Cspan. Org. Cspan is your unfiltered view of government. We are funded by these Television Companies and more including wow. The world has changed. Today a fast reliable Internet Connection is something no one can live without. Wow is there with our customers with speed, reliability, value and choice. No more than ever it starts with great internet. Wow supports cspan as a Public Service along with these other Television Providers giving you a front row seat to democrac the administrator of the Environmental Protection agency, michael regan, spoke about the biden administrations Environmental Policy Initiative at the western governors Associations Annual meeting in boulder, colorado. Topics include collaboration between federal and State Governments, water security and wildfires. Welcome to the 2023 western Governors Association annual meeting in beautiful boulder, colorado. My name is jack walder and i have the honor and privilege of serving as the executive director. If it is your first annual meeting, it is mind too so we will figure it out together. If you have been to an annual meeting before, welcome back and perhaps you could give us these a few pointers. It is wonderful to have so many friends of the west convened at the famed older theater. Over the years the magnificent theater has served as an entertainment venue in the heart of boulder captivating audiences with silent films, uppers, musicals and hosted a number of notable figures such as Franklin Delano roosevelt in 1920 and a johnny cash performance in 1997. Now we can proudly say wga can be added to the list. Our beautiful host city is as special and unique as any western city. Home to the university of colorado and its iconic mascot. Boulder is best known for being eight analogy hub, its flavorful variety of teas and numerous outdoor activities. As you probably noticed, boulder rights are casually known for their outdoor attire. Their enthusiasm for their outdoors is only matched by a subaru, and dedicated bike lanes. Dont be surprised if the person who served her Morning Coffee has two phds. One an Aerospace Engineer and the other in buddhist studies. Now only not only can you get interesting couple copy but have an interesting conversation. Brown, there is a Bipartisan Organization whose sole purpose is to serve as an instrument for the governors for bipartisan policy development and collective action on issues of critical importance to western states. Wga is built on the collective action and bipartisan leadership of our governors that they adhere to in order to make meaningful and lasting change. As westerners, we are grateful for their leadership and i want to personally thank our governors for being here this week as they lead us in discussing important topics. We will cover issues in Outdoor Recreation and advancing the use of water retention. While representing just a snapshot on numerous issues affecting the west, we look forward to hearing from our panel of experts as they identify common challenges as well as offer Pragmatic Solutions to these issues here. We will hear from a range of officials of ring their insights and perspectives on the additional issues that affect the citizens of our region. We look forward to a robust conversation between our governors and the speakers over the next several days. Wga does not exist without the bipartisan support and leadership of the governors as i mentioned. We have strong dedicated group of governors who checked out their egos and Party Affiliation at the door when youre at wga. Without this, we would not be who we are and we could not be what we do. We remain grateful. As an organization, wga has many interconnected parts. Hes relying on one another to advance the governor priorities. It does not function without the tireless work and support of the governors staff members. And for the countless requested we throw it away. And for the numerous partner organizations, stakeholders and esteemed members and organizations that make up our sponsor community, your support enables the countless nativities and events that we put on on behalf of the governors over the course of the year and we are extremely grateful for you and your continued partnership. I also want to take a moment to acknowledge and recognize the fantastic wgs debt that i have had the pleasure of working with on a daily basis. The new guy in the office, they welcomed the wga family with open arms and have been nothing short of amazing and their professionalism and enthusiasm and devotion to service and advancing western priorities is truly inspiring. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. I want to acknowledge my predecessor. Major hand. Raise your hand. While jim transitioned from his role this past january, he still serves the western governors foundation. Thankfully he remains a key member of the wga family. He proudly and successfully led the wga. The organization accomplished critical policy victories while expanding its regional influence. Suffice to say, the wga would not be in as strong a position as it is today without his leadership and adhering to the core mission of the organization. Those are some big boost to fill. Thank you for that. As someone told me this past january when i took over just dont screw it up, jack. No pressure, thank you for that. You know who you are. Please join me in recognizing a forever friend of the west. The great jim ochs perry. [applause] and now, please allow me the honor of introducing our distinguished western governors. As a