Region 6

The U.S. EPA-Region 6 office hosted a summit on August 5, 2008, for senior managers from State environmental, agricultural, energy, conservation, and water resource development agencies in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.  The purposes were to familiarize ourselves with State and federal perspectives on clean energy-climate change, for EPA to better understand State concerns about this issue, and to discuss follow-on needs and opportunities for State-EPA partnerships.

The meeting was divided into morning and afternoon sessions.  The morning session focused on remarks by the EPA-Region 6's Regional Administrator and the Deputy Regional Administrator.  This was followed by overviews of State policies, directions, and outlooks on clean energy-climate change delivered by senior managers of the States Departments of Environmental Quality.  Later in the morning, a roundtable discussion was held, which included State managers from energy, agriculture, conservation, and water resource development agencies.  The afternoon session included topical presentations by State managers and staff.

The following four basic themes characterized the discussions in clean energy and climate change:

• Regulatory clarity for government, industry and the public
• Investment in collaborative efforts between States and EPA
• Technical support on greenhouse gases emission standards and potential releases
• Research on climate change technology and standards

We think this initial meeting was very productive and we look forward to working closely with our States to continue to address the critical concerns of clean energy and climate change.