Govs. Freudenthal, Huntsman Elected to Lead WGA, Announce Long-term Plan for Addressing Energy, Climate Change (6/12/07)

Govs. Freudenthal, Huntsman Elected to Lead WGA,
Announce Long-term Plan for Addressing Energy, Climate Change

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
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June 12, 2007

Deadwood, S.D. - Gov. Dave Freudenthal ( Wyo.) took over the reins of the Western Governors' Association today as its new chairman, and Gov. Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. (Utah) will serve as Vice Chairman.

The governors wrapped up their Annual Meeting with a session on Coping with Climate Change. Freudenthal said in the coming years all of the governors will be grappling with issues related to climate change and attention needs to be placed on regional solutions.

Much of the WGA climate change focus should be centered on adaptive strategies, that is, determining how we can best preserve and protect our resources and economies, Freudenthal said. All of us - the country, states, industry and individuals - must change our behavior if we are to succeed in addressing climate change.

We tend to point to the other guy as the one who needs to change, but the fact is that we're all operating in a carbon-constrained environment. We need to work toward regional solutions that preserve the quality of life for our citizens, not just in one location, but throughout the West.

Gov. Janet Napolitano ( Ariz.) moderated today's session on climate change.

The focus of much of the effort on climate change issues in the last few years has been quite appropriately on reducing greenhouse gases, Napolitano said. Today we are looking beyond emission reduction efforts to prepare for a new world under a changing climate.

Freudenthal said he and Gov. Huntsman will place energy policy and climate change at the center of WGA's radar screen over the next two years.

Huntsman said the West is facing major challenges to provide clean energy from its vast resources of coal, solar and wind.

"We are on the cusp of a revolution, the likes of which we have not seen since the joining of the east and west by the transcontinental railway in 1869, which produced economic prosperity and moved people around the West," Huntsman said. If we do this right, our citizens are going to have a better quality of life, we're going to spawn new technologies and industries, and we're going to leave our most important belongings in better shape for the next generation.

Freudenthal will host WGA's 2008 Annual Meeting next June in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

All of the Annual Meeting sessions are available for viewing or listening on the WGA Web site at www.westgov.org.

The Western Governors' Association is an independent, nonprofit organization representing the governors of 19 states and three U.S.-Flag islands in the Pacific. Through their Association, the Western governors identify and address key policy and governance issues in natural resources, the environment, human services, economic development, international relations and public management.

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