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| What is PNWER? |
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The Pacific NorthWest Economic Region (PNWER) is a regional U.S.- Canadian forum dedicated to encouraging global economic competitiveness and preserving our world-class natural environment. PNWER is recognized by both the United States and Canada as the "model" for regional and bi-national cooperation because of its proven success. PNWER is a respected voice and resource for our region, and provides the public and private sectors a cross-border forum for unfiltered dialogue that capitalizes upon the synergies between business leaders and elected officials who work to advance our region's global competitiveness. | |
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2009 19th Annual Summit
July 12 - 16 2009
Boise, Idaho
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Keynote Speakers:
Idaho Governor Butch Otter
Jack Gerard, President & CEO, American Petroleum Institute
Jack Lemley, Executive Advisor, Lemley International
US Secretary of Energy Stephen Chu (invited)
US Senator Mike Crapo, Idaho (invited)
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (invited)
US Senator Jim Risch, Idaho (invited)
Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach (invited)
Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer (invited)
US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack (invited)
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| News from the PNWER Region |
| Alaska |
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Family seeks $200 million in Prudhoe Bay oil-field dispute
An Inupiat Eskimo family says it is owed up to $200 million in unpaid rent after a major oil company siphoned oil from offshore Prudhoe Bay fields for years by using a drill site on the family's land.
The federal Bureau of Indian Affairs should collect the unpaid rent and turn it over to the Oenga family, which 40 years ago acquired its Native allotment on the edge of the vast Prudhoe Bay oil field, the family said in a court filing this month.
The money is owed, the family says, because BP violated its decades-long contract with the family when it expanded its drilling from the allotment to access several offshore deposits.
BP disagrees that it violated the contract and says in court filings that little or no money is owed to the family.
The Alaska congressional delegation said it is pushing legislation that would require loaded oil tankers to be escorted by at least two vessels that can tow them away from trouble as they sail through Prince William Sound.
Congress authorized the current escort rules in 1990 as part of the reforms written after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in the Sound a year earlier. The Exxon Valdez had just a single hull. Congress required that single-hull tankers get the escort tugs. Another reform was to retire all the single-hull tankers over time and replace them with safer double-hull ships.
The last single-hull tanker will be retired from service in 2012. Almost all Alaska oil is shipped through the Sound now on double-hulled tankers.
Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., the oil company-owned business that runs the Valdez tanker port, now provides two-tug escorts as part of its plan for preventing oil spills. But that plan expires in 2012 and watchdog groups fear the oil industry might try to lower the requirement to one tug to save money.
Senate OKs bill to expand wilderness on its second try
WASHINGTON -- For the second time this year, the Senate has passed a long-delayed bill to set aside more than 2 million acres in nine states as protected wilderness, from a California mountain range to a forest in Virginia.
The bill also would let Alaska go forward with plans to build an airport access road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge as part of a land swap that would transfer more than 61,000 acres to the federal government, much of it designated as wilderness.
Critics have called the project a "road to nowhere." Backers say the road is needed for residents of a remote village on the Bering Sea who now use a hovercraft to reach an airport and hospital.
The 77-20 vote on Thursday sends the bill to the House, where final legislative approval could come as early as next week. Alaska Sens. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, and Mark Begich, a Democrat, both voted for the bill.
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| Alberta |
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Ron Stevens resigns from MLA, cabinet posts
Alberta's deputy premier and Calgary-Glenmore MLA Ron Stevens is quitting politics to "pursue other career options."
Stevens, 59, who is also the province's minister for international and intergovernmental relations, announced his immediate resignation from the Alberta cabinet and his MLA position in a release on Friday.
"Ron has been a good friend and stalwart colleague, and I have greatly valued his sound advice and solid judgment," said Premier Ed Stelmach in the release. "I wish him well in the future, and I have no doubt he will continue to find success and fulfillment in whatever path he chooses to follow."
First elected as an MLA in 1997, Stevens has served as the minister of justice, attorney general and minister of gaming.
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| British Columbia |
Experts blame youth and process for shrinking election turnout
May 18th, 2009
Whether they're distracted, disenchanted or entirely disinterested, fewer Canadians are making the trek to their local polling station on voting days, some experts said.
Recent federal and provincial elections indicate that just over half the eligible voters make the decision for the whole electorate when they go to the polls to vote.
Expert opinions on why fewer Canadians make the effort to vote range from youth indifference, to negative attitudes around politicians to an electorate so disengaged that some voters missed the election entirely.
In the last two decades, voter turnout has been steadily declining to the point where turnout in the most recent federal election and votes in British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and Alberta reached historic lows.
