The Blue-Green Alliance

All three groups are right. A conflict begins, played out in the media and government, about how Wyoming should develop. The conflict prevents all sides from getting what they want.

Chances are you’ve seen this scenario play out a hundred times. If you’re like us, you identify with more than one side of this debate—you work for a living and want good jobs, and you enjoy the outdoors, and want a clean environment for our future.

You’re not alone. We in the Wyoming Blue-Green Alliance support sensible development, in the right places and at the right time, with protections for our air, wildlife and landscapes.

The Wyoming Blue-Green Alliance includes state labor and conservation leaders promoting development that reflects and protects what we cherish about our state. This year, we’ve reorganized and strengthened our alliance, cooperatively approaching industrial and resource debates.

We invite you to join us in promoting “growth on our terms.” Here are just a few of the areas we are working on:

• Several new coal-fired power plants are being built or planned in the state. We want state agencies like the Department of Environmental Quality to consider technologies like coal gasification when determining if new plants are as clean as they can be. Now, DEQ only evaluates the technology the applicant proposes, rather than alternatives proven to be cleaner. We want the Industrial Siting Council to ensure local community impacts are funded before new facilities are built. We need your help to support cleaner plants that offer both high-technology jobs and reduced impacts on air quality and fishery health.
• The Legislature is considering help for communities facing rapid oil and gas development. Areas where the growth is concentrated are having trouble dealing with the influx of industry workers, and quality of life is changing quickly in those areas.
• Gov. Freudenthal’s administration wants to improve the standard of living for working families through workforce development, health insurance and education. These issues are the bread-and-butter of the organized labor movement, but conservationists also have an interest here. Wyoming families can’t enjoy our wildlife and the outdoors if they can’t afford camping equipment, hunting licenses or time off work. And what they can’t enjoy, won’t win their active support.