Western States Agree on Plan to Tackle Global Warming Pollution

Tom Banse
09/24/2008

West Coast states have settled on a sweeping plan to tackle global warming pollution at the regional level. A regulatory framework unveiled yesterday (Tuesday) will put a price on burning fossil fuels for electricity, heating, or transportation. State lawmakers will get the final say in how soon and how much it'll cost you to combat climate change. Correspondent Tom Banse reports.

SEVEN WESTERN STATES AND FOUR CANADIAN PROVINCES HAVE DECIDED THEY'RE TIRED OF WAITING FOR FEDERAL ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE. OREGON GOVERNOR TED KULONGOSKI AND WASHINGTON GOVERNOR CHRIS GREGOIRE ENDORSE A COORDINATED REGIONAL PLAN TO CAP GLOBAL WARMING POLLUTION. DEMOCRAT GREGOIRE CALLS IT THE BOLDEST "THING THAT'S BEEN DONE IN THIS COUNTRY."

GREGOIRE: "I prefer that this be done at the national level. But in the meantime, we're not going to wait. We're going to get going. We're exercising leadership here."

CALIFORNIA, OREGON, WASHINGTON, AND BRITISH COLUMBIA ARE PARTICIPATING IN WHAT'S CALLED THE WESTERN CLIMATE INITIATIVE. IDAHO IS WATCHING FROM THE SIDELINES.

THE STATES THAT ARE IN THE PACT WANT TO CUT THEIR GLOBAL WARMING EMISSIONS BY 15% FROM 2005 LEVELS. THE SELF–IMPOSED DEADLINE TO ACHIEVE THAT GOAL IS 2020. GREGOIRE SAYS THE MECHANISM WILL BE A "CAP AND TRADE" PROGRAM. UNDER THAT SYSTEM, THE GOVERNMENT SETS AN OVERALL LIMIT – OR CAP – ON EMISSIONS. COMPANIES RECEIVE SHARES OF THE OVERALL LIMIT. BUYING AND SELLING OF THOSE POLLUTION CREDITS ENSUES AS THE OVERALL CAP GRADUALLY TIGHTENS.

GREGOIRE: "It's getting us away from, you know, reducing pollution based on the command–and–control regulatory structure to one that is much more incentive market based, which shows a huge amount of promise."

GREGOIRE PREDICTS THIS AGREEMENT WILL BECOME AN ISSUE IN WASHINGTON'S HOTLY–CONTESTED GOVERNOR'S RACE. INDEED, HER REPUBLICAN OPPONENT SAYS CAP–AND–TRADE "WILL DRIVE UP ENERGY COSTS" FOR EVERY FAMILY AND BUSINESS. DINO ROSSI'S WEBSITE ALSO CLAIMS HIS OPPONENT IS HIDING SOME UNPLEASANT DETAILS UNTIL AFTER THE ELECTION.

AMONG INDUSTRY, OUTRIGHT OPPOSITION TO THE REGIONAL CLIMATE PACT IS RARE. BUT THERE IS WIDESPREAD WARINESS AT UTILITIES, BIG OIL, AND BUSINESS GROUPS. IN SALEM, ASSOCIATED OREGON INDUSTRIES POLICY DIRECTOR JOHN LEDGER SAYS BUSINESS VIEWS THIS AS A NEW TAX ON A FRAGILE ECONOMY. HE SAYS WORKING FOLKS COULD BECOME CASUALTIES IN THE COMPETITION FOR SHRINKING NUMBERS OF POLLUTION ALLOWANCES.

LEDGER: "You don't want to put the whole thing in an auction system because that essentially pits Oregon businesses against each other for the ability to operate. If you don't have enough capital to buy those credits under an auction system, then you simply go out of business and lay people off. It could be a very damaging system."

WRITTEN COMMENTS SUBMITTED BY MAJOR UTILITIES AND INDEPENDENT POWER PLANT OWNERS RAISE THE SPECTER OF "LARGE PRICE SHOCKS." BUT AN ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCHER BELIEVES THE COST OF NUDGING THE ECONOMY TO BECOME CLEANER AND GREENER WILL BE MINOR BY THE TIME IT REACHES THE CONSUMER. ERIC DE PLACE WORKS AT THE SIGHTLINE INSTITUTE IN SEATTLE.

DE PLACE: "Any price that was attached to this cap–and–trade program would be little more than noise when compared to the volatility that we've seen in the fossil fuel markets lately. So this is really a way to take control of energy prices, not to just ratchet up the prices."

THE REGIONAL CLIMATE PACT NOW GOES TO STATE LEGISLATURES FOR APPROVAL. A KEY QUESTION LEFT TO LAWMAKERS IS HOW MANY OF THESE PRECIOUS POLLUTION ALLOWANCES TO AUCTION OFF OR WHETHER TO MAKE THEM MOSTLY FREE TO INDUSTRY. ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP ARE ALSO PRESSURING LEGISLATURES TO MOVE UP THE DATE WHEN GASOLINE AND HOME HEATING FUELS ARE REGULATED AS GLOBAL WARMING POLLUTANTS. UNDER THIS REGIONAL PLAN, THAT'S NOT UNTIL 2015. ERIC DE PLACE OF THE SIGHTLINE THINK TANK PREDICTS A "POLITICAL PIG PILE."

I'M TOM BANSE REPORTING.

© Copyright 2008, KUOW