August 09, 2007
Thursday

(SitNews) - Senator Bert Stedman (R-Sitka) just returned from Beijing, China where he was attending a China-North American energy policy dialogue. The trip was organized by The Energy Council and the National Development & Reform Commission, an agency of the Chinese government's State Council. Senator Stedman represents District A, which includes Ketchikan.

The Energy Council is a national organization of legislators from energy-producing states whose purpose is to facilitate better communication between those states with the ultimate goal of influencing federal energy policies and regulations. In February, Stedman was appointed by the Senate to represent Alaska on the Energy Council's Executive Board. "As the country's largest net energy exporter, it's critical that Alaska's interests be adequately represented on the Energy Council" said Stedman after his appointment.

The purpose of the Beijing trip was to establish a dialogue on energy and related environmental policy issues impacting both China and North America. During the four-day trip, the group met with key government officials who have significant influence over China's energy policy, including the Bureau of Energy, the Office of National Energy and the China National Petroleum Corporation. The U.S. executive committee members were also accompanied by Canadian representatives of the Council on the trip.

Commenting on the trip, Stedman said, "China's rapid economic expansion presents both challenges and opportunities for Alaska. The country's energy policies clearly indicate that domestic oil, gas and coal consumption will continue to grow. I hope the dialogue we initiated in Beijing, better positions Alaska to capitalize on any new market opportunities."

The China trip was the third Energy Council meeting Stedman has attended this year. Previous meetings included the Federal Energy Conference in Washington, D.C. in March and the Energy & Environmental Trends Conference in New Orleans in June. In September, he is scheduled to attend the Council's 2007 Annual Meeting in Moran, Wyoming.

"At each of these conferences, I've tried to communicate Alaska's unique energy infrastructure to our membership in an effort to ensure that we are incorporated into any final Council recommendations."

Source of News:

Office of Senator Bert Stedman
http://w3.legis.state.ak.us/senate/smn.php

 

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