Out West (Presented by the Western Governors’ Association)

The potential of geothermal energy in the West is vast and offers significant advantages in the effort to expand renewable energy resources. Advances in technology and increased interest in developing domestic sources of low-cost, reliable, clean energy have brought greater attention to the energy potential of the heat beneath our feet. As Chair of the Western Governors’ Association in 2023, Colorado Governor Jared Polis launched The Heat Beneath Our Feet initiative to examine opportunities for and barriers to the accelerated development and deployment of geothermal energy technologies. Through a rigorous stakeholder process that included four workshops, six tours, a public survey, and a webinar series, the Heat Beneath Our Feet initiative generated recommendations for increasing the development and deployment of geothermal energy in the West. In this episode of Out West, Governor Polis shares some of his experiences from the initiative and discusses the policy recommendations outlined in the initiative report. You’ll also hear from Amanda Kolker, the laboratory program manager for geothermal at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory; Dr. Joseph Moore and Dr. John Mclennan, the Managing Principal Investigator and Co-Principal Investigator at the Utah FORGE Laboratory; Nick Goodman, the CEO of Cyrq Energy, and Paul Thomsen, the Vice President of Business Development at Ormat Technologies Inc.

In the latest episode of WGA’s Out West podcast, The Well of the Future: Repurposing Oil and Gas Wells for Geothermal Energy Production, WGA Policy Advisor Steven Emmen sits down with Johanna Ostrum, the Chief Operating Officer of Transitional Energy; Will Pettitt, the Geothermal Discipline Lead at Baker Hughes; and Will Gosnold, a professor of geological engineering at the University of North Dakota. Together they delve into the potential for blending aspects of the oil and gas industry with geothermal energy production, and how doing so can help make both industries more efficient and sustainable.

The new episode of WGA’s Out West podcast, 'Supporting Coal Communities,' explores the economic trends impacting Utah’s coal communities in the face of changing energy markets and state efforts to bolster economic development opportunities in those areas. Listen in as WGA Senior Policy Advisor, Lauren DeNinno, speaks with Alyssa Kay, Director of Program Development for the Utah Office of Energy Development, and Geri Gamber, the Executive Director of the Southeastern Utah Association of Local Governments. Together they discuss specific programs that the state has pursued to support rural economic development, like the San Rafael Energy Research Center, which works to diversify the state's energy portfolio and help employees in the coal industry transition their skills to new economic sectors.

'Post-Fire Restoration Challenges' explores the challenges that wildfire-affected communities face and the available resources to help them recover. Listen in as WGA Director of Federal Relations and Strategic Initiatives Troy Timmons speaks with the Founder and CEO of Coalitions & Collaboratives, Inc., Carol Ekarius, about improving community capacity to address restoration needs, federal programs that offer assistance and opportunities to enhance the implementation of both pre-fire mitigation and post-fire restoration work.

The latest episode of WGA’s ‘Out West’ podcast, Supporting Cross-Boundary Conservation, explores the importance of cross-boundary management for healthy and productive working lands, and how programs with the National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) can help unify various management activities across public and private lands. In this episode, WGA Policy Advisor Kevin Moss sits down with Emily Fife, the Utah State Conservationist for the NRCS, to discuss opportunities for landowners to leverage NRCS programs that support species conservation, how NRCS works with western communities on landscape planning, and why current drought and wildfire stressors require coordinated responses across ownership boundaries.

The new episode of WGA’s Out West podcast, Federalism, the Genius of American Democracy, explores the work that Western states and organizations are undertaking to strengthen and rebalance the states’ relationship with the federal government. Listen in as WGA Senior Policy Advisor Kevin Doran speaks with Matt Morrison, CEO of the Pacific NorthWest Economic Region Foundation, Edgar Ruiz, Director of the Council of State Governments West, Jonathan Shuffield, Associate Legislative Director for Public Lands and Liaison to the Western Interstate Region for the National Association of Counties, and WGA Executive Director Jim Ogsbury about their collective work to protect and promote state authority.

In honor of Cybersecurity Career Awareness Week and National Disability Employment Awareness Month, the new episode of WGA’s Out West podcast, Diversifying the Cybersecurity Workforce, explores the efforts to address workforce shortages in the cybersecurity field by expanding the talent pipeline and actively training un- and underemployed populations, including those with disabilities. Listen in on the conversation between, WGA Policy Advisor Lauren Cloward, Jeff Rangel, the Senior Director of Global Corporate Responsibility at Palo Alto Networks, and Patrick Romzek, the CEO and Founder of Bridge to Opportunity.

The Western Governors’ Foundation recently announced the winners in the sixth annual Celebrate the West regional art competition, which challenged high school students to create two-dimensional artwork inspired by their state. This year nearly 400 works of art were entered. Listen in as Foundation Advisor Anna Thielen talks with First Place winner Isabella Tarantino from New Mexico, Shaw Y. Hu of Arizona (Second Place), and Alain Soltys-Gray of Alaska (Third Place) about their inspiration and artwork.