Search Articles:

 

Breaking News......... More than 180 competitors triple-test their endurance in Helena......... Billings youth soccer teams hits road - in Europe......... BREAKING NEWS: Storm knocks out power, ignites wildfires in Helena......... Shakespeare in the Parks hit hard by recession, trying not to fold......... Local News......... Cancer patient completes race in 8 hours, 45 minutes........Changes to GI Bill alters tuition benefits by state........Court ruling doesn't change NorthWestern's plan for power line........PSC commissioner wants to kill NorthWestern project........Fast times in Missoula Marathon; everyone had a ballPosted on Sunday, July 12........Downtown Missoula building will be tall and eco-friendly........

I was disappointed to read Montana Democratic Party Chairman Dennis McDonald’s guest column on Aug. 11 attacking Rep. Denny Rehberg’s efforts to enact a comprehensive energy policy for America. Not only was the tone of McDonald’s highly partisan column out of step with the way Montanans treat their neighbors, but the substance of his argument showed a fundamental lack of understanding of the energy crisis now facing Montana and America.

But first things first. McDonald made a lot of wild claims in his column, one of which alleged I was in Paris last summer while fires raged in Montana. As a fifth-generation Montana farm kid from the Sweetgrass Hills, I think I’d remember going to Paris. I’ve never been to Paris and have never once set foot in France n though I do hear it’s nice there. In fact, Denny told me all about it last summer after returning from a bipartisan congressional trip there, where he spoke at the dedication of a new World War II memorial honoring America’s veterans.

Anyway, back to the energy discussion. After decades of Democrats, and admittedly even some urban Republicans, blocking domestic energy production, America’s dependence on foreign energy and the resulting high gas prices has finally gotten the attention of Americans. Rehberg, along with the overwhelming majority of Montanans, realizes that Congress needs to act now to solve this problem.

Denny’s common-sense four point energy plan is simple and straightforward and has been on his congressional Web site for weeks: develop America’s domestic fossil fuel energy sources in an environmentally responsible way; encourage energy conservation; invest in alternative energy sources such as wind, solar, geothermal and biomass; and provide incentives to further the development of new energy producing technologies.

McDonald, who moved to Montana from the San Francisco area, seems to be adopting the energy policy of fellow San Franciscan, and current Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. The McDonald-Pelosi plan seems to be to stall any action on energy legislation that would actually help lower gas prices and instead try and confuse the issue by talking about things like trips to France and falsely asserting that Denny’s “only idea for our energy future is drilling.”

America needs a comprehensive energy plan. That’s what Montanans keep telling Rehberg, and that’s what he’s been fighting for in Congress. Again, Denny’s four-point energy plan has been up on his Web site for weeks.

Montanans can go to http://www.house.gov/rehberg/energyindependence and check it out, and then decide for themselves if they agree with the Rehberg plan or the McDonald-Pelosi plan.

Erik Iverson serves as chairman of the Montana Republican Party and as chief of staff to Congressman Denny Rehberg.

---

---

Add your comment now! Write your comment in the form below.
(Email address is for verification only. If you'd like to email a story, look for the link above)

---