physician, dr. Josh green arrived and made this his home. Practicing medicine in a rural, underserved area here. He saw the challenges facing many residents including limited access to health care, Affordable Housing and high rates of Mental Illness and addiction. As a member of the community, he helped to you. Serving in both the statehouse representatives and the state senate, dr. Green was instrumental in expanding Health Care Coverage for children with autism, advancing Cancer Research effort and creating a statewide Trauma Health care system. He continued to utilize his medical expertise. Governor green has worked tirelessly in six months in office to address Health Disparities among hawaiians while expanding access to afford housing across the state and other critical issues. It is an honor to welcome and introduce the honorable josh green. A thirdgeneration rancher knows the value of hard work and has taken what he has learned on the ranch and carry that throughout his professional clinical career. Having spent a few days with the governor on the annual trail ride, i witnessed firsthand his impressive horse riding skills but also what struck me most was his love for the land and his strong desire to ensure future idahoans reap the benefit of conservation policies and sometimes you have to ask jim about his stories on this ride and im sure the governor would be the better storyteller. We will save that for another time. Last year, while serving as chair, governor little oversaw the work in Communities Initiative which examined the relationship between Natural Resources and the communitys that depend on them. While shining a light on the unique challenges facing the Rural Communities related to workforce and economic vitality. While not exquisitely western concern, it is western challenge. Help equip our western states with the tools and resources needed to address this evolving regional challenge. First elected in 2018 and we elected to second term last november. He has navigated the idaho state legislature. I will let him handle the specifics on that. I am proud to introduce idahos 33rd governor. Born into a proud military family, governor jewell and barta lived around the world until his father was stationed at the air force base just outside las vegas. After attending university in nevada, the governor served in the National Guard before joining the Police Department where he served 26 years and held nearly every position in the department as he climbed the ranks. He was then elected twice to nevadas largest county in 2014. As sheriff, he oversaw 1. 3 billion while being refundable for nearly 6000 employees to ensure the safety of the countys residents while protecting the tens of millions of visitors who flocked to las vegas on an annual basis. Not a small task. Sworn in as governor in january of this year, evelyn barto continues to embody the protect and serve motto from his Law Enforcement experience and applied to his role as governor. During his first legislative session as governor, he supported legislation designed to make schools safer while reforming and streamlining services. His leadership saw historic levels of funding for education for both k12 and higher ed and helps to bolster the states workforce and help build more capacity in the state through supporting those who suffer from Mental Illness. Please welcome the 31st governor of the great state of nevada. Joe lombardo. Growing up on a ranch, mark gordon learned the value of hard work, integrity and the importance of working together from a young age as he leaves the state of wyoming with those values in mind. He understood having deeply held beliefs and desire to achieve consensus arent mutuallys list of ideals. Not only does the governor possess tools like grit, perseverance, toughness, he also help support and maintain his familys cattle ranch. He also has a Strong Financial acumen that has allowed him to transform and modernize the wyoming state financial portfolio which is number one ranked in the United States and the number three in the world ranking for transparency and accountability while serving as state treasurer. The Dynamic School set arm temper success when he ran for elected governor in 2018. Since becoming state ceo, he has led efforts to diversify the economy in ways such as technology and agriculture to name a few. He has continued to be a strong advocate in supporting ym was Natural Resources. We elected in 20 with 79 of the vote, resenting the largest margin of victory in the States History for any gubernatorial candidate, governor gordon continues to lead by his values and dedication and for women getting stuff done. Please welcome wyomings 33rd governor and vice chair of the western Governors Association, the honorable mark gordon. Going up here growing up here in boulder, colorado, they always had a never innovative ideas and thinking on the cuttingedge both in business as with the policy domain. As a result of his entrepreneurial spirit talents, he transferred his familys greeting card business by taking it online. At 1. I found out it was the most six months visited website on and im the governor launched three success all caps including one of the roads leading Online Flower retailers. Despite his honor of success, he never wavered in his commitment to Public Service to making life better for current and future coloradans. At age just 25, he threw his hat in the right for the state board of education where he was successful and fought to ensure children have early