Energy and Environment

The North Dakota Chamber supports a common sense approach to environmental legislation which will reduce carbon dioxide emissions without adversely affecting energy costs and will not result in the loss of jobs or negatively impact the state's economy. Several key components of any environmental law/regulation must be present to receive support from the ND Chamber:

• There must be binding Treaties with other countries emitting large amounts of carbon before any mandatory reductions are imposed on our own businesses and citizens;
• It must take a holistic approach to reducing carbon dioxide emissions rather than targeting specific industries;
• The benefit received from enacting environmental legislation must be commensurate with the cost of compliance;
• Revenue generated must be utilized to effectively and efficiently implement research and demonstration projects to reduce emissions, and not be diverted to unrelated government programs; and
• The timeframe for reductions must be realistic and in accordance with technology in its current state and include a reasonable time frame for development of new technologies.