You forgot to mention one of the coolest things about Schweitzer -- and one of the reasons he's gotten so much press the last year -- is his energy proposal for using coal to reduce our need on foreign oil. An interesting solution to a very timely problem.

Reason #33 to like Brian Schweitzer: He uses the phrase, "a bunch of kooky pinecone smokers."

Kari, any reason for the matching Gov. + Dog pictures? I've never seen a dog look as bored as Schweitzer's is.

Lastly, what's the word on how the Montana House is looking this year? Any chance of it swinging Democrat as well? Perhaps I'll have to go on Aug. 22nd to find out?

Nate, the Governor has been promoting a renewable energy portfolio that will put Oregon in a league of its own in the race to energy security. The Governor has articulated a goal of achieving 25% of our state's energy needs by 2025 -- a goal more ambitious than what our more progressive neighbor to the north has to go to the ballot to achieve.

Most of the criticism has been that it's too ambitious, not that it's not a big idea.

I work for the Governor -- so I'm happy to wear my bias on my sleave -- but I believe when we fully implement our energy agenda, our efforts will take their place among the Oregon beach and bottle bills as some of the best ideas our state's ever had.

One of the first things the Ted did when taking office was to create a position of Sustainability Advisor charged with creating sustainability plans for the 20 largest state agencies. This isn't just rhetoric and press release stuff here; already -- for example -- we have the largest percentage of alternative fuel vehicles (30%) in the country.

We've saved a quarter of a million bucks in gas money as a result. And our tailpipe emission restrictions to reduce global warming causing gases has been upheld in the courts.

With 116K uninsured kids, we've got a lot more work to do on health care, no doubt about it. But we did add coverage to 30,000 children by expanding CHIP (Childrens Health Insurance Program), took on PHARMA to pass Oregon's bulk purchasing program and signed SB 1, the mental health parity bill that took years to pass.

The Governor's first term focused on creating jobs and reducing hunger, and given that oregon had the largest hole in its budget since the great depression, those were the right priorities for our state. There's still a lot of work to be done, but I think (and again, I work for the guy) we've got a strong record of accomplishment from the past three and half years.

I'm a native Montanan, and I've been a huge fan of Schweitzer ever since in his US Senate race he put Montana seniors on buses to Canada to get Rx drugs.

But this energy stuff is a good example of where we have to look at the details. Our Governor K's 25% renewable by 2025 is not simply a goal (one of "those goals"). It's a very specific policy -- a renewable energy standard -- that has been proven to work incredibly well for giving renewable energy a significant boost in the arm. One way you can tell it's a real policy that'll make a difference: various industry lobbyists are already scurrying around the state trying to put the brakes on it. (And full disclosure -- I work for OSPIRG and it's one of our top priorities both for dealing with global warming and for addressing America's energy problems.)

<h2>As someone else pointed out, Governor K aimed high. 25% is more than reasonable but it's also bolder than a lot of states have been willing to do. For all Schweitzer's good talk about wind energy, he let Montana's version of the same policy get watered down by utility lobbyists to the point most energy wonks don't think it'll have much of any effect; Governor K has already resisted efforts to water this policy down.</h2>