Governor Brian Schweitzer will appear on CBS News' 60 Minutes this Sunday, February 26, on a piece entitled "Coal Cowboy". The Montana Governor was interviewed by Lesley Stahl last January in several locations across the Big Sky country. More after the flip.
The governors' brother Walter Schweitzer fills in some details in this recent email to supporters:
Dear Ed in Montana,
Just as he reached across the aisle to choose a Republican Lieutenant
Governor for a running mate, Montana's Governor Brian Schweitzer continues
to reach across the country, offering straightforward, common sense
solutions to some of the biggest issues facing America today. The Governor
is establishing fresh paths forward, based on common ground and consensus,
seeking allies from all parts of the country and any point on the political
spectrum. From corruption to cultural awareness to affordable health care to
energy independence -- these aren't new-found topics for Brian. He was the
first candidate to bring seniors across the border to Canada to purchase
affordable prescription drugs, the first Montana Governor to fly the flags
of the Indian Nations over the State capital, the first to call on the Bush
administration to consider the impact of reduced levels of his state's
National Guard troops, particularly in the event of natural disaster (in
Montana's case, after seven years of drought, he wanted his Guards rotated
back home for the then-impending fire season), and with mounting evidence on
his side, Brian continues to push the President to address the issue.
All the while, his primary focus has been protecting and promoting the needs
and interests of Main Street Montanans; be they small business owners,
students seeking better education and jobs, or those struggling with the
deadly impact Meth addiction. A constant theme heard from Brian is the
community's moral obligation to take care of "the least and the last."
In some ways, Walter Schweitzer is to Governor Brian Schweitzer as Billy Carter was to President Jimmy Carter, although that may be a little unfair to both Walter and Billy. Walter has been his brother's biggest promoter, and helped organize the Inaugural Ball last year at this time.
Walter continues describing one of the Governor's biggest issues:
Schweitzer continues to travel the country, speaking about a topic that
embodies many of his priorities -- Energy Independence. At Columbia
University this week and the University of Virginia next week, Governor
Schweitzer is sharing his plan to free the United States from a different
addiction that impacts almost everything we, as a country, do: Importing oil
from the troubled regions of the world. A tall order? Sure. A pipe-dream?
No way. Just as going to the moon in ten years was considered an
impossibility by many, big change requires bold thinking and brave action.
The state of Montana owns enough coal to provide energy for America's needs
for at least the next 40 years. Brian wants to use this asset as a bridge
to the hydrogen economy. The clincher? Schweitzer has found a clean way to
use coal: No smokestacks, no deep mines, and a fuel that burns much cleaner
than the gasoline Americans currently use.
Schweitzer, a soil scientist who speaks Arabic and spent 7 years living in
Middle East, is uniquely positioned to address what may be the biggest issue
of our time.
Although it will take years to actually build these synfuel plants and yet more time to evaluate how well they will work, it's been quite refreshing to have a governor who is at least willing to talk about future energy choices. Governor Schweitzer has also promoted the two new wind farms under development in Montana, and has appointed a Global Warming Committee to look into ways that the state can work toward minimizing its activities on the global climate. Brian Schweitzer has been a tireless supporter of the use of ethanol, and now gasoline with 10% ethanol is available nearly everywhere in the state, and there are a few stations offering 85% ethanol for the vehicles set up to use it.
Walter Schweitzer concludes his email with this:
To learn more, watch "60 Minutes" on CBS this Sunday at 7 pm, as Lesley
Stahl interviews the COAL COWBOY, and his celebrity dog, Jag
It will be interesting to see how Lesley Stahl interviews Jag the dog.
On another note unconnected to his 60 Minutes appearance, Governor Schweitzer last week blasted the recommendations of series of business seminars put on by the University of Montana. In the seminars, the business professors Jack Morton and Michael Harrington suggested passing legislation to make Montana a "Right to Work State" in order to break the remnants of labor unions that still remain in the state. Also the business profs recommended amending the state constitution to eliminate the clause declaring every Montanan's right to a clean an healthful environment, which they viewed as anti-business. Governor Schweitzer took a shot across the bows of these right wing talking points:
Schweitzer criticized right-to-work laws as "right to work for less." He said Montana's strong constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment is an asset and a major factor in why people are moving to Bozeman, Hamilton, Kalispell and Missoula and starting businesses there.
Politics is fun once again with Brian Schweitzer as governor!