It would be unconscionable and irresponsible of lawmakers to hinder the work of the Department of Environmental Quality and the governor's office to reduce Utah's emissions to 2005 levels by 2020. That goal can be reasonably accomplished and is just the minimum reduction necessary to make any progress against climate change, according to standards set by the multistate Western Climate Initiative.

Among the seven Western states that participate in the climate initiative, Utah's goal is less aggressive than all but two states, New Mexico and Montana. Other states, such as California, Washington and Oregon, are working to reduce their emissions to 1990 levels.

Nevertheless, Rep. Roger Barrus, R-Centerville, embraces the view of too many of his colleagues in the Utah Legislature who don't agree with the governor or the Western states alliance. Barrus says lawmakers would rather focus on "technology solutions" to make coal and oil "cleaner" and let the market address the problem of climate change.

The trouble with that approach is that the Earth doesn't have time to wait and see whether the market will somehow solve the looming disasters of global warming - the droughts, heat waves, wildfires and dwindling water that are already beginning to affect the West. Especially when "the market" as it now works includes government subsidies for coal and oil production and little encouragement for the development of renewable energy sources, including solar, geothermal and wind.

Each Utah resident puts an average of about 27 metric tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere each year. That's about 2 metric tons more than other Americans, and that's because of our reliance on coal-fired power plants, our love of big, gas-guzzling vehicles and our increasing number of residents who have tended to buy big houses in suburbs and rely on those inefficient vehicles to get around.

The time is long past when legislators could rationalize their head-in-the-sand attitude toward the reality of climate change. States in the Western Climate Initiative are on track to end overconsuming and underconserving. Utah lawmakers should get on board.