Standoff

The spirit of legislative and regulatory brinksmanship that has engulfed Washington, D.C. and Sacramento is rearing its ugly head in energy policy, as well.

Yesterday, a business group in Colorado called the "Western Business Roundtable" slammed the Western Climate Initiative's plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The WCI, which consists of seven Western States and four Canadian Provinces put forth its cam & trade plan in September.

According to Margot Roosevelt in the Los Angeles Times:

"The Western Climate Initiative, touted as a model for national global warming legislation, will strain the region's electricity grid and prolong the economic recession, a business group asserted Tuesday.

The initiative was launched in September by seven Western governors, including California's Arnold Schwarzenegger, and four Canadian provincial premiers. It seeks to slash regional greenhouse gas emissions by about 15% below 2005 levels in the next 12 years.

But a report commissioned by the Colorado-based Western Business Roundtable asserted that the initiative would "impose significant new costs on consumers and retard job creation in the Western U.S. over the coming decade" but would offer "no scientifically measurable benefit in terms of reduced global climate temperatures as far out as the year 2100."

If the partisan wrangling that we have seen at the state and federal level are any indication of the new political reality in this country, getting anything substantial accomplished could be nothing more than a pipe dream...

Business group condemns climate initiative on economic grounds [Los Angeles Times]