• Jackson Hole, Wyoming
  • Wild buffalo roam in a natural environment.
  • One of a multitude of wildflowers in Jackson Hole
  • Another reality in Wyoming....it is estimated that seventy-five mile long coal trains leave Wyoming daily. The largest coal producing state in the U.S., Wyoming accounts for 400 million tons of coal in the one billion tons burned domestically, annually accounting for about 40% of coal related emissions of CO2 from the U.S.
  • Wyoming’s Jim Bridger coal fired power plant by itself, emits about 18 million tons of CO2 per year into the earth’s atmosphere.
  • Coal trucks in China’s Shanxi Province, where 700 million tons of coal are produced, contributing about 15% of the coal related CO2 emissions in all of China.
  • In China emissions from coal conflict with tourism, dirtying the air and environment. Total annual global emissions of CO2 from coal from all countries are approximately 12 billion tons into our earth’s atmosphere.
  • JHCGA joins other cosponsors of U.S.-China Clean Coal Forum in signing Memorandum of Understanding affirming the benefits of coal gasification, Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, Sept 2006.
  • David Wendt President, Jackson Hole Center for Global Affairs, with Niu Renliang, the Vice Governor of Shanxi Province who has promoted the work of JHCGA in his province.
  • October 2007, JHCGA organized a tourism delegation to Wutai Shan, Shanxi Province, the delegation is seen here seated on the steps of the Pu Sa Ding temple.
  • Themes of nature are ubiquitous in the Chinese culture reflecting their values about environment which come into conflict with modernizing.
  • Signatories of "Jincheng Declaration," Jincheng, China, February 2009, committing their organizations to the promotion of energy savings and emissions reduction.
  • October 2009, Jincheng Mayor Wang presented a Chinese scroll to Teton County Commissioner Hank Phibbs and Jackson Mayor Mark Barron. JHCGA brought Mayor Wang to Jackson to help initiate a series of energy sustainability meetings in Jackson.
  • October 2009, JHCGA brought Mayor Wang and his delegation to Yellowstone where they were inspired and thrilled to see Old Faithful, some geysers, and the beautiful clean environment.
  • October 2009, JHCGA hosted Huang Shengchu, President of the China Coal Information Institute (center), in a meeting with co-chairs of the Wyoming State Legislature's Joint Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee, Grant Larson (right center) and Tom Lockhart (left center) and committee member Jim Roscoe (second from left). Other participants in the meeting were Cheyenne lawyer Larry Wolfe (rear right) and JHCGA Advisory Board member, Bill Schmoe (far right).
  • February 2011, six members of the Shanxi Provincial Tourism Administration traveled to Jackson to promote the Sister City Partnership between the mountain towns of Wutai Shan in Shanxi Province and Jackson, Wyoming. Visit www.chinawyomingpartners.com for more information.
  • July 2011, Jim Bullard, President, Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis and Dennis Lockhart, President, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, spoke at the 3rd Annual Rocky Mountain Economic Summit co-sponsored by the Global Interdependence Center and the Jackson Hole Center for Global Affairs.
  • David Wendt with Tian Xizhao, Special Representative for the Jackson Hole Center for Global affairs in China, and Olivia Meigs with the JHCGA Shanxi team for the Central China Expo, September, 2011 where David Wendt gave a speech on cleaner coal mining and combustion practices.
  • In the following year JHCGA again participated in the China International Energy Industry Expo for 2012 opening ceremony and Expo.
  • David Wendt and JHCGA Associate Mark Newcomb at the 2012 Expo, studying a display of the Datong Corporation's progress with diversifying its power generation capability from coal to include wind, hydropower and other renewable resources.
  • Air pollution in Shanxi Province where massive construction projects fill the sky, leading to increased demands for energy.
  • Street scene in Beijing
  • Street scene in Beijing
  • December 2011, Roger Altman, Chairman and Founder of Evercore and Former Deputy Secretary of the Treasury speaking about the global economic outlook at the JHCGA Global Business Roundtable.
  • August 9 2012, Jackson residents on a fact finding trip to the Encana drilling operation at the Jonah gas field outside of Pinedale, Wyoming.
  • Drill operator at Encana's Jonah gas field operation explaining his job to participants in the JHCGA August 2012 fact finding visit.
  • Members of the JHCGA Next Generation Policy Group with guest speaker Keith Gingery, Speaker pro tem, Wyoming House of Representatives.
  • Building the Next Generation project, JHCGA partnered with Washington and Jefferson College to involve Baleigh McMenamin, an intern, in conducting research on natural gas as a transportation fuel.

Welcome

Mission Statement: Harnessing the inspirational power of Jackson Hole, the Jackson Hole Center for Global Affairs brings together individuals and organizations to identify and respond to global issues of interest and concern to the community and beyond.

The Jackson Hole Center for Global Affairs (JHCGA) is one of the premier bipartisan public policy research centers in the Rocky Mountain region. We pursue an approach of "thinking locally" about global issues affecting the community, the state, and the nation, and "acting globally" to address those issues.

JHCGA promotes educational activities, and has organized over 60 meetings of our Global Business Roundtable, Next Generation project, and other public events. Through our flagship project, the U.S.-China Clean Energy Initiative, we have organized international exchanges to bring together over 200 policymakers and technical experts to address the issue of global carbon emissions from coal. Policy reports, op-ed pieces, and documentary film presentations are posted in the Carbon Emissions link.

These dimensions of our work combine to form our overall mission, through which we seek to engage policymakers and influence the policy process with the results of our efforts. JHCGA currently has three policy priorities:

  • Help Wyoming, the nation, and the world adjust to a carbon-constrained future
  • Promote involvement in the global economy
  • Encourage participation of the next generation of leaders in public affairs

The Jackson Hole Center for Global Affairs is part of a regional and national community that has an opportunity to help shape responses to world affairs. As global challenges such as climate change press in on us, JHCGA’s role of inspiring the community, the state, and the nation to respond to these issues becomes more urgent.