Clean Air

Roundtable applauds the Blue Dog Coalition's Energy Principles

Western Business Roundtable

Read the July 24, 2009, letter the Western Business Roundtable sent to members of the Congressional Blue Dog Coalition, applauding leadership the Coalition demonstrated in their Energy Priniciples. In the letter, the Roundtable also goes on to outline the three basic principles of strong domestic energy policy.�

Western Business Roundtable

On December 28, 2009, the Western Business Roundtable submitted comments to the EPA on the proposed Prevention of Significant Deterioration and Title V Greenhouse Gas Tailoring Rule.

Western Business Roundtable

On November 9, 2009, Holland & Hart submitted comments to the EPA on behalf of the Roundtable, National MIning Association, and Newmont Mining Corporation on the Integrated Science Assessment for Particulate Matter, Second External Review Draft.

Western Business Roundtable

On November 23, 2009, the Western Business Roundtable submitted comments on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s proposed Strategic Plan for Climate Change and associated Five-Year Action Plan.

Western Business Roundtable

Congressional investigators must ask tough questions at a Capitol Hill heaaring this week on the "Climategate" scandal if public confidence in climate predictions is to be restored, a Western business coalition warns. But the scandal may also have a silver lining. Read More...

Business Leaders Urge Action On Large-Scale CO2 Storage Demonstration Projects

Western Business Roundtable

A broad-based coalition of Western business leaders urged Congress to enact legislation to establish up to 10 large-scale carbon storage demonstration projects in the West and across the nation and provide legal liability protections so that storage technologies can be more rapidly commercialized. Read More...

Western Business Leaders Say Cap-and-Trade Plans Fail The Public's "Test of Common Sense"

Western Business Roundtable

A coalition of Western business leaders working on greenhouse gas control technologies says that the leading cap-and-trade proposal in Congress is no longer politically viable because it "fails the public's test of common sense," while levying crushing new costs on citizens in the middle of a recession. Read More...

DOI/USDA Pull FLAG "Revisions" -- Roundtable Applauds Decision

The Western Business Roundtable

Hit with strong criticism from all camps, the Bush administration has abandoned its plans to finalize a rule to revise the so-called FLAG guidelines. This arcane set of internal guidelines has given federal land managers a virtual veto over a whole range of energy-related activities in the West. The Roundtable -- which had been sharply critical of the details of the proposed revision -- applauded the Departments' decision. Read More...

Roundtable Reacts Strongly to Western Carbon Initiative Recommendations

The Western Business Roundtable

The Western region has not been waiting for the feds to move forward on climate change initiatives. Many states are already well underway with implementing various initiatives. Most significant in 2008, has been the actions taken by the Western Climate Initiative (WCI). The Roundtable has responded strongly to the recommendations. Read More...

Climate Change and ESA -- Roundtable Pans DOI ESA Polar Bear Decision as Dangerous Precedent “Unsupported” By Real Data

A major focus of our attention in 2007-08 has been to mount an aggressive push-back on efforts by national environmental groups to establish climate change as a trigger for listings of species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The Alaska polar bear was the precedent-setting case.

The Roundtable joined in a coalition effort which got enacted a new tax credit for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture/sequestration and enhanced oil recovery (EOR). The so-called “Section 45Q” will encourage the use of CO2 from power plants in EOR operations, as a way to finance large demonstration projects of CO2 capture and sequestration technologies. Read More...

Climate Change -- Roundtable Weighs In On Suggested EPA “Endangerment Finding” For CO2

The Environmental Protection Agency has closed its public comment period on the benefits/ramifications of regulating greenhouse gases (GHGs) under the Clean Air Act (CAA). The Roundtable engaged& substantively in the public comment process. Read More...

Climate Change -- Roundtable Principles on Climate Variability

A multi-sector organization, the Roundtable worked over a year-and-a-half to develop the its principles on climate variability.