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Why Montana Governor Went Green

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 19, 2007

Montana is a cold state with so many natural resources that it exports electricity to other states. Why then is its governor so passionate about championing renewable energy and fighting greenhouse gases linked to climate change?

"We're fighting an oil war," Gov. Brian Schweitzer told us. "And after this one, there will be another."

Schweitzer is a cattle rancher who has worked on agricultural projects in the Middle East long enough to learn to speak Arabic. His passion for weaning America from dependence on foreign oil is based on his own observations - with nature and with families.

Huge tracts of forests have died in Montana because warmer springs have allowed tree-eating insects and tree-killing diseases to get an earlier start.

"Eleven of the past 12 years have been the driest, warmest winters in Montana's history," he says. "We have big mountains, and 70 percent of the water in the Missouri basin comes from snowmelt in Montana - 50 percent of the Columbia system. We're losing our water-storage machinery. In 16 years, there will be no glaciers in Glacier National Park."

On the human side, he complains that members of Congress don't go to the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq. He does. He sees their family members and puts his hand on their shoulders to comfort them.

For him, the energy issue has become personal.

"I have resolved to lead this country on how to become more energy independent," he said.

Even if climate changes continue, producing our own cleaner energy will be great for business, he says, and essential for national security.

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