By BROCK VERGAKIS
Associated Press Writer
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Utah Gov. Gary Herbert and U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch plan to discuss legislation that calls for the nation's first limits on pollution linked to global warming.
At a forum scheduled for Thursday in a state auditorium, Herbert and Hatch plan to talk about how cap and trade legislation that's pending in Congress would affect energy prices in Utah.
Despite widespread acceptance in the worldwide scientific community and in the U.S. government, Herbert has used his first month in office to question whether humans have played a role in global climate change, saying he's not convinced of the science behind the theory.
Passing any laws to address climate change may be premature and could hamper the economy, he said.
"It's no secret he has some concerns with cap and trade in theory," said Herbert's spokeswoman, Angie Welling.
Welling said Herbert will give a brief presentation at the forum but won't stay long because of other commitments.
Herbert is also planning what he says will be the first "legitimate" debate on humans' role in global warming later this fall.
Among those invited to participate are the Utah Petroleum Association. Petroleum companies are some of Herbert's largest campaign contributors.
Hatch believes the costs of a cap and trade agreement outweigh its benefits. His spokeswoman Heather Barney said supporters of the federal legislation weren't invited attend.
She said although there will be a question and answer session for the public, the primary goal of the forum is to give a report on the bill's effects.
The legislation Herbert and Hatch plan to discuss has been approved by the House and is expected to be taken up in the Senate later this year. It would require carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions be cut by 17 percent over the next 11 years and by 83 percent by mid-century.
Opponents of the bill say such a shift would lead to soaring energy costs, especially for electricity.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration has said the proposed legislation would boost electricity prices by about 20 percent by 2030, although most of the increases wouldn't begin until after 2020.
The climate bill would boost the annual energy costs for a typical household by an average of $83, according to the EIA report, with prices escalating the greatest after 2020 when household electricity costs were projected to be $142 higher than otherwise projected. A typical family would pay $583 more for electricity in 2030.
The report said the bill also would add 20 cents a gallon to the cost of gasoline in 2020 and 35 cents a gallon in 2030.
The EIA's analysis says the ability to contain the cost to consumers depends largely on whether the country is successful in a "large scale" expansion of nuclear power and renewable energy sources that do not emit greenhouse gases and the deployment of carbon-capture technology at coal plants.
In Washington, most Republicans are against the measure because they say it will destroy jobs in the midst of a recession while burdening consumers with a new tax in the form of higher energy costs.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
