Monday, February 18, 2008

MORNING COMMITTEES

SENATE TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC UTILITIES AND TECHNOLOGY will debate SB202. SB202 requires that beginning in 2024, 20 percent of the adjusted retail sales of electricity sold by Rocky Mountain Power and municipal utilities should come from "Qualifying electricity," including renewable energy resources if cost effective. SB202 requires four progress reports between 2010 and 2024 from utilities towards that goal. State agencies, including the divisions of air quality, water quality, Oil, Gas and Mining, and the Utah Geological Survey, would develop rules for carbon capture and geological storage of carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants. Also in committee is SB231. It creates an internal auditor for the Utah Transit Authority, to be appointed by the UTA Board. It also changes the Transportation Commission board representative, who represents highway issues, from a non-voting to a voting board member.

Utah Transit Authority fares will be discussed in the HOUSE BUSINESS AND LABOR COMMITTEE. HB298 would require public transit districts to charge no fare on red air quality days and half fare on yellow air quality days. The purpose is to attract more transit riders and improve air quality. One question is whether UTA could afford the fare breaks. Another is how well such plans in other cities have worked.

Financial and economic literacy education for high school kids would be available under SB61, to be heard in HOUSE EDUCATION. HB194 would appropriate $26 million for class size reduction. Schools could apply for grants to reduce class sizes to 18 students in kindergarten, 20 in first grade and 22 in second or third grade.

THIS AFTERNOON

Tax credits for cleaner cars will be discussed in SENATE REVENUE AND TAXATION. HB106 provides a $750 credit for new vehicles that meet air quality and EPA fuel economy guidelines. A credit of $2,500 for converting a vehicle to run on clean fuel such as natural gas, propane or electric, and an alternative fuel tax to help pay for road and highway maintenance are in HB106, too. Vehicles are the largest source of our air pollution.

HOUSE JUDICIARY will hear HB470, which would increase penalties for animal cruelty under some circumstances.

SB195, a proposal to prohibit spending leftover campaign funds for a candidate's personal use, will be before SENATE GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS AND POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS. Personal use means not related to political purposes or not fulfilling the duties of the office to which the candidate was elected.

For more information, visit your legislature — in person or online at www.le.utah.gov

WHAT HAPPENED FRIDAY

A bill requiring Utah utilities to generate 25% of Utah's energy from renewable sources by the year 2025 failed in the SENATE WORKFORCE SERVICES COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE on Friday. SB173 was designed to clean up Utah's air pollution and reduce carbon dioxide emissions that increase global warming by mandating the use of clean, renewable energy such as wind, solar, geothermal and biomass. Currently 95% of Utah electricity is generated from greenhouse-gas-producing fossil fuels. The bill set interim targets (for example 5% renewables by 2012) to encourage steady progress towards clean energy.

SB173 was sponsored by Scott McCoy. A similar bill, SB202 sponsored by Senator Curt Bramble and developed in cooperation with Rocky Mountain Power, will be discussed this morning in SENATE TRANSPORTATION PUBLIC UTILITIES AND TECHNOLOGY. It has a goal of 25% "qualified" source electricity by 2025, which could come in part from renewables if cost-effective. SB202 also calls for rule-making to regulate capturing the carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants and sequestering them underground. The plan is for carbon dioxide to be stored in rock formations where oil is extracted so coal-fired plants could operate and contribute less to global warming. This would allow more environmentally friendly use of Utah's coal. One drawback of this strategy is the time it will take to perfect the carbon storage technology compared to the speed with which windfarms can be put in place, according to Lester Brown of the Earth Policy Institute speaking on KCPW. He said that about one-third of planned coal-fired plants have been cancelled and Wall Street is beginning not to fund them. The cost of making them environmentally friendly may be prohibitive. Florida has banned more coal-fired plants and will build a large solar power facility instead.

The controversy over animal torture laws is continuing. Last week one of two animal cruelty bills before the legislature, SB117 sponsored by Senator Christensen, passed the SENATE by only one vote. Critics of SB117 preferred Senator Davis' SB102, "Henry's Law" because it made animal torture a felony on the first offense. SB117 makes it a felony only on the second offense if it occurs within five years. Now a third bill that would make pet torture a felony has surfaced. HB470 by Rep. Sheryl Allen will be debated in the HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTE this afternoon. The issue is an emotional one for many pet-owners.

Sandy Peck
League of Women Voters