The Wild, Wild West: What Can We Learn From The Cowboy State?

The Growth Lab’s “Development Talks” is a series of conversations with policymakers and academics working on economic growth and development in countries, regions, states and cities in the US and around the world. The seminar provides a platform for practitioners and researchers to discuss both economic growth and development and analytical work centered on policy.

Speaker: Gov. Mark Gordon (R-Wyoming)

Governor Gordon serves as the current chair of the Western Governors’ Association, which includes 19 western states and three U.S. territories in the Pacific region, working across a range of policy issues to advance western priorities in a bipartisan way. Governor Gordon’s initiative as WGA Chair is entitled “Decarbonizing the West,” and this initiative follows in a tradition of initiatives focused on energy opportunities, effective land and water management, and reimagining the rural west.

This discussion is co-sponsored by the Growth Lab and its Pathways to Prosperity research engagement with the State of Wyoming. The conversation is expected to touch upon numerous challenges and opportunities facing Wyoming and western states.

Moderator: Jeff Liebman, Director of the Taubman Center for State and Local Government

Please register if you would like the possibility of attending the Forum in person. If a seat is unavailable or you will not be attending in person, viewers can stream the event live via the IOP’s YouTube page. You do not need to register for virtual attendance.

About the speaker:

Mark Gordon was elected Wyoming’s 33rd Governor in 2018 and is now serving in his second term. In 2022, Governor Gordon received 79% of the vote, the largest margin of victory of any gubernatorial candidate in Wyoming’s history and the largest vote margin among governors elected in that year. Having successfully led Wyoming through some historically difficult times including the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Gordon is spearheading efforts to diversify Wyoming’s economy and continue to set Wyoming on a sustainable fiscal path — which he helped to strengthen as Wyoming State Treasurer from October 2012 to January 2019. He and his wife, Jennie, are dedicated to making Wyoming the best place in the nation to raise a family.

Having grown up on a family ranch in Kaycee, Wyoming, worked in the oil and gas industry, and ran several businesses spanning ranching, outdoor recreation, and tourism, Governor Gordon is acutely aware of the challenge of global climate change and has been outspoken about the “climate opportunity” in Wyoming and across the West. He promotes an all-of-the-above energy strategy, as Wyoming is a leader in coal, wind, oil, gas and uranium production. At a recent Conservative Climate Summit, Governor Gordon was quoted as saying,  “As a mountaineer, I know that glaciers are disappearing. As a rancher, I can see what’s happening to our farms. As someone who cares about the world for our future, as a conservative, I feel very strongly that this country needs to get off its butt and do so with honesty and a respect for what’s happening.”