Western governors gathered for a three-day conference this week to discuss key issues facing the region, from health care to water and wildfires. Mountain West reporter Emma VandenEinde joined us to discuss what they discussed.
The first day began with a speech by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan. Defending the work of the Biden administration, Regan said Biden has worked to provide billions of dollars to states through the bipartisan Infrastructure Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.
“Unlike before, we have some resources and now we can leverage our partnerships and relationships to make sure we’re all working for the people,” Regan said.
VandenEinde noted that while the governors definitely want to work together and agree there are opportunities, they still have some questions. They voiced their concerns at the panel discussion that followed, citing how outdated legislative language and red tape could stymie their ability to work together. VandenEinde said Regan is working to reduce this “bureaucratic headache.”
Along with panels on health care and artificial intelligence, VandenEinde shared that Gov. Jared Polis of Colorado presented the report from his Heat Beneath Our Feet initiative, which studies the deployment of geothermal energy technologies for generation of electricity and heating and cooling systems in the western states.
“Geothermal is a huge underutilized resource,” Polis said in his address. “It’s plentiful. It’s American-made. It’s safe. It’s domestic. It’s getting cheaper.”
VandenEinde also shared that among all the governors and leaders and sponsors in attendance, there were some young adults present as part of the Western Governors’ Leadership Institute, a program designed to promote leadership in the West, especially in the government sector. They were invited to share their thoughts at a panel discussion with governors on how to combat political apathy among the younger generation.
Josie Thomas, a delegate from the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs in Oregon, said one thing that would help is for elected officials to show an interest in their communities.
“Showing them that you’re more involved in the community … would really encourage young people to want to get involved,” he said.
The governors at this conference came from very different parts of the political spectrum, but they all sat in the same room and discussed these issues. VandenEinde said the bipartisanship was evident.
“A phrase that was mentioned by WGA Executive Director Jack Waldorf early on was that these politicians ‘check both their ego and party affiliation at the door’ when it comes to this conference, and the most of the people I talked to said that was true in the discussions they saw, that they didn’t yell at each other or cut each other off,” VandenEinde said.
He added that Polis summed up the sentiment and purpose of the conference very well.
“A wildfire doesn’t know a red county from a blue county or a red state from a blue state,” Polis said. “We may not agree on every part of every issue, but there is a substantial amount of overlap that gives the Western governors an opportunity to really lead.”
The next WGA conference is in November in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
