From Deseret News archives:
Huntsman pitches energy policy to top Obama aide
Guv says meeting wasn't to try for administration post
The Republican governor said that while he was contacted earlier this month by a representative of the new Democratic president, the focus of Friday's meeting was to pitch a proposed new national energy policy formulated by the Western Governors' Association.
Huntsman dismissed the possibility that he'd be asked to join the new administration as "much ado about nothing" and said he was not asked to provide any information to start the lengthy vetting process.
He said he received a call he would describe only as from "somebody representing the transition team" a few days after the Nov. 4 election. Similar calls, Huntsman said are being made "to many Republicans about offering to help" Obama.
In his case, the governor said, "there's been no follow-up and there won't be any." He said he hoped "people would know I am very happy as a newly re-elected governor. I have the best job in the world."
Huntsman, though, is not a stranger to Washington. Fluent in Mandarin, he has been appointed by GOP administrations to serve as a U.S. ambassador to Singapore and as a trade ambassador in China and other parts of Asia and Africa.
The governor had been a key supporter of Obama's Republican opponent, Arizona Sen. John McCain, and was rumored to have been considered for the vice-presidential slot that went ultimately to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
Huntsman's national profile has been boosted recently, with speculation in Politico.com that he could be a contender for president in 2012 and being labeled "a rising star among the Republicans" during an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
As chairman of the Western Governors' Association, he was able Friday to sit down with John Podesta, the leader of Obama's transition team, as well as several other team members concerned with energy issues.
Joined by the association's vice chairman, Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, a Democrat, Huntsman said he outlined the four-page national energy proposal, which includes a call for "an aggressive and achievable" goal for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Huntsman said the transition team members were "clearly very interested in energy, and in the idea of energy policy as a way to kick-start our economy. ... Energy will be one of their top priorities."
The governor has run afoul of some in his party for speaking out on climate change and other environmental issues. A number of Utah GOP lawmakers were upset that he signed Gov. Arnold Schwartzenegger's Western Regional Climate Action Initiative.
But Huntsman said it only makes sense that a Western governor would be looking at developing cleaner and more affordable energy sources, noting the region supplies most of the nation's alternative energy and is home to much of its coal, oil and gas reserves.
"We're the most energy-relevant real estate in the world," Huntsman said of the West. "The fact we're speaking out about it is only natural."
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