Missoula News

On the Hill

Schweitzer Pitches West to Congressional Committee

By Sanjay Talwani, 2-28-07

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer explains coal gasification to the House Natural Resources Committee Wednesday.

WASHINGTON D.C.—Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, joined by former Montana Congressman Pat Williams, brought his relentlessly upbeat message of energy and economic development to the U.S. House of Representatives’ Natural Resources Committee Wednesday, testifying at a hearing on the “Evolving West.” Some of the panel Republicans expressed skepticism; some asked questions designed to expose hypocrisy. But in the end, even the Republicans showed love.

When Rob Bishop, Republican of Utah, asked Schweitzer about coal-to-liquid technology, it gave the governor a chance to point out that Montana has 32 percent of the nation’s coal reserves, and 8 percent of the world’s—and that we need to find new ways to use coal. And that the nation needs to invest more money in coal technologies and carbon sequestration. And he might have kept going if Bishop didn’t interrupt.

“To be honest, I agree with everything you said,” Bishop said. Then he apologized for leaving Schweitzer only 20 seconds to answer his next question. So the governor fired back his words and figures so fast, with all his talk of billions of barrels and foreign dictatorships and BTUs, that most in the room seemed at least somewhat lost, until he rounded up his point and sat back.

“Wow,” said Bishop.

Another Utah Republican, Chris Cannon, tried to pin down why Schweitzer seemed so excited about coal, but seemed less so about oil.

“Oh, I love developing oil, too,” Schweitzer said. And he mentioned again that Montana was one of just two states to increase oil production, and that the Albertans were coming to Montana with their oil gear because of Montana’s good business climate.

And after Williams’ impassioned plea for the BLM to stop permitting new coal-bed methane wells, Bill Sali, an Idaho Republican, also tried to expose a double standard applied to different kinds of hydrocarbon development.

“You’re saying one is good and one is bad?” asked Sali.

But that just gave Williams and Schweitzer a chance to get deeper, to speak of a diverse, changing populace, of “footloose” jobs that follow the people to the beautiful places they want to live, and not the other way around.

“So, you support resource extraction as long as it’s done responsibly?” Sali finally offered.

Committee Chairman Nick Rahall of West Virginia called the hearing to highlight the West’s “dramatic transformation in recent years as a result of local efforts to combine sound resource conservation with robust economic development.” It’s unclear what exactly hearings accomplish—they establish a public record, they raise awareness, and they educate Congressmen—but at oversight hearings like this one there is no specific legislation discussed in detail.

In this case, the overflowing room, full of staff and lobbyists, plus the half-dozen or so members of Congress who were present at any one point, heard not just about coal but also about how 27 states get water from Montana, how forest management affects water quality, and about the hydrogen car Schweitzer drove that went zero to 60 in about 10 seconds but had a tank that could blow up the city. They heard about the prices of megawatts and how wind energy isn’t just for hippies who live on mountaintops and smoke marijuana, as Schweitzer explained.

They heard that open-pit coal mines look really small from the air, and how once the Montana mines are reclaimed, antelope will be running around there. They heard about the “Irish miracle” of economic growth, and how Montana’s youth-heavy Indian reservations can also benefit from similar high-tech investment. And sure, coal’s dirty, and mistakes were made in the past, but we’ll learn from them.

And they heard, several times, how coal cannot save the world without effective carbon sequestration technologies to mitigate the effects of greenhouse gasses. After several Republicans had mentioned environmental extremists gumming up the works, Schweitzer said that 10 percent on either side of an issue won’t even get into the room to negotiate and well, they can stay out, the governor would rather deal with the other 80 percent.

“You’ll always be welcome in the Republican party with those ideas,” Cannon said to Schweitzer.

“I understand the Republicans have older whiskey and faster horses, but I’ll stay with the Democrats,” the governor responded.

“Not in Utah,” Cannon corrected.

But before the Democrats testified, the panel heard from a group of Republican Congressmen with mostly a less positive outlook on the West. Rep. Greg Walden of eastern Oregon spoke of pink slips and declining timber sales even as timber use increases, and legal gridlock caused by environmental groups.

Dennis Rehberg of Montana questioned the panel’s attempt to highlight only the positive in the West, attacking the “myth” of a robust economy without a major resource sector.

“Rather than highlighting the positive, can we get down to the basics?” he asked.

Devin Nunes spoke of the San Joaquin Valley as California’s Appalachia, but poorer and with less federal investment. He spoke of so-called environmental groups and their fundraising campaigns, litigation, that “have turned traditional recreational opportunities upside down,” he said. They’ve valued the salmon ahead of his constituents, he said.

Those Congressmen left the hearing before questions were possible, but afterward Williams decried their approach.

“You saw the two sides of the argument here—the one side saying, ‘The West is still the old West, it’s still oil and gas and timber,’ and the other side saying, ‘Well, oil and gas and timber still have some relative importance,’” said Williams, senior fellow at the O’Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West at the University of Montana. “The real economic value in Montana and in the West is the diversity of the economy. This committee hopefully will now understand the real economy in the new West, instead of pretending the old economy is still king.”

“I heard this argument in the 1970s,” he said. “The people mouthing the words have changed on the Republican side, but the language is the same, as is the logic, and its flawed about the economy that is driving the West.”

At the hearing, Williams gave a shout out to Western Progress, a new policy institute where he is a senior fellow. In a region still known for its conservative policy institutions, Western Progress aims to tackle Western issues with a progressive approach. Its first major event will be an alternative energy conference in Phoenix in May.

After the Montanans left, the hearing ventured toward some specific cases of collaboration between extractive industries and conservation interests. A final panel included Clifford Lyle Marshall, Chairman of the Hoopa Valley Tribe of northern California, which harvests about 12 million board-feet of timber annually; Matthew Box, Chairman of the Southern Ute Tribe of Colorado, which has extensive oil and gas operations and has diversified into other industries; Russell Vaagen, vice president of a third-generation lumber company in northeast Washington, came to discuss his company’s ability to process smaller logs from thinning projects; Bob Lee, professor of Forest Resources at the University of Washington, discussed communities affected by reductions in federal timber harvest; and Luther Probst, executive director of the Sonoran Institute, who testified about his findings on the economic benefits of public land conservation.

Schweitzer, in Washington for National Governors Association meetings also delivered part of his energy message to the Senate Finance Committee Monday and met with officials including Energy Secretary Sam Bodmon.

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