NGA chairman, Governor Tim Pawlenty (R-MN) launched a year-long initiative called, “Securing a Clean Energy Future,” that outlines how to diversify the U.S.’s energy sources. The Governors agree that more clean technology - like wind power and solar power - will have to be added to the energy mix, but oil and coal-producing states are worried about regulations that put a cost on the pollution that comes from burning fossil fuels. If states are going to regulate the pollution, governors like Governor Joe Manchin (D-WV) want help financing technologies that could make burning coal cleaner, or help exploring carbon capture and sequestration methods. Others, like Governor Haley Barbour (R-MS), took a harder line and called the option of a carbon tax “stupid.”

General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt even made an appearance to address why business is taking action on global warming and why many corporations are asking for stronger national regulations of carbon dioxide. But that didn’t sway some governors: “I don’t think there’s any kind of consensus among the people that were in there; we’re almost 50 different opinions,” said Alabama Gov. Bob Riley (R). Work continues to hammer out a joint NGA global warming policy.

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