Salt Lake Community College Westpointe Workforce Training & Education Center
Sept. 19, 9 a.m.
Speakers at the grand opening include:
Official tours of Westpointe begin at 10 a.m.
Fast facts about Westpointe and career/technical education (CTE) at SLCC:
DENVER—The Trump administration announced today that it has eviscerated a 2016 rule established by the Bureau of Land Management that limits the waste of natural gas from oil and gas drilling on public lands. In response, the Center for Western Priorities issued the following statement from Advocacy Director Jesse Prentice-Dunn:
“Today marks another loss for Western communities at the hands of President Trump, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, and their oil industry donors. Because of this decision, oil and gas drillers can continue releasing methane into the air without accountability at the expense of taxpayers and clean air.
“Westerners should be fired up that this administration cares more about padding the wallets of oil executives than it does about safeguarding natural resources owned by all Americans.”
According to new polling from the Center for Western Priorities, Westerners support safeguards placed on oil and gas drilling, including limits on methane waste. The survey found that 89 percent of voters in Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, and New Mexico support requiring oil and gas companies operating on public lands to detect and repair natural gas leaks in drilling equipment.
According to a sentiment analysis of public comments conducted by the Center for Western Priorities, 99.8 percent of Americans who submitted comments opposing today’s decision. When the Trump administration asked the public to comment on its plan to eliminate the methane waste rule, over 600,000 Americans spoke out opposing the Trump administration’s plans and supporting the safeguards placed on industry in 2016.
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The Center for Western Priorities is a conservation policy and advocacy organization focused on land and energy issues across the American West.
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Gov. Herbert departs on trade mission to Asia
SALT LAKE CITY (Tues. Sept. 18, 2018) – Gov. Gary R. Herbert departs this evening to join a trade mission to Asia that includes 20 Utah companies and six organizations. He will join the mission’s second leg in Taiwan, having canceled his plans to be in South Korea earlier this week due to the Pole Creek and Bald Mountain Fires.
Prior to departing, Gov. Herbert issued the following statement:
"I'm reluctant to leave the state while these fires continue to burn. Nonetheless, I have full confidence in the firefighters working to protect our communities and suppress the flames.
“Ever since Friday, I have been at the Incident Command Post each day, meeting with fire managers, local leaders, and agency officials. I have walked through the communities on the front lines of the fires. I am impressed with the experienced leadership of the firefighting teams and I am confident in their plans to fully suppress these fires. I am grateful for the way our firefighters are executing on those plans. I marvel at the cooperation shown by federal, state, county, municipal and private sector leaders. I am appreciative of their tireless efforts to protect our citizens, their homes, their livestock, and the infrastructure that provides their livelihood. And I am in awe of the miracles that have preserved life and property thus far.
"Because of the strong protections now in place for our communities, I am cautiously optimistic that our firefighters will have good news for us regarding progress on containment in the coming days.
"I will continue to monitor the progress of the fire through my second in command Lt. Governor Spencer Cox, Maj. Jess Anderson, acting head of our Department of Public Safety, and State Forester and fire expert Brian Cottam."
The governor has made arrangements to return immediately should conditions merit. Media seeking to speak with Lt. Governor Cox should contact Kirsten Rappleye at 801-505-1457.
