Salt Lake rally urges greenhouse gas reduction

Citizens and elected leaders came together Saturday to spread information and work for a common goal: decreasing greenhouse gas emissions.

The Utah Sierra Club hosted a rally to gain public support for a resolution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Utah modeled after the Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty on climate change.

The Sierra Club wants Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. to sign the Utah Global Warming Initiative, which requires the state to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 7 percent lower than 1990 levels and incrementally decrease emissions thereafter.

"This is really critical for the survival of the world," said Kevin Cummins, a Sierra Club member and chemist.

The Sierra Club maintains that global warming is a problem especially in Utah.

Denying that global warming exists and that it is human-caused is like denying the sky is blue, said Tim Wagner a conservation coordinator for the Utah Sierra Club.

The resolution has been endorsed by Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, Park City Mayor Dana Williams and Moab Mayor Dave Sakrison.

Last week Wagner presented the resolution to Laura Nelson, the state's energy policy adviser. Nelson said she had not had time to discuss the program with Huntsman.

She did, however, note the governor's announcement in April of a policy to increase the state's energy efficiency by 20 percent by 2015.

The Sierra Club applauded that action.

"I think the governor is very aware of the global warming and climate change issue, and I think he wants to do the right thing, so we'll show him the support," Wagner said.

At the rally volunteers were dressed in shorts and snow goggles to illustrate what global warming could do to the snow and the economy.

"The thought of having global warming affect our ski industry in Utah is a very frightening thought. I hope people recognize and take steps to reduce this trend," said Sierra Club member Marc Heileson.

Many said Utahns should involve their elected officials, because, they said, officials are unaware of the problem and its consequences.

"My colleagues up in the state Legislature are clueless," said House minority leader Rep. Ralph Becker, D-Salt Lake. "Almost all elected officials . . . love hearing from their constituents. . . . Right now, more than ever, they want to listen to you."

The solution may be elusive, rally participants said, but it will come.

"We will solve it, we will make it work and this planet will last for a long time," said former Salt Lake City Mayor Ted Wilson

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