Are the Dems in Montana going to make a big deal out of Feds

[OregonBlue]

and Cheney (Wyoming) trying to interfere in state politics? Montanans are know for being fiercely independant. This needs to be played up, especially in Eastern Montana. Get the Feds and other states out of our business!!

WP: Montana Pollution Rules Draw Federal Objections <http://journals.democraticunderground.com/DeepModem Mom> <http://journals.democraticunderground.com/DeepModem Mom>

Montana Pollution Rules Draw Federal Objections By Juliet Eilperin Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, April 9, 2006; Page A04 Federal energy officials are opposing new rules by Montana to force companies that extract methane gas from underground coal beds to clean up the water pollution caused by drilling operations, even as state officials cite an unreleased 2003 federal report that says cleanup costs are relatively inexpensive. The Denver office of the Environmental Protection Agency produced the report but never published it, saying it related to a proposed drilling application that was dropped. A Montana consulting firm obtained a copy of the EPA report, however, and handed it over to Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D). Last month, Montana's Board of Environmental Review, citing the EPA paper and other economic studies, voted to force coalbed methane companies to leave the state's streams as clean as they were before drilling started, although the companies do not have to clean up existing pollution. "We want to develop energy in Montana, but we want to do it right," Schweitzer said in an interview. "Here's the bottom line with the federal government: They're usually not helpful, and they weren't this time, either." The Energy Department and the Wyoming congressional delegation are backing companies that are trying to block Montana's new rules, on the grounds that they could hamper energy development. The department submitted analyses by two of its national laboratories concluding that the state's regulations were "unnecessarily stringent" and "inconsistent."... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20... <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/08/AR2006040800920.html>

[havocmom]

1. Folks in my county mighty pissed at Burns for the outside influence of $$

They are sayin 'to hell with his seniority, we need new blood to represent us'. When your state only has 3 in the total (Senate & House) Congressional Delegation, seniority is a BIG issue. The fact that people will toss that bit of leverage in order to toss Burns says a lot.

And people are pretty annoyed with the GOP trying to blame Burns' ethics problems on DEMs being political. They KNOW the RNC thinks they are idiots and easy to scam and a lot of neighbors are pissed about it.