House Republicans expended considerable energy Monday slicing and dicing a resolution aimed at helping local governments develop renewable power, interpreting it as an attack on Utah's oil and coal resources.
"I feel like Custer," said Senate Minority Leader Pat Jones, D-Holladay, after the committee spent nearly an hour dissecting her nonbinding resolution.
Jones' resolution encouraged the state Energy Program to craft model ordinances that local governments could use if they wanted to develop renewable-energy resources.
Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab, objected to the resolution, saying he supports renewable energy, but her resolution would favor renewables and disparages the state's existing producers by labeling them "expensive" and "finite."
"We have the least expensive energy in my area of any energy in the nation," Noel said. "When you talk about finite . . . we have 300 to 400 years of oil-shale reserves. We have billions of tons of coal. . . . I think that is a misleading statement there and really takes a shot at the existing power suppliers in the state."
Noel also questioned if the resolution would suggest a mandate for carbon reduction. Jones insisted there was nothing mandatory in the bill.
Jason Berry, director of the state Energy Program, said his office has helped local officials in the past. The resolution simply would encourage the office to be pro-active in molding sample ordinances, something it already has the authority to do.
Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. has made renewable-energy development one of his administration's top priorities.
The Senate adopted Jones' resolution earlier this month after a fight over whether nuclear power should be included as a renewable resource.
But the House committee dealt a serious blow to the resolution, voting 8-4 to table it. Bringing it back would be difficult, but it is not impossible, and Jones said she would try to address the committee's fears.
