DENVER - Western issues such as domestic energy development, gun rights and wildlife habitat conservation are taking a higher profile this year at the Democratic National Convention.

The new emphasis signals the party's continuing commitment to the West, which is increasingly becoming a national political battleground, several western convention delegates said.

"It helps carry that message to voters that the issues that the Democratic Party will be pursuing are important to the West," said state Sen. Mike Massie, D-Laramie, a convention delegate.

Democrats from western states are also playing a prominent role at the convention.

Democratic Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer delivered a major floor speech Tuesday, immediately before Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., took the stage for her much-anticipated appearance.

Schweitzer hammered on the importance of clean-coal technology, wind energy and the need for a diverse energy portfolio that includes fossil fuels extracted from western states.

Presidential candidate Barack Obama "knows there's no single platform for energy independence," Schweitzer told an animated crowd at the Pepsi Center. "We need them all to create a strong American energy system, a system built on American innovation."

Delegates from Wyoming and other western states said they're delighted by the attention being paid to western issues, especially domestic energy production.

"It kind of dispels the myth that Democrats don't pay attention to anybody other than environmentalists," added Jason Bloomberg, a delegate from Cheyenne.

"That's the reason the convention is here in Colorado," added Stan Matsunaka, a delegate from Loveland, Colo.

Gov. Dave Freudenthal, who is attending the convention as a superdelegate, said he's encouraged that national Democrats are beginning to acknowledge the importance of fossil fuels such as Wyoming coal.

In the past, he said, some Democrats from other states focused on renewable energy sources, without considering the reality that American and the world will long rely on fossil fuels for power.

"You actually heard someone say coal gasification from the platform," said Freudenthal, making reference to a comment by Schweitzer. "From my point of view, that is progress."

"This whole convention, for our delegation at least, seems to have been about energy," added state Rep. Lori Millin, D-Cheyenne, a convention delegate.

Kathy Karpan, former Wyoming secretary of state and convention delegate, said the shift toward western issues at the convention is critical for Democrats in Wyoming and other western states.

Conversations about gun rights, wildlife preservation, clean coal and others will give Democrats some time to work with as they try to gain ground in traditionally Republican western states.

Along those same lines, delegate Rep. Pete Jorgensen, D-Jackson, said national Democrats made a smart move by holding the convention in Denver, and using it to highlight western governors such as Schweitzer.

In the long term, the attention will allow those governors to take on larger roles in the national political debate, where they'll be able to promote important western issues, he said.

Contact Jared Miller at (307) 632-1244 or jared.miller@trib.com.