"We have enough energy resources and green technology in the United States to enable us to stop relying on foreign dictators to supply us with fuel. Along with a smart strategy in Iraq, our energy independence can make us stronger and safer."
When my elected officials say these sort of things, i can't help but smile. It makes me believe in our system and believe that people like the James Lovelock's (see last month's Rolling Stones article) don't know where it's at anymore. It makes me believe that we are not One Too Many Mornings and a Thousand Miles Behind.

"Mr. President, let's create hundreds of thousands of jobs in America by producing our own clean fuels -- bring our men and women home -- and stop spending money in Iraq," said Schweitzer.

I may paint him like a stick in the mud, but my opinion of the governor of Montana is a positive one overall. He has had some major energy successes. His response and the reactions by members of his staff to partisan-line attacks regarding proposed coal development are mostly commendable.

When 8 Republicans from the MT legislature wrote to Schweitzer expressing dismay at the chief excecutive's lack of support for "our shared goals of a stronger economy and more high-paying jobs in Montana" in late September, 2007, he responded vehemently- “I’m still bullish on coal. We’re not proposing any new old-technology coal plants." This was a powerful statement- he knocked the legislators down a peg.

Montana's governor has proven it's possible to speak from the gut, and more importantly to speak for the future interests of the environment as well as the economy. He's been and must remain a force against more than 19 million metric tons of greenhouse gases that coal plants expell, Montana's irresponsible contribution to climate change. For this gusto we owe him much credit- he has many great ideas and i can see that he genuinely cares about the future of this state.



Score one for the environment, right? Not entirely.



Until his administration avoids slippery statements like "What we're proposing is coal gasifications plants," he doesn't deserve the full support of true greens like me. He also needs to realize that marginalizing people such as myself with statements like, “If there was still a phone booth in Helena, they could have their meetings there" (which was directed at a group i support, the Montana Environmental Information Center), won't get him any closer to resolving any energy problem he can think of.

The Montana-state government that governs best in 2007 is the one that makes leaps and strides to rid our fossil fuel-stained backs of foreign resource dependency. He's got the right ideathere, and i'm optimistic that he'll soon feel the pressure of a truly sustainable state economy based on zero-carbon emission standards and take action to make the future of job of Montanas a helluva lot eaier.