Economic Fears Put Pressure on Western Climate Initiative

With the economy now in crisis, an industry effort to derail the Western Climate Initiative appears to be making some inroads.

In the past few weeks, legislators in three of the WCI's seven partner states – Arizona, Washington and Utah – have taken actions that threaten to undermine the initiative's goal of reducing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions to 15% below 2005 levels by 2020.

So far, each state’s governor is still committed to remaining in the initiative, leaving it intact for now, but the pressure is on.

A glance at the WCI's loudest detractor, the Western Business Roundtable, shows where that pressure is coming from. The roundtable's members include Arch Coal, Peabody Coal, Shell Oil and the Western Fuels Association. Their organization, run by a Colorado-based public relations and lobbying firm, recently sent out a 157-page report accompanied by a statement that declared the WCI plan "could prolong recession" and "chase away tens of billion of dollars in high-tech investment."

Derek Walker, Director of the Climate Initiative for the Environmental Defense Fund, says polluting industries that had gotten used to doing as they pleased under the Bush administration are getting scared:

“What you’re seeing are the opposition who are still caught in the Bush administration mindset of ‘Don’t do anything.’ They are feeling more and more like their chance to block climate action is slipping though their hands. It’s like a hail Mary at the end of the first half trying to score a touchdown.”

Arizona is one WCI member that could be vulnerable. In January, Gov. Janet Napolitano resigned to become U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, and Arizona Secretary of State Jan Brewer took the reins. Less than two months later, Republicans got a bill through the House Environment Committee intended to bar any state officials other than the governor and legislature from continuing talks with the WCI.

Brewer, through spokesperson Paul Senseman, says, “We’ve decided to remain members of WCI to monitor of the process and see what proceeds with discussions.”

But Brewer’s continued commitment carries a wait-and-see caveat. Senseman said:

"Arizona intends to see what cap and trade proposals may be presented at WCI and to decide whether or not they are workable solutions or if they aren’t realistic expectations that aren’t going to be met.”

In Utah, the House of Representatives adopted a non-binding resolution last month that presses Gov. Jon Huntsman, Jr., to back out of the initiative.

Huntsman, a well-respected Republican, has said he is still committed to the plan. EDF’s Walker notes that the resolution itself can't affect Utah’s participation in WCI: “In Utah, the resolution was not picked up by the Senate and it has no force of law. It serves a rhetorical function as an expression of defiance from the House.”

In Washington state, Gov. Chris Gregoire's plan for reducing the state’s carbon emissions is also hitting some rough patches in the legislature. One Senate committee gutted the plan by making emissions reductions voluntary rather than mandatory.

Janice Adair, special assistant to the director of the Department of Ecology and United States co-chair of the WCI, says negotiations with lawmakers over the governor’s proposal are still ongoing.

Whatever the final legislation looks like, Adair says, Washington's governor has three objectives: “They are to continue our efforts to reduce greenhouse gases, to keep us at the WCI table and to keep our voice at the federal table, which we think we get by being part of WCI.”

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