High and Dry 

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• Laura Seitz/Pool Photo
• Utah Gov. Spencer Cox takes questions from reporters at PBS Utah on Thursday, April 21, 2022.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox declared a state of emergency on Thursday in response to water shortages.

Cox said that while recent rain storms and cold temperatures have improved some conditions for the spring runoff season, the state's reservoirs are are at 59% of full capacity and water customers should brace for use restrictions by late May or early June.

"There’s no doubt that we’re going to have a difficult water year ahead," Cox said.

But Cox was also optimistic about the ability and willingness of Utahns to face the challenges of conservation. Voluntary water reductions by residents exceeded expectations last year, he said, and a package of new legislation affecting water rights, drought-resistant landscaping and hundreds of millions of dollars in sustainability investment is set to take affect in the coming months.

"There has been a real paradigm shift," Cox said. "It's probably later than it should have been—I’ll be the first to admit that— but I’m so glad that we got here."

Cox's comments came during his monthly press conference at PBS Utah, where he spent nearly an hour taking questions from reporters. In addition to the ongoing drought—estimated to be the worst the region has seen in a millennium—the governor emphasized the ongoing impacts of inflation on Utahn's wallets.

He noted that Utah's economy continues to thrive under record-high inflation rates, with the state also experiencing record-low unemployment. And he acknowledged the impact of factors like the Coronavirus pandemic, global supply logjams and Russia's invasion of Ukraine on the price of goods and services. But he also laid much of the blame at the feet of the Biden Administration and federal monetary policy.

"Utahns are really feeling the pinch, especially at the gas pump," he said.

Cox suggested one area of inflation relief could come in the form of free public transit fares, building on the success of the recent Free Fare February pilot, which saw the Utah Transit Authority drop fares systemwide during the month of February.

Cox said subsidizing free-fare transit—for UTA and other regional transit districts—for three to six months would make it easier for Utahns to travel without a car, saving themselves money on gas while also helping to bring down the costs at the pump by easing demand. And the free fare pilot—which likely would require a special session of the Legislature—would have the added benefit of reducing tailpipe emissions.

Asked about the potential of making UTA a "Free Fare Forever" service, Cox responded that the idea is "worth exploring."

"We were all pleasantly surprised," he said of Free Fare February. "Doing something like this [extended pilot] would give us even more data to study."

Cox was also complimentary of the state's medical cannabis program, which has grown to include more than 47,000 patients in the two years since voters approved Proposition 2 and kicked off the state's decriminalization experiment.

He said he did not personally celebrate 420, the unofficial marijuana holiday on April 20, nor does he "partake" cannabis. But he added that he has toured the growing and production facilities and spoken with both doctors and patients and heard largely positive feedback.

"As issues rise up, we’ll continue to fix those," Cox said. "But again, I think we’re doing it the right way and providing relief for those who need it, through the care of a doctor, and not opening the floodgates in a way that is dangerous."

But Cox was sharply critical of federal policies around energy development and the addition of so-called ESG scores (environmental, social and governance) to investment ratings. Major investment firms and ratings agencies—most notably S&P Global—use such scores to account for long-term financial risks that derive from less-quantifiable metrics, such as contribution to climate change or exploitative hiring and management practices. Conservatives like Cox, Utah Sen. Mitt Romney and Utah Treasurer Marlo Oaks, however, argue that the scores inappropriately inject political subjectivity in what should be a black-and-white financial equation.

"I think it’s a mistake that we continue to move political issues into every arena of our lives and every arena of our existence," Cox said.

Cox bristled at a question that asked him to weigh increased fossil fuel production—and specifically extraction leases on public lands—against Utah's drought and the impact of carbon emissions on climate change. He said he was tired of being presented with false choices and that tying the hands of domestic energy production only serves to push the market into the hands of places like Russia and Saudi Arabia where the environment and human rights are not accounted for at all.

He also suggested that a person starving today because they can't afford a loaf of bread is a higher priority than the harms of climate change down the road.

"Let’s do the smart thing right now while we are also innovating our way out of this crisis," Cox said. "If there is one person in this world that believes we are going to regulate our way out of climate change, they’re fooling themselves."

Asked about the controversy surrounding the release of Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee's text messages to Mark Meadows—which showed Lee intimately involved with a dishonest scheme to keep former president Donald Trump in power—Cox said he couldn't speak to Lee's "mindset at the time."

"He did vote to certify the election when many others did not," Cox said.

Cox also said that, as the former head of Utah's elections office, he had looked into the claims of widespread voter fraud and found them to be meritless. (Lee's texts do not suggest a sincere belief in Trump's fraud claims, but instead show him seeking talking points and direction on how to make a persuasive argument for an unprecedented rejection of the Electoral College vote).

"I didn’t see anything that would have allowed me to call into question the legitimacy of that election," Cox said.

Cox also said that he is unbothered by recent comments from Fox News pundit Tucker Carlson and Utah GOP chairman Carson Jorgensen, who criticized Cox's decision to veto a transgender athlete ban and to share his preferred pronouns during a random Zoom Q&A with students that recently made the rounds of the far-right internet.

"I try to do the right thing for the right reasons, regardless of the consequences," Cox said. "If you’re just governing to keep your poll numbers up, you’re not leading."

He said he intends to seek reelection in 2024.

"We’re trying to change state government in big ways—to make government much more responsive to the people, to make government more efficient, to make government more logical—and we’re getting there," Cox said. "We are well on our way and I would love the opportunity to finish the job."

Click here to watch the full PBS Utah press conference.