Potential of clean energy is lost on Rockies lawmakers

One would think that living in a region with some of the best renewable energy potential in the nation would encourage western lawmakers to start looking to the future. But a vote last week in the U.S. House of Representatives shows that many including Montana’s Rep. Denny Rehberg n are still mired in that old coal and petroleum mind-set.

The wisdom of continuing to spur the quickening growth of renewable energy n the wind energy sector has grown 22 percent a year over the past five years was lost on 17 out of the 28 House members from the Rocky Mountain states. Unfortunately, the divide came along party lines.

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http://missoulian.com/articles/2008/03/03/opinion/guest/aguest96.txt