Citing Cap-and-Trade Fears, Republican Senators Kill Carbon Credits Bill

03.09.2010 by Elizabeth Ziegler

(KCPW News) The Utah Senate has shot down a bill that would allow cities, counties and special districts to trade carbon credits if they convert garbage otherwise bound for the landfill into fertilizer. Some Utah facilities already participate in a voluntary program called the Chicago Climate Exchange, but it’s unclear whether state code allows it. On the Senate floor yesterday, Republican Senator Curt Bramble argued that passing a bill clarifying its legality would send the wrong message.

“All one has to do is go to the Web site, Chicago Climate Exchange, and look at what they’re trying to demonstrate,” he said.  “This is really cap-and-trade lite. Should we pass this bill, it would be Utah affirming the mechanism of a cap-and-trade program.”

Like Bramble, many of Utah’s Republican lawmakers are outspoken opponents of cap-and-trade, including both national efforts and regional compacts like the Western Climate Initiative.

But Senate Minority Whip Ross Romero argued his legislation would not promote cap-and-trade.

“At the end of the day, that’s not what this bill is about. This bill is about giving municipalities, special service districts and the counties, which I understand are all in favor of this, the option to take advantage of a marketplace that may or may not exist, may nor may not grow, but to know that as a matter of policy it’s permissible to do so,” Romero said.

Romero said large companies are participating in the Chicago exchange on a voluntary basis. Senate Bill 128 failed in a narrow 11-to-14 vote.