SALT LAKE CITY — A bill introduced in the Utah State Legislature has an ambitious goal of cutting carbon emissions along the Wasatch Front by 50% by 2030.
House Bill 220 is the "largest air quality bill that’s ever been introduced in the Utah legislature," said Eliza Cowie with the environmental group O2 Utah.
HB220, sponsored by Rep. Andrew Stoddard, D-Sandy, seeks to achieve the emissions reduction goal by implementing better building standards, offering incentives for cleaner fuel cars, banning wood-burning stoves, and pushing for clean emissions rail projects.
"What I wanted was to put it all out there. This is my wish list," he told FOX 13 News. "Let’s chip away at it and see what we can do."
O2 Utah is pushing for the bill's passage.
"I think right now you can look outside and see the inversion this week. It’s pretty bad," said Cowie. "Our economy is losing $2 billion a year, Utahns on average are losing 2 years of life and miscarriage rates are up 16% [due to] poor air quality days. There’s never a more pressing time to get this on the right track."
But while the bill may have support, implementing these goals could take time and be costly. Sen. Kirk Cullimore, R-Sandy, who ran a similar bill last year and is considering co-sponsoring HB220, said the initiatives in the bill may need to be prioritized to get it passed.
"Putting it all into one bill just makes it practically a little difficult because it’s too much to work with. My hope is Rep. Stoddard can find pieces of the bill that can be pared down and actually work on that so we can get a passable bill," he said.
Sen. Cullimore, who also serves in Senate leadership, said he would like to see some of those air quality components pass.
"Air quality usually ranks as one of the top three issues that people think the legislature should address," he said.
One thing might be added to the bill: reacting to a study that claims U.S. Magnesium is responsible for as much as 25% of pollutants along the Wasatch Front, Rep. Stoddard said he was aware of some legislation being contemplated.
"If not, we are looking to amend the bill," he told FOX 13 News.
The Utah State Legislature has a bipartisan Clean Air Caucus which is pushing a number of air-quality friendly bills. Senate President J. Stuart Adams, R-Layton, said Wednesday that the concept of a "free fare" transit system for a year was still being discussed, though his budget chief said there were a number of competing priorities for funding.
Sen. Adams said he wanted to see transit options expanded.
"I actually think your ridership will go up on public transit when it’s actually competes with the automobile. We’ve got a ways to go before it happens. We’ve got a lot of work to do," he said.
