While the climate-focused cap-and-trade program is still being hashed
out in the Senate, Minnesota's plan to cut carbon emissions by adding a
fee for every ton of carbon dioxide produced is getting serious
pushback from our neighbors in North Dakota.
North Dakota's attorney general says the state plans to sue Minnesota over the carbon tax proposal, which is set to begin in 2012.
According to the
Bismarck Tribune:
At issue is a measure by Minnesota’s Public Utilities Commission to add a fee of between $4 and $34 per ton of carbon dioxide to the cost of electrical generation starting in 2012. The majority of electricity in North Dakota is generated by coal-fired power plants, which emit a large amount of carbon relative to other fuels sources. North Dakota officials argue that the move would place an unfair tax on electricity from the state and discourage its use by Minnesota utilities.
Proponents of the tax say North Dakota is sitting on a gold mine of wind power, and the tax is an incentive to cut carbon emissions and reduce climate change. Companies from all over the world have started wind power projects in North Dakota, which has been dubbed the
"Saudi Arabia of wind."Despite its access to renewable resources, North Dakota still ranks 14th in country for contaminated coal waste, with
3,001,100 tons of coal waste reported to the U.S. Energy and Information Administration in 2005.