Ambassador's Corner
WEEKLY MESSAGE FROM AMBASSADOR JOHN BRUTON
March 4, 2008
Wyoming
Last week I spent three days in
Wyoming, a remarkable state with a remarkable
history. It is the tenth largest state in the United States, but has the
smallest population and lowest population density. It is the United States’
largest producer of coal, and its second largest producer of natural gas.
It entitles itself the “Equality State,” with some justification, in that it was
the first state to grant women the right to vote (in 1869, before any European
country had done so) and was the first US state to elect a woman as Governor.
It is represented in Congress by two Republican Senators and a Republican House
Member, and its state legislature has a Republican majority, but the Governor of
the States has been a Democrat for all but eight of the last thirty-three years.
Ranching is a very important part of the economy and culture of the State and I
was presented with a Stetson by my hosts, the University of Wyoming, so that I
would feel fully at home. I visited the 12,500 acre Wyoming Herford Ranch
[below, left] in
Cheyenne, the oldest Herford Ranch in the US. But to demonstrate the range of
economic activity in the state, and just a mile from the ranch, I visited Ecostar
[below, right], which is a hub for satellite television broadcasting for the entire US,
and part of the company employing 25,000 highly qualified technical staff
throughout the US.
There are important European links with Wyoming. EU companies are the biggest
foreign investors in the state, supporting 6,000 jobs. The EU is the state’s
second largest export market after Canada.
Peter Simpson, whose father and brother were US Senators, told me of the
European
origin communities in Wyoming, who have preserved much of the culture
of their homeland. He mentioned the Basques in North Western Wyoming, the
Russian Jewish community and other groups who came to work in the mines. A
former Governor of the State, Mike Sullivan [on left in photo at right], who was US Ambassador to Ireland,
told me that a large proportion of the miners in his native Casper came from the
Sheep’s Head Peninsula in West Cork.
Governor David Freudenthal
I met Dave Freudenthal, Governor of Wyoming since 2002. He previously worked as
an economist, as State Planning Coordinator and as a US Attorney.
We discussed how his State can work with the European Union to promote
technologies to reconcile making full use of coal with avoiding catastrophic
climate change. He has been promoting legislation to encourage the capturing of
the carbon generated by coal-fired generation of electricity and storing it
underground. His legislation would clarify the legal rights and obligations of
those involved in carbon sequestration. He said he hoped Wyoming would be the
first state to pass such legislation.
Carbon sequestration is economic when used as a supplement to oil production
because injecting carbon into oil wells increases oil production, but is not yet
economic as a free-standing technology, as I illustrated in last week’s
weekly
message.
Research problems to be resolved include the best method for injecting the
carbon, ensuring that the carbon does not leak out of its underground storage
and that it does not affect the fresh water supply. Another major problem is the
cost of piping the carbon from the place it is generated to the place in which
it is proposed to bury it. I also discussed this subject with Mark Northam, the
Director of the University of Wyoming’s School of Energy Resources. He said
that, while a lot of research is being done, there is much duplication and he
welcomed the idea of his University pooling resources with those who are doing
similar research in the European Union.
Address to State House of Representatives and State Senate
I was honoured to be invited to give a short address to both the House and the
Senate of the State, which were in session in Cheyenne during my visit.
I was introduced in the House by the Speaker, Roy Cohee, who has been a member
since 1998. In private life he runs a trucking business serving the energy
industry.
In the Senate, I was introduced by the President, John Shiffer, who has been a
Senator since 1993 and is a rancher.
The Legislature of Wyoming is a remarkable institution. The State constitution
limits the time it may sit. It may only be in session for sixty days out of every
two-year period. Its members are in effect unpaid and must take time off from
work to serve.
I was deeply impressed by the expertise of the members in the private
discussions I had with them. In my own country, there is much criticism that the
legislature is not seen to be in session for a long enough period. Wyoming seems
to manage quite well with a very different formula!
The University of Wyoming
I spent a day and a half on the campus of the University of Wyoming in Laramie.
The visit marked the launch of a European Studies program to draw together
work on a
variety
of European topics. The University would like to create a
Center of Excellence in EU Studies with other universities in the region.
Laramie is a town whose atmosphere is evocative of the Wild West. It grew up on
the Union Pacific Railroad. I dropped in for a drink to the Buck Shot saloon,
where a bullet hole is still to be seen in the decorative woodwork, clearly the
result of learned and convivial discussion that got a bit out of hand!
How can prison populations be reduced?
The Pew Foundation published a report last week (www.pewtrusts.org/news_room_ektid35890.aspx)
on the proportion of the population in prison in different countries.
Per 100,000 residents, there are 750 people in prison in the US, 628 in Russia,and 426 in Belarus. The highest rate of imprisonment in the EU is in Estonia
(333 prisoners per 100,000) and the lowest rates are in Denmark and Italy (67),
Finland (68) and Sweden (79). Other EU examples are France (85), Germany (93),
Spain (147) and Poland (236) – all significantly lower than the US.
How is it that Denmark, Italy, Sweden and Finland can manage crime, with rates
of imprisonment that are less than one-tenth those in the United States?
How does France, a country that has many of the problems the US faces, keep its
prison population so low?
The cost per prisoner in the United States varies from a high of $44,860 per
inmate in Rhode Island, to a low of $13,009 per inmate in Louisiana, which
incidentally also has the highest per capita rate of imprisonment of all US
states.
One-third of all US prison admissions are for breach of conditions of parole.
The increase in the rate of imprisonment dates from the 1970s, and is
partly related to the “war” on drugs.
Much of the cost of keeping people in prison falls on the budgets of States,
rather than on the Federal Government. In California, 8.5% of the entire state’s
budget goes for prisons. The state is seeking economies because, like other
states, its budget will come under pressure from increased Medicaid costs as
baby boomers retire, and from diminished receipts as the fall in house values
reduces property tax revenues.
Looking at these figures, I think that a study of penal and educational policies
that have worked in European countries would be of interest to many state
Governments in the US and would help them tackling some of their budgetary
problems.
Please send me your
comments about this or any of my weekly messages or other EU matters. I
look forward to hearing from you!
Other
Weekly Messages
