Menu of Energy Options Sent to the Governor

 

Governor Jon Huntsman will be able to select from among 70-some options on how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in the state. The Governor’s Blue Ribbon Advisory Council on Climate Change (BRAC) concluded its work in August by ranking a list of measures that range from energy conservation to developing renewable energy to address global warming.

“We want to make sure the Governor has a road map that thoroughly weighs the various routes he can take to devise a strategy on how to reduce greenhouse gases,” said Dianne Nielson, energy adviser to Huntsman, who chaired the 24-member group that included industry, government and public interest.

The package includes a report by an eight-member science panel that took an objective look at how global warming is affecting the state. The report, “Climate Change and Utah: The Scientific Consensus” concluded that the average temperature in Utah was higher during the past decade than any comparable period of the past century and that could mean more severe droughts, less snowpack and more wildfires.

The report is available at: http://www.deq.utah.gov/BRAC_Climate/docs/Full_Report_BRAC_073107.pdf.

Huntsman plans to develop a state GHG reduction goal by June 2008, a commitment he made in May when he joined the Western Climate Initiative (WCI), a pact of six states and two Canadian provinces that have devised a regional initiative to reduce emissions by 15 percent by 2020.

Governor Huntsman intends to use a process that involves stakeholders to establish targets for GHG reductions based on economic factors and consideration of all sectors of the economy that generate greenhouse gas emissions. He also will use the BRAC’s list of recommendations to develop new policy goals.

The options, available at: http://www.deq.utah.gov/BRAC_Climate/docs/Final_Vote_high_to_low.pdf., include: