Republican Sean Reyes wants to be Utah’s next Attorney General. He counts among his accomplishments becoming one of the first minority attorneys in the state to make partner at a major law firm and co-founding an organization to help Utahns combat fraud. He joined us in the studio to talk about where he stands on the important issues.
The oil and gas-rich Uinta Basin in eastern Utahis the focus of a new air quality study, one that’s being called the most comprehensive air quality study ever in the state. It’s bringing together Utah’s Department of Environmental Quality, the federal Environmental Protection Agency, and oil and gas producers to figure out the region’s wintertime ozone pollution is so bad. KCPW’s Jeff Robinson spoke with Bryce Bird, Director of the Utah Division of Air Quality.
One state lawmaker’s attempt to bring Utah’s residential building codes up to date hasn’t been assigned a committee hearing, despite widespread support from local governments, businesses and residents. Republican Representative Fred Cox says adopting the latest building codes for new homes is important for public safety and energy cost savings, but as KCPW’s Whittney Evans reports, at least one organization is fighting the change, saying it would cost homeowners too much.
A new, statewide initiative to improve air quality won’t include any new regulations, but purely voluntary efforts. As Utah Governor Gary Herbert announced Tuesday, the Utah Clean Air Partnership, or U-CAIR, is about getting individual Utahns to examine how they can make improvements.
Property owners in Utah could be forced to sell their land for new energy-related purposes if a proposed bill makes it out of the Utah Legislature this year. Republican Representative Mike Noel is the sponsor of House Bill 74, which would allow for eminent domain actions to be brought against a landowner to build roads that are needed for the development, production or exploration of oil or natural gas.
President Obama’s State of the Union address last night touched on some themes that could please some of Utah’s elected officials in Washington, like expanding domestic energy access. But do they think he has the track record to get it done? KCPW’s Jeff Robinson talked with one of them, Democratic Congressman Jim Matheson, to get his reaction to the address last night.
The state of Utah has given a green light on water rights to Blue Castle Holdings, which wants to build a nuclear power plant in Green River. In the first half of the show, we’ll talk with the company’s CEO Aaron Tilton about the economic and energy upside and safety details of the proposal. [...]
The fate of a proposed nuclear power plant in Utah’s Emery County is now in the hands of the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, following the state’s approval of two water rights applications for the Blue Castle Holdings project on the Green River. Although some environmental and citizens’ groups have been swift to condemn that decision, Utah State Engineer Kent Jones with the Division of Water Rights says they had to be approved under law if certain criteria were met.
Utah State Engineer Kent Jones has approved water rights from the Green River for Blue Castle Holdings’ proposed nuclear power plant in Emery County, much to the dismay of environmental groups. Matt Pacenza, Policy Director of the anti-nuclear group HEAL Utah, says the decision was the only opportunity for a Utah official to reject the plan. He says the company now faces two hurdles, the easier of which will be getting permission from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Conservationists, tourism-dependent businesses and some farmers, ranchers and recreationists are applauding the Interior Department’s decision to adopt a 20-year moratorium on new uranium mining claims on a million acres of public lands near Grand Canyon National Park. But it’s left many Utah lawmakers on the federal and state level furious.
