Governors adopt energy policy

The Nation’s governors adopted a joint energy policy before their annual conference wrapped up today in Rhode Island. Governor Tom Vilsack talked with Radio Iowa by phone this afternoon. He says it’s “a landmark opportunity for the governors to reach a consensus on energy and make sure that supplies and prices are stable and secure.”When Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham told the group states should ease the nation’s power crisis by speedily approving building new power lines, Vilsack was quoted in the New York Times as saying federal officials shouldn’t assume the states need federal pressure to do that. The democratic governor says the conference also talked about special-ed funding.He points out the federal government’s never lived up to its promise to pay for 40-percent of the cost of special-ed to states, and Vilsack says the feds should live up to that funding pledge.