A bill introduced in the Utah State Legislature is aiming to cut carbon emissions in northern Utah by half this year.
House Bill 220 is the “largest air quality bill that’s ever been introduced in the Utah legislature” according to Eliza Cowie with the environmental group O2 Utah. Sponsored by Rep. Andrew Stoddard, the bill is designed to cut carbon emissions by 50% through the implementation of better building standards, incentives for drivers to use cleaner fuel cars, a push for more clean emissions rail projects, and the banning of wood-burning stoves.
Cowie says that due to poor air quality days, our economy is losing $2 billion a year, Utahns are losing an average of 2 years of life, and miscarriage rates are up by 16%. She and O2 Utah are pushing for the bill’s passage to help better these statistics.
Sen. Kirk Cullimore, who ran a similar bill last year, is considering co-sponsoring HB220 but he says that implementing these goals will take time. Cullimore says that his hopes are for pieces of the bill to be pared down so that it can be passable.
According to Cullimore, air quality usually ranks as one of the top three issues people think the legislature should address.
