Press Release
Tuesday, February 26, 2002 For more information, contact:
For Immediate Release Jen Waller, Communications Assistant 202-624-5897 or
jenwaller@sso.org
GOVERNORS’ AIR SUMMIT TO BE HELD ON MAY 10 IN CHARLOTTE
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Governor Mike Easley of North Carolina announced today that he will
host the Fourth Annual Governors’ Summit on Air Quality on May 10, 2002, at the University
Place Hilton in Charlotte, North Carolina.
“It has become clear that we must work together as a region to understand and to tackle the air
pollution problems that confront our individual states,” said Gov. Easley. “We know that
protecting and improving air quality is essential to safeguard public health, protect our natural
resources and promote the long-term economic vitality of the South.”
The summit will focus on the results of the first year of collaboration under the Southern Air
Principles, which were signed last year by Governors Easley, Barnes, Sundquist and Hodges of
South Carolina. This agreement calls on signatory states to develop a joint strategy to address
smog, acid rain and haze. The governors also hope to benefit from the work of the Southern
Appalachian Mountains Initiative, a multi-year study examining air quality in the region that is
drawing to a close in the summer.
The summit, sponsored by the Southern Governors’ Association, assembles leaders of the
southern Appalachian states to achieve a common understanding of air quality problems and to
establish efforts to address those problems. Gov. Barnes of Georgia hosted the second summit in
2000, and Gov. Sundquist of Tennessee hosted the third summit in 2001.
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Founded in 1934, the Southern Governors' Association is the oldest and historically largest of the
regional governors' associations. The mission of SGA is to support the work of the governors by
providing a bipartisan, regional forum to help shape and implement national policy and to solve state and
regional problems. The association's membership is composed of the governors of Alabama, Arkansas,
Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma,
Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Virginia and West Virginia.