VANCOUVER, Canada (AFP) - Voters in Canada's westernmost province kept a controversial carbon tax by re-electing the provincial government and rejected a landmark referendum for proportional representation.
As the British Columbia elections agency reported more than 60 percent of votes had been counted, the pro-business Liberals held a strong lead, with nearly 46 percent of votes compared to slightly more than 42 percent for the left-wing opposition New Democratic Party.
Two hours after the polls closed, New Democratic leader Carole James conceded defeat.
In a referendum held simultaneously with the general election, early results suggested citizens had turned down a new voting system.
Voters were also asked to either back a type of proportional representation called Single Transferable Vote, or keep the current "first past the post" system. The change required at least 60 percent approval, far more than early results showed.
Re-elected Campbell to focus on strengthening B.C.'s economy
May 14, 2009
Gordon Campbell says reviving the province's economy is his main task as he heads into a historic third straight term as the province's premier but other issues - such as health care and the environment - are also on the agenda.
"The economy rests on the certainty that we can create with aboriginal people," Campbell said. "The health care system rests on the strength of the economy. Our education system will actually generate economic opportunities, but it requires a strong economy to be able to invest in it."
Campbell made the comments at a press conference Wednesday morning, hours after his B.C. Liberals won Tuesday's election. Voters gave the Liberals 49 seats to the NDP's 36 in the new legislature, according to preliminary results posted on Elections BC's website.
SFU seeks emergency funding to help Stoney Creek salmon run
Simon Fraser University is asking the provincial government for emergency funding to move a salt shed that's been polluting a salmon-bearing stream on Burnaby Mountain, east of Vancouver.
Concerns about the salt were raised by volunteers from the Stoney Creek Environment Committee, whose rehabilitation efforts had helped chum and coho salmon return to the creek every fall to spawn, and cutthroat and steelhead to return in winter and spring
But in recent years, the group noticed salmon returns in the creek were lower than expected, according to spokesman Alan James.
"We expected more of them to return, so we started looking to see whether it was a water-quality issue," James said.
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| Idaho |
FAA looking at new location, costs of new Idaho airport
HAILEY -- The Federal Aviation Administration plans to make a preliminary decision in November 2011 concerning the possible location and construction of a new airport in central Idaho.
Cayla Morgan, project manager for the Environmental Impact Statement for the replacement airport, also says that by 2012 the cost of a new airport will be better understood.
A feasibility study conducted by the agency found a new airport will cost $150 million to $200 million.
BOISE - Since Friday, two parodies of Idaho Gov. Butch Otter have popped up on Twitter, including @FauxButchOtter, which includes this bio information: The People's Faux Governor - Faux as in fake as in this is a parody. The state of Idaho took control of the Twitter account @ButchOtter last week, after complaining to the social messaging company that someone had been impersonating the governor for weeks.
Meanwhile, Otter's real account is adapting to the folksy nature of Twitter while pushing his goal to raise the gas tax to pay for highway needs: "Letting our $16 billion infrastructure fall into dangerous disrepair is NOT conservative. Spending a little now to save a lot later on IS." And: "When your car is low on oil, do you keep driving it until the engine seizes up and has to be replaced or do you spend a little on oil?"
BOISE - Idaho State Treasurer Ron Crane will not run for the Republican nomination in the 1st Congressional District, he told the Idaho Statesman this weekend.
"I am extremely grateful and humbled by the tremendous outpouring of support from around the state and in Washington, D.C.," Crane wrote in an e-mail. "However, I do not feel that now is the time for me to move to Congress." Crane wrote that he would seek re-election as treasurer in 2010.
Democrat Walt Minnick, who is in his first term, holds the seat.
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| Montana |
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Saskatchewan And Montana join forces on carbon capture and storage
Premier Brad Wall today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer to work together on the development of one of the largest international carbon capture and storage demonstration projects in the world.
Both the U.S. and Canadian federal governments have recognized carbon capture and storage as one of the key technologies in future international efforts to address climate change. Coal fired power generation results in significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the form of carbon dioxide.
"Today we are formalizing a new era of co-operation between our province and the State of Montana and building a clean energy future for our two countries," Wall said at the MOU signing. "We are taking the lead in the development of new technologies that capture carbon from coal and gas fired power generation, then store it deep underground. This project will help Saskatchewan to meet the federal government's target to reduce GHG emissions by 20 per cent below 2006 levels by 2020."
"CO2 is a global concern and it is time to work together to address this pressing issue," Schweitzer said. "Montana has 30 per cent of the coal in America and in order to use our coal we need a solution to CO2. I am honored to be a part of this important project."
