SACRAMENTO, Calif. » Governors from 17 states said today that they will work together to develop cleaner energy and transportation as they look to lead a national shift to renewable fuels.

The states vary widely in their approach and sources of fuel, but the bipartisan group said its goal is to cooperate on planning and policies.

The pact — known as the Governors’ Accord for a New Energy Future — calls for embracing new energy solutions to expand the economy and protect the health of communities and natural resources.

“Hawai‘i is the most oil-dependent state in the nation, and we are committed to reaching 100 percent renewable energy use in the electricity sector by the year 2045. This accord allows us to share information about our clean energy transformation with other states and to collaborate with them on issues that are important to all of us, like strengthening energy security, reducing carbon emissions and promoting smart growth,” said Gov. Ige in a press release.

The governors purposely avoided mentioning the divisive issue of climate change and instead concentrated on how states can cooperate, California Gov. Jerry Brown said.

He said that includes building more sophisticated, energy-efficient regional electrical grids; pooling buying power to get cheaper clean-energy vehicles for state fleets; and lobbying the federal government for more research and development on energy storage, clean fuels and the electric grid.

Other participating governors are from Delaware, Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Virginia.

Senior advisers of the governors expect to meet soon to discuss the initial steps to meet the goals.