The fast talking governor who has a plan to fuel the American dream

[T_i_B]

Can anyone tell us more about Brian Schweitzer and about this scheme?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/06/17/wmontana17.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/06/17/ixnews.html

The governor of Montana reached into the pocket of his black jeans, pulled out a vial of liquid and banged it on the table in front of him with a winning smile. "Diesel," he bellowed. "It smells nasty. It is nasty." Like one of the fairground hucksters who used to roam his giant western state, he paused, then lobbed a nugget of coal into the air, before pulling out another vial. "Now smell this. It doesn't smell at all. It is the future."

Inside the second vial was a synthetic fuel made from, of all things, coal. It looks like diesel. Indeed you can pour it into the fuel tank of a diesel car and drive away. Yet it just may be the magic potion that will help Americans to win independence from Middle Eastern oil and fill up their tanks with home-grown fuel.

Or so at least hopes Montana's ebullient Democratic governor, Brian Schweitzer.

With petrol prices soaring, this is no longer just a cause for trendy Democrats. Conrad Burns, a Republican senator in Montana fighting for re-election, said: "We've got to get more independence from fossil fuel and keep working on new technologies."

[snowbear]

1. The Governor of Montana is promoting the use of Montana coal

to manufacture synthetic fuel.

Unless some Montanans drop in with more details.. you might find info over in the Montana section, under states.

I wouldn't call what he's doing a "scheme" myself..

Kudos to one of the nation's most popular Governor's for trying to find an alternate source for fuel.

[T_i_B]

3. Well, here's the Montana forum

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=163

I have to admit I didn't see too much stuff about this on the Montana forum but there you go. I just thought that everyone else could do with seeing this article as well, especially given the enviromental and science aspects to the story. Plus I am loathe to post the same article in two different places on DU.

[snowbear]

4. Thanks.. Our Big Sky friends will be by later I'm sure..

Only night owls like me are up this late..

And actually.. I'm about to doze off too.

We'll bump this up for you later in the morning if it drifts down!

[T_i_B]

5. Thanks!

[sandnsea]

2. 'clean' coal

Here's an FAQ from MT web site, some links there too. But I'd suggest checking out environmental sites too because it does have pros and cons. I also haven't checked to see exactly how they would mine this. MT doesn't have a great mining record, but they also have learned a lot with the asbestos and copper messes.

http://governor.mt.gov/hottopics/faqsynthetic.asp

[Solon]

6. So, let's see, we have enough coal, maybe...

that will last another 50 or so years, and that is just for power plants. Now, converting it into ANY other fuel for our transportation usage means, at the very least, cutting the timeline down by at least 20% or so. What would this accomplish?