News Release
Governor Attends WGA Environmental Summit
4/26/2002
Meta Boyer
406-444-5665
meboyer@state.mt.us
The summit, cosponsored by the Western Governors' Association and White House Council on Environmental Quality, is promoting the use of the Enlibra principles for environmental management. Those principles call for greater participation and collaboration in decision-making, focusing on outcomes rather than just programs, and recognizing the need for a variety of tools beyond regulation that will improve environmental management. A copy of the recommendations will be available on the WGA Web site at www.westgov.org.
"We have an incredible opportunity as Governors to provide key input and advice directly to the federal level with respect to the environmental issues of most importance to Montana. This was a very productive meeting with good content and good comments from participatants," said Governor Judy Martz, who also addressed the importance of using Enlibra principles to use sound science to bring about environmentally sound use of our resource base.
"Use of the Enlibra principles provide a unique opportunity in Montana to address the natural resource issues we are working to solve in this state," said Governor Martz. "Today's discussion items, including species conservation while assisting landowners, water resource use, reducing wildland fire risks and coal bed methane development, will have a direct impact on Montana families. We must provide balance in our discussion of these issues to ensure benefits for families, education and the environment."
As a part of today's sessions, Governor Martz co-hosted a discussion on coal bed methane along with Bureau of Land Management Director Kathleen Clarke.
On Thursday, participants heard from CEQ Chairman Jim Connaughton, Secretary of Interior Gale Norton and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christie Whitman.
Connaughton told Summit participants that his office was created at the same time as the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and "CEQ will work on numerous collaborative approaches to improve our environmental stewardship in line with the eight Enlibra principles." As an example, he said NEPA should be a "living process."
Fred Krupp, Executive Director of Environmental Defense, offered a challenge to governmental leaders and summit participants to "act sooner, rather than later" in making environmental progress and suggested a three-pronged approach. He said when the potential loss of natural resources is at stake to remember they cannot be recovered. "Second, banish the trickster of polarization...and third, open the frontiers of innovation. Not only technology, but public policy needs innovation," Krupp said.
During a luncheon address, Whitman signed a proposed revision to the agency's Regional Haze Rule to incorporate a plan developed by the Western Regional Air Partnership to reduce sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions from large industrial sources in the West. The proposed program will use voluntary measures to reduce industrial SO2 emissions by more than 40 percent from 1990 levels by the year 2018. The proposal includes a backstop market-trading program, if the voluntary program is unable to reach targeted reductions.
After an introduction by Governor Judy Martz, Secretary Norton concluded the day's events with a dinner speech. She addressed many of the topics Summit participants are exploring, including efforts to reduce hazardous fuels to reduce fire risks, on-the-ground conservation efforts by "citizen conservationists", and President Bush's proposal to provide $100 million in grants under his Cooperative Conservation Initiative.
"Whether we call the concept cooperative conservation, or new environmentalism, or Enlibra - we are all recognizing that we can accomplish more through cooperation than conflict," Norton said.
The Summit concluded today at noon after policy-makers receive recommendations for making progress on several fronts. Breakout sessions included:
* species conservation while assisting landowners in maintaining working landscapes;
* meeting growing and competing demands for water resources;
* expanding the use of renewable energy resources;
* developing a protocol for siting and permitting interstate energy transmission;
* reducing wildland fire risks to communities and the environment while restoring forest ecosystem health;
* industrial environmental innovation: value for the community, globe and bottom line;
* assessing Western perspectives on multi-pollutant proposals for utilities and carbon dioxide strategies;
* successful partnerships and new tools for land conservation; and
* coal bed methane development.
While at the conference, Governor Martz also discussed Montana's bison, forest health and snowmobiles issues and challenges with Interior Secretary Norton.
The Western Governors' Association is an independent, nonprofit organization representing the governors of 18 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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