The BI sat down with Wyoming Governor Matt Mead over the weekend for an exclusive interview. Part one of the conversation ran in yesterday’s paper. Below, is the second half of Gov. Mead’s conversation with the BI.
What are your thoughts on out-of-state appointments to the Board of Trustees?
I’ve given that a lot of thought. One is, I’m very Wyoming-centric and I think we have people in Wyoming that can do these jobs very well. But I’m also aware that we have some great alumni that want to give back to the university, and they’ve done well at the university, and they such and such career, and their job is in Arizona, for example, or Texas. So I think that we ought to look at changing that to allow a few people from out of state to serve, because they may love UW, but the wonderful company they built happens to be in Arizona. So I think we should open it up, and I also think it provides additional perspective is well. You know, if you come from Philadelphia, and that’s where your business is, I think you would add something by seeing a different part of the country.
Your recently said, in regards to the blocking of the construction of the Port of Morrow in Oregon, that areas of the country seem to be biased toward the coal industry. What do you think are examples of this bias that you’ve encountered, and how do we, as a state that relies on the coal industry, combat a bias like that?
I do think there’s a bias. I think what you see in Oregon and Washington is that bias. We see it from people around the country. We see protests and letters from people who, not only want a reduction of coal, they don’t want any coal. I think one of the best things we can do in terms of reversing that bias against coal is do a better job from my end, and from industry end, in educating people on what coal means to this country. The fact of the matter is, coal provides 40 percent of the energy in this country. It’s an affordable energy source that allows our manufacturing to be competitive. It allows us to have, not only in our homes reduced electricity costs, but because energy touches everything we do, cheaper food, manufacturing, transportation, cars, everything. You know, coal gives us such a wonderful competitive advantage, and when I talk about coal I remark that we push coal not just because it’s good for Wyoming, but frankly it’s good for the country. We supply coal to 35, 37 states and they get the benefit of low-sulfur, low-mercury coal, high BTU. That allows them to have a competitive advantage compared to other countries, and so I think that education needs to go forward. I also need to point out; coal is the fastest-growing energy source on the planet. Cut down Wyoming coal, and that will not change. So where do you want your coal? I say let’s get low-sulfur coal. Let’s get coal where it’s produced in an environmentally friendly way. Let’s get coal where it’s produced in a worker-safe way. So that’s some of the education that I’m going to continue to do, and certainly I think it’s important for industry to do that as well.
With the recent block of the Port of Morrow, what’s the plan for continuing to push for exports of Wyoming coal?
I’ve visited some of the ports on the west coast and in British Columbia. Partly to educate and answer questions, but we also are not going to just let that lie. It’s an interstate commerce question and if you are going to allow state’s to pick and choose which commodities they want in their state, it could certainly lead to trade wars between states if I say I don’t want Washington apples and I don’t want Boeing Airplanes for my personal reasons, you don’t want that between the states, you want free trade. And so, we’re going to continue to push for that, because as I said it’s critical for Wyoming’s future, but frankly it’s critical for the country’s future.
One of your colleagues recently said that you are, “above the political system you operate in.” How do you view the current state of American politics and the state of politics in Wyoming?
I think there’s a difference. I view the state of politics in the country as not headed in the right direction. Suddenly, it’s become that if you disagree with someone, you also have to dislike them (sic), and I don’t agree with that. I work with people and meet with people who I think disagree with me on every single issue, but I still meet with them. In Wyoming we have a tradition of this. In my office I have a picture that constantly reminds me of this. The picture is of my mom dancing with Governor Sullivan and that was a time when my mom was running against Governor Sullivan, and they’re dancing together and they’re smiling. It reminds me that in Wyoming we have done it better and we need to continue to do it better, because we are a small state, and it’s just fine to disagree with someone but that doesn’t mean we have to dislike them. It doesn’t mean you say ‘I’m not going to meet with those people’. If you do that, pretty soon you’ve got an isolated view of the world if you’re not hearing other points of view. That’s the way that I think it is in Wyoming, and I hope that the national trend doesn’t effect Wyoming because I think we’ve got a good thing here.
…By Joel Funk & Adam Croft
