Utah won't join regional cap-and-trade program in 2012

Utah will miss the start of a cap-and-trade program planned for the western U.S. and parts of Canada in 2012, according to a state official.

"We are not in a position to be able to begin implementing a cap-and-trade program in 2012," Dianne Nielson, energy adviser to Republican Gov. Gary Herbert, said in a telephone interview Friday. Nielson declined to say whether Utah might join the program, organized under the Western Climate Initiative, at a later date.

The initiative, made up of Arizona, California, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec, aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions from its members' economies 15 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. In February, Arizona said it wouldn't take part in the program.

Last year, the U.S. House narrowly passed legislation that would suspend regional cap-and-trade programs and create a national carbon market that aims for a 17 percent cut by 2020. The legislation later stalled and a group of senators, led by Massachusetts Democrat John Kerry, plans to unveil a revamped proposal next week with hopes that Congress will pass it this year.

While missing the start of the Western cap-and-trade program, Utah will remain a member of the regional climate program and work on "complementary policies," including measures to improve energy efficiency and boost renewable electricity generation, Nielson said.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, also said her state would remain a member of the regional climate initiative to work on energy efficiency and renewable power programs.