Western governors: 'Obama, act quickly on energy'

The Associated Press
Published: November 27, 2008

SALT LAKE CITY: The governors of the largest energy-producing U.S. states are encouraging President-elect Barack Obama to quickly adopt a national energy policy that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The bipartisan Western Governors' Association has delivered Obama a four-page letter outlining what steps it believes his administration should take in his first 100 days in office to address the issue.
Among the recommendations are annually spending tens of billions of dollars to develop clean energy technology; establishing an 'aggressive' greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal to help stop global warming; and proposing a mandatory national system for reducing greenhouse gas emissions through "market-based mechanisms."
"We must not repeat the mistakes of the past," says the letter signed by association chairman, Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman of Utah, and vice chairman, Democratic Gov. Dem Brian Schweitzer of Montana. "The future of our nation depends on it."
Huntsman said Obama's administration should listen to the WGA because its 19 states are responsible for 94 percent of the country's onshore oil reserves, 66 percent of its coal reserves and 100 percent of its installed solar generation.

The WGA is encouraging Obama to improve mass transportation, bring more fuel-efficient and near-zero emission vehicles on to the market and develop renewable resources such as wind and solar energy.
Other proposals include establishing an oil import reduction goal; expanding the electric grid; and creating technology to have nearly no greenhouse gas emissions from new coal-fired electric plants in 10 years and from existing generation by 2030.
Obama has pledged support for an emissions cap-and-trade system and would establish annual targets to reduce emissions to their 1990 levels by 2020 and reduce them another 80 percent by 2050.
President George Bush has been criticized for failing to do enough to combat climate change, and Obama has promised quick action to address the issue.
"I promise you this: When I am president, any governor who's willing to promote clean energy will have a partner in the White House. Any company that's willing to invest in clean energy will have an ally in Washington. And any nation that's willing to join the cause of combatting climate change will have an ally in the United States of America," Obama said in a video message to governors and others attending a Los Angeles summit on the issue last week.
On Nov. 21, Huntsman and Schweitzer met with John Podesta, co-chairman of Obama's transition team, in Washington, D.C., to promote the WGA proposal.