[Vision2020] Otter Misses Energy Summit

[Tom Hansen]

>From today's (June 14, 2007) Spokesman Review -

http://tinyurl.com/2b8ehu
"Idaho Gov. Butch Otter, seen in March, skipped the Western Governors'
Association conference to attend Girls State and other events. Associated
Press (File Associated Press)"

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Otter misses energy summit 

John Miller 
Associated Press
June 14, 2007

BOISE - As governors or top policy advisers from 14 Western states met in
Deadwood, S.D., Sunday to discuss how to speed development of
carbon-trapping technology, Idaho Gov. Butch Otter was introducing his wife,
Lori, at the 61st annual Girls State in Nampa.

On Tuesday, while leaders at the Western Governors' Association in South
Dakota were drafting a plan to combat global warming, produce cleaner energy
and limit effects of climate change, Otter was marking a Boise park's 100th
birthday.

Among the WGA's 18 dues-paying member states, Otter and just three other
governors didn't attend or send a representative to this year's conference.

Those who did go said the meeting was a chance to develop a cohesive
approach to global warming, what Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal on Tuesday
called "the issue of our time. It makes no sense for us to ignore what is
essentially a 900-pound gorilla on the public policy basis."

If Oregon isn't represented at such events, "we'll be left out of those
policy discussions," said Jake Weigler, a spokesman for Oregon Gov. Ted
Kulongoski, whose top energy adviser attended. 

Otter had other concerns at home, said Jon Hanian, his spokesman, including
a state Land Board meeting Tuesday where North Idaho houseboat mooring costs
were discussed.
 
"We had other more pressing issues to deal with," Hanian said.

He said it was unfair to say Otter only attended ceremonial functions in
Idaho while other Western governors were in Deadwood.

Otter is also monitoring closely a dispute over groundwater in eastern
Idaho, as well as funding for a program that teaches parents how to prepare
their young children for school.

Singling out his appearances at Girls State and Boise's Julia Davis Park is
"cherry picking," Hanian said, adding that Otter in May asked the state
Department of Environmental Quality to inventory greenhouse gases and find
ways to reduce them, so his position should already be clear.

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Or could this be Gov. Otter's way of saving Idaho tax revenue by being
selective as to what meetings he will/will not attend.

Bad choice, Gov. Otter.  Rumor has it that the door prize was free wolf tags
for next hunting season.

Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen

"Forty percent of the mass of every tree in the forest is crude oil.  Stop
and think about that.  We call them fossil fuels because they used to be
live stuff . . . now in the ground is turned into crude oil." 

- Bill Sali (September 21, 2006)