access to highquality education. At age 33, he was elected to congress where he served five terms. A well respected and known policy walk along among his congressional colleagues. When first elected as qualified governor in 2018, he continued his work by working with the legislature to advance record investment in k12 and for the first time in the States History, kindergarten starting next fall. In the summer, he lost to the heat beneath our Feet Initiative and has wasted no effort in ensuring initiative success. With that, i am honored to introduce colorados 43rd governor, the chair of the western Governors Association and our host here in boulder. Thank you. In addition to having the privilege of being able to host western governors in your state which as chair i chose my hometown of boulder, governor gordon will be hosting us in jackson hole next november, the other two perks of being chair, one is you get to identify your own initiative. We worked very closely with wga on working on developing heat beneath your feet. Virgil and in person, learning from state argument with regard to geothermal electric energy, 20 of hawaiis grid. Dr. Green in utah. California 4 . We are proud of call mesa university. The final part is we get a little gavel that has our name on it as chair. With which we get the gavel in the official session of the western Governors Association. Welcome everybody to boulder. On behalf of the governors assembled here today, we are so happy just to spend some time with us here today. We have great speakers lined up. We will be hearing from michael reed shortly. David turk is the point person not just on geothermal but a whole host of energy opportunities. Executives from microsoft and franklin top 10. The ceo of vail resorts. Just a discussion about the economic drivers in the west. We really want to show the nation that we Work Together. We are engaged in a number of very meaningful roundtables on topics we all face in our states in different ways, rural health care. Health ecosystems and grasslands and egg. We continue that work. There is the reauthorization of the egg bill. A little thing called water which has a different dimension. It is a top of my discussion item for the Colorado River basin and for many other states across the midwest. After recreation, another Major Economic driver of the west. Of course, the initiative i focused on, Geothermal Energy. How we can better deploy Geothermal Energy for a lowcost energy source, reliable. Especially for a grid with increasingly renewable energy. I want to thank my fellow western governors and their teams and all the staff at w g a, the sponsors, the collaborators for their great work. Youll be getting a copy of the report i think tomorrow and getting some previous to it today. As we have done with the initiative that i lost, i hope the next couple of days will seek practical Common Sense Solutions for the problems are states have that we can fix by working together and when we continue to Work Together because theres so much we can accomplish. I want to thank all of you. Please have a meaningful time here in my hometown of boulder, colorado. It is my pleasure to introduce our first guest speaker. As the ministry of the epa, michael is test with the protection of human health and the environment. That includes leading the federal implementation on the clean water act, Safe Drinking Water at act. We are eager to hear about the path forward with regard to planning around water. The former secretary of the North Carolina department of quality. It is great to have somebody with that state perspective. Helping to make calls at the national level. No stranger to the relationship between states and the federal government. They have the noblest of intense. Too late to clean air and clean water for people across our country. Whether it is wildfires affecting air qualities, we are no strangers to watershed issues hurting farmers, Water Treatment facilities, cooperation between the federal and State Government and epa is more important than ever before. On behalf of my fellow governors, we present that the west is unique in our challenges from scarce Water Resources to being on the front line for International Emission transports, the rising number of wildfires that are disproportionately impacting the american west. For all these reasons and more, a strong, productive relationship between dpa and our states is important to all western governors. With that, it is my honor to turn it over to administrator regan. Good afternoon. Thank you for that kind introduction and the theme of partnership. This is something i truly believe in. I want to thank all the governors here for having me today and for you all being here. It is great to be here in boulder. Ive had the pleasure of traveling all across the state, visiting towns and cities both large and small. There is one thing that has been clear to me since day one. That is statelevel collaboration and partnership are necessary. The most effective way to craft resilient and Lasting Solutions is to bring all stakeholders to the table. Examine all issues from every single angle and strive to reach consensus. It is great to be surrounded by the chief executives. They are where the rubber meets the road. These executives, state and local leaders know your community is more intimately know your committees more intimately than the federal government ever could. We need to hear from you, we need to lean on you and more importantly, we need to continue to Work Together t