Montana's Coal Cowboy

Lesley Stahl Reports On An Ambitious Fuel Plan

(CBS) 
Now there’s a fledgling online movement to draft Schweitzer into the next presidential race.

Schweitzer says "President Schweitzer of the United States" sounds a little silly to him. "I’m the governor of Montana. We have 920,000 people. This is the first office I’ve ever been elected to and I’ve only been here a year."

He may answer that question with an "aw shucks," but some Montanans complain that he does have his eye on the national stage.

"Right now he is the governor of Montana. He cannot turn his back on us looking for bigger and better things," said Helen Waller, who leads the Northern Plains Resource Council, a group of farmers and ranchers fighting the governor’s coal-to-diesel plan.

"I think he has more of a perspective of trying to save the world. And that's a … good goal but you’ve got to start by pieces," said Waller.

One of the pieces, she says, should not be more mining. She points out that in the past, mining companies came to Montana, dug out the precious minerals and, despite their promises to clean things up, they left behind toxic eyesores.

"The place would be changed to the point where it wouldn't be like home any more," Waller said.

But Schweitzer says there’s now a state law that requires mining companies to restore the land after the digging is done.

The governor showed Stahl a piece of land that used to be a mine but is now used for agriculture. He says he would force mining companies to restore the land after the mines are closed.

Mining companies have gotten around the law in the past so Waller thinks it’s crazy to dig up the coal; instead Montana should be producing bio-diesel, a fuel made from plant seeds.

"We’ve got all that land there that can be used to produce bio-fuels and it is competitive," she said. "There's a better way! That's what I'm saying. Other states are way out ahead of us."

"Well maybe they don't have as much coal as you have," Stahl said.

"Well, that's probably the case," Waller acknowledged.

Asked why the money shouldn’t all be invested in bio-diesel, Schweitzer said, "If we replaced all the acres of wheat, corn and soybeans that we export across America, you would only replace 15 percent of our diesel demands in this country. Do the math. It's not enough."

China is already working with Shell on Fischer-Tropsch projects in Asia but to build them in the United States, the governor has to raise investment money from private industry.

Who's in?

"Well no one's in yet. I haven't seen the check yet," said Schweitzer.

Asked why investors are reluctant, Schweitzer said: "Everybody wants to be the first one to build the second plant. Because that's the fact. Because the first plant is going to be a lot of engineering on the fly. So, there will be cost over-runs. I'm telling you."

Even people who like the governor say he’s a big dreamer but nothing seems to discourage him. With his cowboy swagger, he just keeps pushing his plan for Montana, despite the obstacles.

"I have heard about synfuels 30 years at least," Stahl said. "Out here in the west. And it always seems to fail. The minute the price of oil comes down a little, these things just go into bankruptcy."

"If you believe the price of oil is going to drop back to $25 or $30 a barrel, you shouldn't walk away from this project. You should run," said Schweitzer. "But the overwhelming majority of the people who understand the oil market worldwide do not believe that we will spend much time below $30 a barrel. This is the right thing to do. We can do it. Let's get started."