While courting new investment in renewable energy technologies, Western states are wrestling with the downsides of such projects, including the expansion of interstate transmission lines that cut through wildlife habitat and other undeveloped landscapes. Photo courtesy of the Bureau of Land Management.

Western governors signed two agreements at their annual meeting here this week aimed at capitalizing on two of the region's most prized amenities: its wildlife and its renewable energy resources.

The problem is, many of the areas eyed for solar, wind and geothermal development -- and the transmission corridors needed to bring that new power to market -- lie within important wildlife habitat.

That geographic reality poses a considerable challenge to the Western Governors' Association as it implements the two agreements, one to identify key corridors essential for the protection of the West's wildlife, and another to establish "Western renewable energy zones," including a crucial network of transmission corridors needed to unlock the region's vast renewable energy potential.

At the WGA's annual meeting this week, the governors, as well as senior Obama administration officials, spoke urgently of the need to tap the West's solar, wind, geothermal, hydropower and biomass resources, while continuing to expand traditional fossil fuel development.

"We're agreeing that we can develop energy in the West in a responsible way, and put in corridors and pipelines so renewables and also hydrocarbons can be delivered to market," Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D) said. Go to story #1