Finding ways to produce clean energy will be the focus of the Western Governors' Association over the next two years, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. said Tuesday after being elected vice chairman at the group's annual meeting.

"We will singularly focus on the issue that is perhaps the most important we have faced as a region since the joining of the transcontinental railroad," Huntsman told the Deseret Morning News in a telephone interview from Deadwood, S.D.

Utah's GOP governor was elected vice chairman of the Colorado-based association that represents 19 Western states, putting him in position to take over as chairman in 2008. He'll serve as vice chairman under Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal, a Democrat.

The pair are committed to "a major drive toward clean energy in the West," Huntsman said. "Our objective will be to try to navigate a continuation of what we have started as an organization, to make sure there is consistency."

Energy that is non-polluting is a major topic at the WGA's three-day meeting that ends Wednesday, including a new technology to limit greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants as well as solar, wind and other renewable sources.

Huntsman sponsored a resolution passed by the Western governors calling for tax credits and federal funding to study carbon sequestration, which would pump the carbon dioxide emissions from coal power underground, as well as to develop other energy sources.

"We've got the sun, we've got the wind, we've got the land to make a lot of this a reality," Huntsman said of the region. The West also has the population growth that makes it necessary to be talking about finding new energy sources, he said.

The goal, Utah's governor said, is to see the region benefit economically from utilizing those new energy technologies and resources as well as become less dependent on foreign oil and gas.

That includes Utah. Huntsman said by the time he brings the WGA meetings to Utah as chairman, the state will be ready to showcase "some interesting approaches to fueling our economy in clean and interesting ways" including wind power.

Huntsman has already joined California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's push for setting standards to reduce greenhouse emissions, signing the Western Regional Climate Action Initiative. So far, four other states have also signed on in addition to California.

Bringing more states on board will likely be part of the WGA effort, Huntsman said. "Some states are inclined toward solar, wind or bio forms of fuel," he said. "We'll bring everybody together around a table and begin to harmonize our approach."

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