WASHINGTON—The 2009 National Governors Association Winter Meeting officially kicked off today with a robust opening plenary session highlighting the role states can play in managing existing and developing new infrastructure in ways that enhance economic and environmental prosperity. The session also showcased upcoming actions of NGA Chair Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell's initiative Strengthening Our Infrastructure for a Sustainable Future.

America's infrastructure has not kept pace with our country's growing and shifting demands and the changing world around us, said Gov. Rendell. That's why I've launched Strengthening Our Infrastructure for a Sustainable Future, to enlist the efforts of all governors to rebuild, repair and extend our nation's infrastructure to ensure America's continued economic competitiveness as well as its environmental sustainability.

From roads, rails and bridges to the electrical grid, water treatment plants, broadband networks, schools and hospitals, infrastructure makes modern life as we know it possible, said NGA Vice Chair Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas. Governors recognize that it is critical to our economic growth, global competitiveness and quality of life that we work collectively to find ways of improving and modernizing our nation's crumbling infrastructure.

Governors received a report from Governor Rendell's initiative titled An Infrastructure Vision for the 21^st Century. The report looks at how different infrastructure assets affect states' ability to compete globally; examines the infrastructure challenges facing states and our country as a whole; and explores new ways, both public and private, to finance our infrastructure needs. It offers a framework for transforming not only our nation's physical infrastructure, but also the very way infrastructure investment decisions and policies are planned, financed and carried out over the long-term.

During the plenary session, governors heard from an array of notable experts. Dr. Frank Luntz, CEO of The Word Doctors, presented findings from a recent national poll targeting Americans' attitudes around infrastructure investment. T. Boone Pickens, founder and chairman of BP Capital Management, demonstrated for governors his strategy for reducing America's dependence on foreign oil through new infrastructure investments. Finally, CEO of Exelon Corporation John Rowe highlighted the utility sector's perspective on energy infrastructure investment in the context of efforts to reduce greenhouse gases.

Strengthening Our Infrastructure for a Sustainable Future will continue to be a primary topic of governors' discussions over the three-day NGA Winter Meeting. To learn more about this initiative, please visit www.nga.org/ci.

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Founded in 1908, the National Governors Association (NGA) is the collective voice of the nation's governors and one of Washington, D.C.'s most respected public policy organizations. Its members are the governors of the 50 states, three territories and two commonwealths. NGA provides governors and their senior staff members with services that range from representing states on Capitol Hill and before the Administration on key federal issues to developing and implementing innovative solutions to public policy challenges through the NGA Center for Best Practices. For more information, visit www.nga.org.