Montana's Governor says it's time for the U.S. to become energy independent.
"It's time for America to stand up for energy independence in our own country. There's no reason why we should be dependent on these dictators all over the world for our energy supply," Governor Brian Schweitzer said on Friday's MetroNews Talkline.
Governor Schweitzer will speak at the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner, a fundraiser for the state Democratic Party, Saturday night in West Virginia's Capitol City.
Now is the time, he says, for the U.S. to step up in a big way.
"America has to take it back when it comes to technology. That country that owns new energy technology during the next 20 years will own the next century and, if we allow China or some other country to get ahead of us, I don't even want to end that sentence," the Governor said.
"I don't care whether we drill it or blow it or grow it or dig it or shine it or react it, if it's American engineers designing it and American workers that are producing it, it's good for America."
Schweitzer, a farmer and a rancher, is Montana's 23rd Governor and the first Democratic Governor to serve there in 20 years. When he was elected in 2004, it was his first political office.
He followed Governor Joe Manchin as Chairman of the Democratic Governors Association.
Governor Schweitzer is an opponent of cap and trade. Instead, he supports a direct tax on carbon to generate money for research and development. "It isn't a question of coal," he says. "It's a question of the nitrogen, the sulfur, the CO2 that's emitted with coal. Well, we can fix that."
The Annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner will be held Saturday night at the Charleston Civic Center.
Governor Brian Schweitzer: MetroNews Talkline