Pension funds recovering some
HELENA - Like the stock market, Montana's public pension funds are slowly starting to recover, but are still well below peak levels.
Through May 8, Montana public pension funds' combined assets as $5.9 billion. Carroll South, executive director of the state Board of Investments, says that's up from a low of $5.4 billion, but well below the peak of $8.5 billion in October 2007.
Meanwhile, lawmakers have assigned a committee to study current trends and best practices in public retirement systems.
Legislators are concerned about the losses the pension funds have seen over the past 18 months, as well as the possibility that the programs are under funded. Read Complete Article Schweitzer strikes $4.5 million from budget
HELENA - Gov. Brian Schweitzer says he is using his line-item veto authority to take a small amount of money out of the budget.
The governor commended the Legislature for "passing a fiscally prudent budget through which Montana will live within its means." But Schweitzer says he is cutting out $4.5 million, and also striking language to ensure the money will stay in the state's reserves.
Overall, the main budget and federal stimulus plan spend close to $9 billion. The governor says he took out an extra $500,000 allotted to the private Montana Meth Project because he says the state is already giving it half a million dollars.
Schweitzer also took out $2 million for state agricultural experiment stations that rural Republicans had pushed for. The vetoes also slashed $2 million from a loan program that aimed to help first-time home buyers. Read Complete Article |
| Oregon |
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Oregon jobless rate holds even
Oregon's unemployment rate held steady at 12 percent in April, more than double the level of a year ago and well above the nation's 8.9 percent figure.
But state officials cautioned that a flattening of unemployment growth for one month -- and fewer jobs lost in April than during some months earlier this year -- does not amount to a trend that could inspire optimism.
"It's slower than it was at the beginning of the year," said Chris Greaves, an Oregon Employment Department research analyst. "But it's still early to say that this is showing a bottom."
The state lost 9,500 jobs in April, seasonally adjusted, following a drop of 9,700 in March. In April, 242,550 Oregonians were unemployed, more than double the number a year before.
In its monthly news release today, the Employment Department revised slightly the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for March to 11.9 percent. The initially reported figure -- a historic high, at 12.1 percent -- had placed Oregon second in the nation for unemployment, behind only Michigan's 12.6 percent.
A bill for a study on the feasibility of extending commuter rail service from Portland to Salem won final passage in the Senate today after a lively debate.
House Bill 2408, which passed 17 to 12, directs the state Department of Transportation to organize a study on the "capacity, availability and efficiency" of rail transportation in Oregon and on the feasibility of extending the new Westside Express Service to Salem.
Sen. Larry George, R-Sherwood, said the Westside Express, a train running from Beaverton to Wilsonville, "so far has been a dismal failure" with low ridership and high losses. He argued buses from Wilsonville already provide low-cost mass transit from Portland to Salem.
The proposal would be "a waste of our dollars," agreed, Sen. Fred Girod, R-Stayton. "We can't just go in with our eyes shut," he said.
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| Saskatchewan |
| Cabinet shuffle coming, Wall says
There will be new faces around Saskatchewan's cabinet table before the summer begins, Premier Brad Wall says.
It's important to give other government politicians a chance to get experience as ministers, Wall said Friday, a day after the legislature's spring sitting ended.
The shuffle will take some thinking, he added.
"It's a very difficult decision, because our cabinet ministers have done a good job," Wall said.
"This will simply be about building capacity and giving others a chance, and I haven't decided on a final number yet, but obviously more than a couple will change."
The provincial government's electric utility is looking for people who have unclaimed money in SaskPower savings bonds acquired in the 1980s and early 1990s.
"Individuals can look and see if their name appears on an outstanding bond list," Scott Chomos, SaskPower's supervisor of treasury accounting, told CBC News, referring to a section on the Crown corporation's website.
SaskPower savings bonds were sold in units ranging from $100 to $50,000, Chomos said. Purchasers would earn interest on the bonds for a limited time.
Normally, once a bond reaches maturity, the holder cashes it in. And, according to Chomos, the vast majority of Power Bond holders did claim their money and the interest.
Saskatchewan people with disabilities who can't earn income will no longer have to go on social assistance but will instead have their own tailored income-support program, the provincial government said Wednesday.
While it won't immediately mean more money for people with disabilities, improvements to the program should be easier down the road because the assistance will be targeted, said Social Services Minister Donna Harpauer.
The new system will also be more efficient, because people with disabilities will not have to continually prove they qualify for assistance, Harpauer said.
