But in an effort to ease tensions, the state association formed a 12-member committee to explore ways to improve competitive balance.
"We're supposed to be adding zero-carbon sources, not subtracting," Ernest Moniz, the energy secretary, said recently at a symposium that the department convened to explore ways to improve the industry's prospects.
"So we will explore ways to improve and extend good governance across big business so that everybody plays by the same rules and we create an economy that works for everyone, not just the privileged few".
"Next year, when the consequences of this decision are fully understood by the members of this body, we will most certainly revisit this issue and explore ways to improve the earmarking process," Mr. Inouye said.
Instead, the administration convinced Mr. Putin to sign on to a "Russian-American Media Entrepreneurship Dialogue," which they said would involve journalists and media executives in both countries to "explore ways to improve the conditions necessary for media to flourish as a business in Russia".
Mr. Day, who stepped down last spring as treasurer of Alberta to enter national politics, hoped to lead a national discussion about cutting taxes to make Canada more competitive with the United States and, gingerly, to explore ways to improve the national health care system, a topic debated with near-religious fervor here.
Catherine T. Struve, an assistant law professor at the University of Pennsylvania, wrote a report, published in October, that explored ways to improve expertise in medical malpractice litigation.
Some Americans exploring ways to improve public diplomacy say they have been astonished by the depth of feeling on that issue.
