Reported by Staff

Western Energy and Environment Opportunities, and Action Focus of Final Report

CHEYENNE -  The final report of the Western States Energy & Environment Symposium  — held last October in Jackson Hole - targets key actions and consensus among states to benefit energy production, transmission and environmental policy in the West, organizers have announced.

The meeting was the first ever gathering of state legislators from throughout the west and we were in attendance to report on the action. While general media reporting cited the lack of any general agreement emerging from the 3-day event, we thought what transpired was a good first step in beginning to develop inter-state energy and environmental strategies for The West.

The Report, prepared by the Meridian Institute and the WSEES Steering Committee, was released Friday.  It can be found HERE.

WSEES Steering Committee Chairman Wyoming Representative Tom Lubnau said legislators of the 14 states have been working cooperatively to prepare the recommendations since the October symposium in Jackson.  Nearly 250 participants convened for the symposium, including state legislators from 14 Western states and representatives from local and federal government, private industry, non-governmental organizations, and academic institutions.

“The Symposium was really only the beginning for developing ideas and actions that collectively western states think will benefit our energy economies,” Lubnau said.  “This Report will help put a regional approach to Western energy and environmental solutions into action, but the symposium and the report is a mid-point.  We will work now to put these consensus actions in to operation.”

“The WSEES report shows that the Western states can, through sharing ideas, opportunities and concerns, find agreement on a number of pro-active actions to benefit their states and really lead on energy policy,” said John Ehrmann, Senior Partner of Meridian Institute.

The 14 Western states who participated in the WSEES are Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming.

State Senator John Schiffer said the upcoming sessions of legislatures across will have a lot to say on energy policy.  The Council of State Governments West is eager to take up the action and solutions as a result of this Symposium and going forward.

“CSG-West wants to make this report a centerpiece of their environment and natural resources committee agenda,” Schiffer said.

Wyoming Speaker of the House Colin Simpson said, “Western states can and must lead on energy and environmental solutions.  State solutions drive innovation and action and the challenges ahead will not be solved exclusively by the Federal government.”

“We simply cannot let critical and complex decisions be made without input and the influence from the Western States and Western Legislatures, nor can we sit back and hope energy policy fixes itself,” Simpson said.