be auctioned, with the money used for public projects. There are unanswered questions about whether the transportation sector should be included in the cap-and-trade program, who should be charge of the credit program and whether companies should get a break for taking other measures to offset greenhouse-gas emissions. There are deeper levels of details from there — all of which are supposed to be wrapped up by late summer. "It's complicated," said Patrick Cummins, director of the Western Regional Air Partnership, a regional association of tribal, state and federal governments. He estimated there are 100 to 200 people working on the recommendations. Once finished, the recommendations will be sent to states and provinces to decide whether to sign on. Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington began working on the initiative in early 2007. Utah, Montana, British Columbia, Manitoba and Quebec joined later. Aside from cap-and-trade, committees are also looking for ways to promote renewable energy, reward innovation and stimulate the economy. For utilities, energy companies and other industries, the final product will likely mean a significant change in how business is done across the West, especially with cap-and-trade. "This is transforming. It's a new world," said Catherine Reheis-Boyd, chief operating officer of the Western States Petroleum Association. Committees have been asking for detailed input about how potential policies would affect businesses, and industry officials have responded. The idea is to help shape the policy as it's developed instead of simply reacting to it once it's finished, Reheis-Boyd said. It's also a chance to influence federal regulations, which haven't been fully developed or approved, and possibly avoid having to comply with different rules state to state. "We're very interested in achieving these goals but we want to make sure they're reasonable," Reheis-Boyd said. Jeremiah Baumann of Environment Oregon and the Western Climate Advocates Network said he'd like to see a robust cap-and-trade program that makes meaningful reductions in greenhouse gases. That means including transportation along with power plants and other polluters, and using money from credits to pay for mass transit, ride-sharing or other measures. Peter Cooper of the California Labor Federation said companies shouldn't get a windfall from the credits. He'd like to see money go to low-income people who might be affected by higher electricity costs or for worker retraining if industries leave. No one has a firm grasp of what the program could cost to implement or how the economic burden under a climate proposal would be distributed. New economies are bound to emerge once the rules are firmed up, said Adair, the group's chair. "We expect to see, and are seeing, real growth in the clean-carbon economy," she said. Source: http://www.msnbc.com
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