Utah

March 6, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today affirmed the decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove gray wolves from the list of threatened and endangered species in the western Great Lakes and the northern Rocky Mountain states of Idaho and Montana and parts of Washington, Oregon and Utah. Wolves will remain a protected species in Wyoming.

“The recovery of the gray wolf throughout significant portions of its historic range is one of the great success stories of the Endangered Species Act,” Salazar said. “When it was listed as endangered in 1974, the wolf had almost disappeared from the continental United States. Today, we have more than 5,500 wolves, including more than 1,600 in the Rockies.”    » read more »

Feb 28, 2009 -- Salt Lake City - Utah Governor Huntsman issued the following statement tonight regarding the appointment of Governor Kathleen Sebelius as the new Health and Human Services secretary:

"The selection of Kathleen for this critical post is a welcome announcement from the Obama administration," Governor Huntsman said. "Kathleen brings a fundamental wealth of knowledge and experience that will be indispensable in leading the reform efforts that are so critical to our nation going forward. I extend my ongoing support to her. As we make progress on monumental health system reform in Utah, I trust we'll have a continued dialog on the efforts being made at the state level."

Source: Utah Governor

Feb. 25, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Department of the Interior will offer a second round of research, development, and demonstration leases for oil shale in Colorado and Utah and withdraw the previous administration’s proposal for expanded RD&D leases, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced today.    » read more »

February 25, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. - Interior Secretary Ken Salazar today announced he will toss out Bush administration midnight regulations designed to rush oil shale development in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. Salazar said the oil shale leasing proposal issued by the Bush administration in January was flawed and that royalties to be paid by the oil industry were too low. The Department of Interior will now open a 90-day comment period allowing the public to weigh in on what oil shale research and development leases should contain.

Producing a liquid fuel from oil shale entails heating solid rock to temperatures in excess of 600°F. The large amounts of energy needed to heat and process oil shale would increase the global warming emissions that contribute to climate change.    » read more »

Feb. 4, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced today that the Bureau of Land Management would withdraw leases that were offered on 77 parcels of U.S. public land near Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, Dinosaur National Monument, and Nine Mile Canyon. The leases on these 77 parcels are the subject of litigation in U.S. District Court.    » read more »

Robert Redford and Environmental Groups Support Critical Step in Land Protection

WASHINGTON (February 4, 2009) – More than 100,000 acres of Utah wilderness will be protected from oil and gas drilling after the Department of Interior announced today that it will cancel 77 leases issued under the Bush administration. This is among the first actions taken by the Obama administration to protect America’s wild lands. Since December, a coalition of environmental groups – led by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA), Earthjustice, and the Wilderness Society – have been working to protect these public lands. In December, the coalition filed suit to stop the leasing, and, in January, Judge Ricardo M. Urbina of the U.S.    » read more »

Jan 27, 2009 -- WE ARE ONE

2009 State of the State

Lt. Governor;
Mr. President;
Mr. Speaker;
Members of the Legislature;
My parents and in-laws - who are with me tonight as they always have been;
My wife and best friend, Mary Kaye;
Distinguished guests and fellow Utahns;

I am grateful to be standing here joined in purpose with the generous people of Utah who have given me the distinct honor of a second, and final, term. As the elected officials of the greatest state in America, this roomful of leaders holds an awesome responsibility - to guide our state to success in a time of uncertainty.

We are beginning a new chapter for our nation and for our state. There is a sense of anxiety, pain, heartache and, yes, hope, on display almost everywhere.    » read more »

Jan 22, 2009 -- Salt Lake City - Utah Governor Jon Huntsman has tapped Colonel D. Lance Davenport to be Commissioner of the Utah Department of Public Safety. Davenport currently serves as Superintendent of the Utah Highway Patrol. He replaces Commissioner Scott T. Duncan who stepped down this week for health reasons.

"Lance has demonstrated leadership, character and dedication in his 24 years of service with the Utah Highway Patrol. He is a true professional and an exemplar of public service. I am confident in his abilities and I am grateful for his willingness to continue to serve," the Governor said. "I know this new leadership team will continue the DPS tradition of remarkable service."    » read more »

Aug 13, 2008 -- SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - Utah Governor Jon Huntsman announced today that the Department of Agriculture and Food and the Department of Commerce are actively monitoring and analyzing Utah gas prices. In the most recent AAA gas report, the State's average price for unleaded gasoline was third highest in the nation.

"Gas prices are hitting everyone hard. As the rest of the country is seeing some relief from exorbitant gas prices, gas retailers in Utah have not shown Utahns a commensurate decrease at the pumps here at home," said Governor Huntsman. "We are asking these state agencies to monitor the situation within their enforcement powers to make sure Utahns are not being taken advantage of."    » read more »

First High Performance Building, State Energy Efficiency Initiative Report Released

Jun 03, 2008 -- Orem, UT - Utah Governor Jon Huntsman previewed the construction of the new energy efficient Digital Learning Center at Utah Valley State College today. The Digital Learning Center at UVSC is expected to save nearly $100,000 per year in utility costs and reduce energy consumption by 2,000,000 kWh, or the equivalent of removing 140 cars from our roads.

The Digital Learning Center is the first building using the State's new High Performance Building Standards. The estimated increase in energy efficiency is 65 to 90 percent better than a similar building built by today's code. This is a significant step in the State's efforts to improve energy efficiency in our state buildings.    » read more »

May 28, 2008 -- Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers today announced a settlement reached with iMergent, Inc., and its subsidiary, Storesonline, Inc., both Delaware-based companies operating out of Utah, for alleged violations of Oregon's Unlawful Trade Practices Act. In an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance (AVC) filed in Marion County Circuit Court, the company agrees to comply with state consumer protection laws and resolve any future complaints.    » read more »

Salt Lake City - Utah Governor Jon Huntsman has directed the Division of State Parks and Recreation to not move forward in negotiating an easement that would allow needed access for a proposed project on the east shore of Bear Lake, citing grave concerns for the well-being of the region.

Bear Lake, Utah: Photo by hanacy (CC)    » read more »

Salt Lake City - Utah Governor Jon Huntsman decided Tuesday to direct Bill Sinclair, who represents Utah on the Northwest Interstate Low-Level Waste Compact, to vote against any proposals for foreign nuclear waste to come in to Utah. The issue is on the Compact's May 8 agenda.

Skull Valley, Utah: Photo by Rylan S L (CC)    » read more »

April 16, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, DC – United States Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today sent a letter to Interior Secretary, Dirk Kempthorne, and Jim Caswell, the Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), asking that they take all possible steps to protect the wilderness areas of southern Utah. The Utah BLM is developing plans which could open up three million acres of roadless land to mechanized vehicles and oil and gas development.

Tony Grove, Logan Canyon, Utah: Photo by mbush_utah (CC)    » read more »

Chicago, IL - Utah Democratic Party Chair and Democratic superdelegate Wayne Holland has endorsed Barack Obama, citing his ability to energize the Democratic Party and plan to strengthen the economy.

"Sen. Obama has helped to energize our State Party," said Holland. "Obama was clearly the choice of Utah Democrats on Feb. 5 and is the choice of the majority of Utah Democratic candidates to head the ticket in November."

Barack Obama in Bloomington, Indiana: Photo by Barack Obama campaign (CC)    » read more »