As governor of Montana, I have aggressively advocated that we tackle energy independence while capitalizing on emerging energy markets [See “Big plans in Big Sky country,” nwcurrent, April 2006]. This includes conservation and promoting renewable energy development as well as the development of coal-to-liquids facilities as a bridge to the energy future. 

Americans use 6.5 billion barrels of oil each year, yet the United States produces only 2.5 billion barrels annually. We import 4 billion barrels from some of the world's most unstable regions. America needs a plan to get out of this mess.

We can save 1 billion barrels of oil a year through conservation — things such as more efficient cars, homes, businesses and appliances. We’ve done this before: We reduced our energy use by a similar percentage during the oil crisis of the late 1970s, when President Carter asked us to sacrifice. Through informed consumers and the use of existing technology, we can do it again. That still leaves us with a 3-billion-barrel-a-year deficit.

Another part of the solution is biofuels. We can produce a billion barrels of biofuels, but they won’t be just ethanol. Some of the biofuels we produce will be biodiesel from crops such as canola, safflower, soybeans and camelina, which is my personal favorite, because it is particularly well suited to Montana’s arid climate. And the net energy ratio of biodiesel is more favorable than that of ethanol.

Our 4 billion barrel oil deficit has now been reduced to 2 billion barrels a year. How do we cover the remaining 2 billion barrels? In Montana we have a lot of coal — as much as 120 billion tons of it, which is 28 percent of the nation’s reserves and 8 percent of the world’s reserves. Located close to the surface, coal represents some of the least expensive British thermal units (Btu’s) available in the world. 

But America is not going to develop coal in Montana or in other parts of the country if we continue the ways of the past. Traditional development simply won’t be feasibly financed in the future because, as a nation, we are finally coming to grips with the risks of climate change. 

We need to use better ways of extracting energy from coal and put the carbon back into the earth where it came from. To do so, we need to perfect geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide (CO2). We must identify geologic structures where we can store great quantities of CO2. In Montana, the Big Sky Sequestration Partnership at Montana State University has been working with the U.S. Department of Energy to tackle this issue. We have identified some of these geologic zones, but there is much more work to be done. We need measuring devices and monitoring protocols, and we need to work out liability provisions. We clearly cannot be doing this haphazardly. [See “Current Commentary: Clean Coal – realistic or oxymoron” nwcurrent, May 2007].

It is my hope that Americans can produce the final 2 billion barrels a year from our enormous coal reserves — developing a clean-burning fuel for about $1.20 a gallon. We can do this, and over the next 30 years only touch a small fraction of our domestic coal reserves.

Beyond the challenge of imported oil and its impact on our foreign policy and the lives of American soldiers, we face a challenge in producing enough electricity to meet our growing demand — and doing so in a way that does not contribute further to global warming. 

Part of the solution is in wind power generation. In Montana, we are first in the nation in class IV, V, VI and VII wind categories combined. More than $300 million has been invested in wind power in Montana recently, and there will be another $1 billion invested in wind energy over the next few years.

Wind power must become a more significant part of our energy portfolio in this country. But the wind does not blow all the time, and backup power sources are needed to ensure transmission system stability. It’s impossible to use wind power as a significant source of new electrical energy to supply growing markets such as California, southern Nevada and Arizona unless we have additional transmission capacity. Without it, we won’t be able to use wind power for much more than 15 percent of our portfolio. I am excited that major transmission lines are in the works, originating in Montana, and delivering clean and green electricity to the West and Southwest. Combined with power from wind generation and clean, green coal projects coming on-line, this added transmission will further stimulate energy production in Montana. 

We need to make a very real national commitment to domestically produced energy. We have the inherent energy resources, and we can further develop the technologies to use them more wisely. We can perfect the sequestration of CO2. Best of all, through these efforts we can create tens of thousands of new jobs right here in America. 

Yes, we can achieve energy independence in the United States, but only if we have a true vision for the energy future of America. We must have a plan to get there — and the political will to bring it to reality.

Gov. Schweitzer submitted this article to nwcurrent after presenting a longer version as testimony to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee on Feb. 27, 2007.