Montana Gov. Schweitzer: "States, industry must solve energy crisis"

States must take a regional approach and work with industry officials if they hope to help solve the nation’s energy crisis, Gov. Brian Schweitzer said Monday in kicking off his two-day Western energy conference here.

The federal energy bill passed by Congress this summer does little to ease the country’s dependence on foreign oil and gas and contains few conservation proposals or long-term solutions, he said.

“There’s no vision in that energy bill,” Schweitzer said. “There’s no future.”

He urged the more than 750 energy leaders, analysts, environmentalists, Western governors and local officials gathered in Bozeman for “The Montana Symposium: Energy Future of the West” conference to “think big” and stop the pattern.

By SARAH COOKE Associated Press

Full Story: http://missoulian.com/articles/2005/10/18/breaker/doc435551daa54c9854862806.txt

Full Agenda of the Montana Energy Conference:

Prospecting for Ideas: Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer Brings Western Governors Together for Energy Symposium http://www.matr.net/article-16477.html