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Montana had 7 coal-fired generating stations in 2005, with 2,536 MW of capacity, representing 47.3% of the state's total electric generating capacity; Montana ranks 35th out of the 50 states in terms of coal-fired generating capacity.<ref name="EIA">[http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epa/epat2p2.html Existing Electric Generating Units in the United States, 2005], Energy Information Administration, accessed April 2008.</ref> In 2006, Montana's coal-fired power plants produced 18.2 million tons of CO<sub>2</sub>, 18,000 tons of sulfur dioxide, and 36,000 tons of nitrogen oxide; coal-fired power plants were responsible for 55.6% of the state's total CO<sub>2</sub> emissions.<ref>[http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/state/SEP_MoreEnviron.cfm Estimated Emissions for U.S. Electric Power Industry by State, 1990-2006], Energy Information Administration, 2007.</ref> In 2005, Montana emitted 34.9 tons of CO<sub>2</sub> per person, about 75% higher than the U.S. average.<ref name="eRedux">[http://www.eredux.com/states/state_detail.php?id=1154&state=MONTANA Montana Energy Consumption Information], eRedux website, accessed June 2008.</ref>
Former Montana Governor [[Brian Schweitzer]], dubbed by CBS News' ''60 Minutes'' as the "Coal Cowboy",<ref name="60 Minutes, CBS News">[http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/24/60minutes/main1343604.shtml "Montana's Coal Cowboy"] ''60 Minutes'', CBS News, February 24, 2006.</ref> is a leading proponent of coal to liquid technology (i.e. [[clean coal]]). Gov. Schweitzer, a Democrat, proposed an abandoned $15 billion synfuel project in southeast Montana. "The project would require strip-mining to produce the fuel for the coal-fired power plants that would generate electricity for the coal-to-liquids refinery that, in turn, would provide the diesel for the massive stripmining project. It’s an endless cycle that one environmental group terms 'Gov. Schweitzer’s Perpetual Pollution Machine.'<ref name="High Country News">[http://www.hcn.org/articles/clean-coal-is-an-oxymoron "Clean coal is an oxymoron"], ''High Country News'', September 26, 2008.</ref>
Gov. Schweitzer also supported the leasing of 610 million tons of coal over 9,500 acres near Ashland, Montana, known as Otter Creek coal, which will in part be paid for by Montana taxpayers.<ref>[http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20090921/DC5/909210314 Land Board looks at Otter Creek coal], ''Great Falls Tribune'', September 21, 2009.</ref> On December 21, 2009, the Montana Land Board, made up of five Democrats, including Gov. Schwietzer, voted to support opening up the land to coal development in what is known as the [[Powder River Basin]]. Critics of the deal that was bid on by [[Arch Coal]], believe that, "The main beneficiaries of leasing Otter Creek coal won't be coal miners or schools or the Northern Cheyenne or the residents of Powder River County. It will be coal speculators and the proposed Tongue River Railroad."<ref>[http://billingsgazette.com/news/opinion/mailbag/article_ea343f9c-a59d-11de-8e70-001cc4c002e0.html "Otter Creek Coal support based on false promises"], ''Billings Gazette'', September 20, 2009.</ref>
