Is America on the right path to combat climate change? One member of a United Nations group following the issue told Utah lawmakers on Wednesday that the country could be headed toward a potentially dangerous slippery slope.

Addressing the Legislature's Public Utilities and Technology Committee, U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change member Tom Tripp said that questions surrounding the overall impact of so-called global warming suggest that more research is warranted before major — and potentially costly — policy changes are implemented.

"There is some uncertainty concerning global warming, particularly regarding what the overall catastrophic potential would be," he said. "The natural variability of weather shows that we are not on the cusp of impending disaster."

Tripp testified that scientific evidence suggesting that the world's climate is being adversely affected by human activity in a major way is insufficient at this point. He said it would be a big mistake for the U.S. government to overreact by creating sweeping, heavy-handed carbon laws.

"We're contemplating legislation in this country that has very far-reaching implications as far as cost to individuals and social engineering and growth of federal government," he told the Deseret News. "I think we have time to discuss this openly and completely and come to a right solution rather than a hurried solution."

Currently, the U.S. Senate is reviewing the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, also known as the Waxman-Markey Bill. The measure would mitigate the effects of ongoing greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels through the development of a federally run cap-and-trade program that would allow governments and other entities to purchase and sell carbon offsets on the regulated open market. Some critics have expressed concerns about how well such a program would work when put into practice.

One carbon offset would represent the reduction of one metric ton of carbon dioxide, or its equivalent in other emissions.

Tripp commented that the effects of proposed federal legislation could include the loss of American jobs to nations like China and India, higher electricity rates to consumers and an unintended increase in the amount of global greenhouse gas emissions from developing countries like the aforementioned India and China.

"It may exacerbate a problem (the federal government is) trying to solve," he said. "They're reaching into areas that are unnecessary for climate protection."

From a public policy standpoint, Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab and co-chairman of the committee, said further investigation into the impacts of proposals like the Waxman-Markey Bill is absolutely warranted before decisions are made.

"Anything to do with energy use, we want to know how it's going to impact our constituents," he said. "It's very, very important that we get all sides of this issue. These are huge, huge policy decisions that could impact our economy."

e-mail: jlee@desnews.com