Capturing carbon a big topic this year

So many bills, so little time.

There is much to keep track of during a 20-day legislative session. Day two hasn't even started and a whole list of things have already happened.

To narrow the scope of my reports, I'll concentrate on one subject and attempt to understand it by the end of the session. Carbon sequestration is intriguing, not only because of the terminology. If I understand it correctly, its aim is to capture the carbon dioxide emitted by coal-burning plants and store it underground until we can figure out what to do with it. So a better term would be Carbon Dioxide Sequestration or, for short, CO2 Storage. We'll work on the wording as the Legislature decides what to do with the bills on the subject it has approved thus far.

Yesterday, the Wyoming House okayed introduction of a bill that would give the state Department of Environmental Quality authority over "carbon injection and sequestration." Another approved bill would give surface owners rights to "any subsurface space that could be used for carbon injection."

As the carbon-based life forms in the Legislature debate the topic, I'll capture more news at this site. Sequestration will be kept to a minimum.