The chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., said Wednesday that a bill aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions would stifle Wyoming.

"The bad part is focused on us," Tucker Fagan told a luncheon crowd of the Casper Area Chamber of Commerce. "If there's a good part, it's probably focused on the big cities."

Fagan was critical of "cap-and-trade" provisions included in a bill authored by Reps. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and Edward Markey, D-Mass., that has already passed the U.S. House. It calls for a 17 percent reduction in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels by the year 2020. Under cap-and-trade, industries would trade emissions allowances under a system whereby total allowances would be strictly capped.

Fagan said energy-intensive industries like agriculture would suffer, as would the energy industry itself, and Wyoming stands to lose billions of dollars worth of economic output.

He said winners and losers among industries could be determined by the issuance of carbon credits There's also disagreement about how allowances should be divided among industries and among geographic regions.

Fagan said the carbon market also could result in shaky derivatives. "Didn't we have a problem in the housing market?" he said. "Wouldn't we create another one?"

Moreover, if other countries don't participate in reducing greenhouse gases, U.S. efforts would be largely wasted, Fagan said, noting that China already exceeds the U.S. in carbon emissions.

How much a cap-and-trade system would cost consumers is a matter of dispute. Fagan said it could cost individual households an extra $1,761 a year. An earlier estimate by the Congressional Budget Office put the figure at $175.

Some members of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have quit the organization over climate change. A group of large corporations -- including New Mexico utility PNM Resources, California utility PG&E, power generator Exelon and Nike -- denounced the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's opposition to climate legislation.

Fagan said a Republican alternative to the Waxman-Markey bill would focus on "more affordable, not more expensive energy," through such means as incentives for new energy technologies and the development of domestic energy supplies.

Business Editor Tom Mast can be reached at tom.mast@trib.com, or call 307-266-0574. Or check out his "Two Bits Worth" blog at tribtown.trib.com/TomMast/blog