Word: schweitzer
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...through November. That means Obama will be considering choices like Ohio governor Ted Strickland (though Strickland says he would turn down the offer) or one of three possibilities from Virginia - Governor Tim Kaine, former governor Mark Warner or Senator Jim Webb. Or perhaps a Westerner like Montana governor Brian Schweitzer. McCain might get an Electoral College boost by picking Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty, Pennsylvania's ex-governor Tom Ridge or former rival Mitt Romney, who has family roots in pivotal Michigan...
...Glenn Schweitzer, who oversees the program, says the exchanges are spreading trust and some transparency - including "insights into their intentions" - which is important given concerns about Iran's nuclear program. "When you deal with a country you label as an adversary you assume the worst, and the less you know the worse it gets," he says. "We don't claim we are having a major impact on solving the nuclear issue, the human rights issue or the Hizballah issue, but I think we would argue we may help a little...
There are numerous restrictions - on both sides - including as many as a dozen U.S. Executive Orders limiting activities with Iranians. But Schweitzer says it is worth the extra effort to work with Iran, which boasts a long history of prowess in such fields as mathematics and astronomy, and more recently physics, chemistry and electrical engineering...
...benefit from the transition to clean power. Montana can't produce a lot of the corn that currently goes to make most biofuel in the U.S., but it does have vast acreage that could be used to raise waste crops for cellulosic ethanol in the future, or biodiesel today. Schweitzer points out that his administration was able to pass a renewable energy portfolio standard, mandating that 15% of the state's power come from alternative sources by 2015. That's exactly the sort of standard - intended to speed the development of renewable power - that Congress wasn't able to keep...
...unusual for environmental initiatives to begin at the state level, filtering up to Washington, and that may be the case with climate change legislation as well. State governors, Schweitzer points out, are executives who need to respond to the demands of their voters if they want to stay in office - and climate change is on the public's mind. Congress and the President, on the other hand, are more insulated. But that needs to change. As heartening as the various state initiatives have been - more than half the states in the U.S. now have climate change legislation of some kind...