George Ochenski rips Governor Brian Schweitzer (D-MT) for leaving on a junket to China while Montana is in the midst of record flooding. And, the GOP highlight’s President Barack Obama’s “war on coal.”
Here’s an excerpt from Ochenski’s piece in The Missoula Independent:
Almost seven years ago, nearing the end of his first year in office, Gov. Brian Schweitzer threw what he called “The Governor’s Energy Symposium” at Montana State University. By then he had already earned the moniker “The Coal Cowboy” from national media for his over-the-top promotion of a mythological substance called “clean coal.” As many Montanans know, his lauded development of our coal resources never did amount to a single “clean coal” facility. So now that we’re back to reality, Schweitzer is off on his high horse again, this time to China, where he says he’s going to peddle Montana’s coal to Asia. And just like all those years ago, the “clean” part is mythological.
This week, while Montana faces its most severe flooding in recent times, Schweitzer is in China for two weeks on a junket. We have communities underwater while our governor is on the other side of the globe peddling the dirtiest fuel on earth.
Meanwhile, the GOP is highlighting President Barack Obama’s “War on Coal” with this:
“Two New EPA Regulations Will Slam The Coal Industry So Hard That Hundreds Of Thousands Of Jobs Will Be Lost, And Electric Rates Will Skyrocket 11 Percent To Over 23 Percent, According To A New Study Based On Government Data.” (Paul Bedard, “Coal Regs Would Kill Jobs, Boost Energy Bills,” U.S. News & World Report’s “Washington Whispers”, 6/8/11)
Obama Has Wanted To Bankrupt Coal-Fired Power Plants All Along. OBAMA: “So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can; it’s just that it will bankrupt them because they’re going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that’s being emitted.” (Sen. Barack Obama, Interview With San Francisco Chronicle, 1/17/08)
NetRightDaily added this:
It is important to note that U.S. power plants account for less than 0.5 percent of all the mercury in the air Americans breathe. The other 99.5 percent of mercury in the environment comes from natural occurrences like forest fires, volcanoes, subsea vents, geysers and other sources, including food. But to eliminate this 0.5 percent of mercury emitted from U.S. power plants, utility companies must now spend billions more a year.
Despite that the levels of mercury in a fluorescent bulb are small; an average of 4 milligrams per light bulb, imagine every single one of those light bulbs in a landfill releasing mercury into the air and soil.