"Group home workers say, 'You know ... they had a disability last night; they woke up with the same disability this morning. Why do I have to take time out of my worker's schedule to do this?'" Harpauer said. "It's common sense.
The Saskatchewan government has unveiled long-awaited changes to its greenhouse gas reduction plan that affect one company in a big way - Crown-owned SaskPower.
The impact on the electricity company, including expected rate hikes, is one aspect of a plan released Monday that's designed to reduce greenhouse gas levels in the province by 20 per cent by 2020.
During the 2007 election campaign, the Saskatchewan Party said it would stick with the greenhouse reduction targets set by the NDP. That would have meant a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 32 per cent by 2020 and 80 per cent by 2050.
Read Complete Article |
| Washington |
State Auditor Sonntag plays hardball over "dumb" cut to budget
OLYMPIA - State Auditor Brian Sonntag is a serious baseball fan. He's a regular at Mariners games and has a rack stuffed with 20 wooden bats in his office. An inscribed ceramic ball on his desk reads: "Sometimes you just have to play hardball."
Hardball is what the 57-year-old Democrat seems to have in mind when it comes to fighting the Legislature's $29 million cut to his performance-audit program, which seeks to find efficiencies in state and local governments.
He's asked Gov. Chris Gregoire to restore at least some of the money, saying the cut "decimates" a program that's found millions in potential savings.
Gregoire is expected to decide by Tuesday.
Sonntag has publicly described the money grab as a "sucker punch" and has thrown around words like "stupid," "dumb," "ridiculous" and "unacceptable" when talking about the plan.
A federal soda pop tax. Higher levies on beer, wine and hard liquor. Taxing some health insurance benefits. Those are among the options the Senate is considering to pay for revamping health care.
How to pay for expanding coverage to nearly 50 million uninsured people is the toughest question in the health care debate. Cutting costs is a popular idea, but few experts think enough savings can be wrung from the system to expand coverage to so many - despite pledges from medical providers.
The Senate Finance Committee, tasked with finding a solution that can get Republican votes, acknowledged the dilemma Monday as it released 40 pages of revenue raising options. They include cuts to providers and new taxes. Senators will meet behind closed doors Wednesday to debate the options.
"Many proposals expected to reduce health spending in the long run may not produce sufficient savings in the short run to finance reform," said the Finance Committee report. "Other proposals to generate revenue for health care reform could include taxes that affect lifestyle choices and taxes that generally target loopholes."
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| Yukon |
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Anti-mining planning commission
In just 10 years, the mining and exploration industry has evolved considerably and is making a real effort to build bridges with environmental concern.
Here in the Yukon, the industry has designed, developed and is building state-of-the-art drills that are a fraction of the weight of previous designs and can be flown into their target areas using a small helicopter with minimal impact to the environment.
Also based here, we have leading-edge technologies that have researched and developed down-hole survey systems and specialized ice-drilling technologies for the mining sector, but also for retrieving ice cores critical to understanding climate change in places like the St. Elias Range and Antarctica.
Remember, the mining sector also has the expertise and technologies in understanding recycling metals - of which we have a long way to go. The Yukon should keep these industries at home so they are allowed to grow in a constructive form with environmental concern - encouraging them to leave and explore in underdeveloped, unstable countries will not cause them to evolve in a favorable way in the global sense - we've seen this time and time again. "Pollution knows no boundaries," said David Suzuki.
Anti-mining groups, such as the Peel River Watershed Commission, are discouraging their presence by reducing land availability on an unprecedented scale - the proposed land area to be 'protected' is the size of the Netherlands.
Yukon Housing Corporation's slashed mortgage budget is "excellent news," says Jim Kenyon.
In only three weeks, the mortgage program completely exhausted its yearly budget, which was a little more than half the money spent in the previous year, said Kenyon, minister responsible for the housing corporation.
"We have more money available in the future ... but at the moment the program is tapped out," he said on Wednesday.
"That is excellent news."
"One wonders how happy he'd be if there were only one week's funding allocated to this program," said Liberal MP Gary McRobb.
Yukon Housing Corp. spent $12 million on mortgage financing in 2008. For 2009, they only budgeted $7 million.
Only $6 million had originally been pegged for mortgages in 2008, but surging demand forced the government to assign an additional $6 million to the program.
Last November, the still-overburdened program stopped accepting applications.
"We will honour all applications to date and there will be more to come in the new fiscal year," said Premier Dennis Fentie on November 5.
The Home Ownership program is designed to provide mortgages of up to $360,000 to Yukoners denied bank financing-a valuable offer, especially in the wake of the global credit crunch.
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