Blue jeans, cowboy boots and a faithful pooch may be part of Gov. Brian Schweitzer's downhome, just-off-the-farm image, but his ideas - and his enthusiasm for them - are anything but parochial. A case in point is his recent push to turn coal into oil.

In an interview with the Lee State Bureau last week, Schweitzer said he met with Pentagon officials earlier this month in Washington, D.C., to discuss a military plan to promote the private production of various petroleum fuels by using clean-coal technologies. The idea, they said, is to make U.S. armed forces less dependent on foreign oil.

Montana, with millions of tons of state-owned coal in southeast Montana, could be a big part of that plan, according to the governor. He envisions a $2.5 billion plant near the Otter Creek coal reserves that would be built over two years by 5,000 construction workers and operated by some 1,000 plant personnel - not counting the miners who provide the coal.

He figures such a plant could produce 30,000 barrels of fuel a day. And why stop at one?

Some may scoff at such big thinking, but it makes a lot of sense. After all, production of U.S. oil deposits peaked 35 years ago, and many experts predict worldwide production will hit its peak within the next five years. As oil production slows, prices will soar, finally spurring an all-out effort to convert to renewable energy sources. But until that process is complete, oil will become a truly precious commodity - justifying investment in "clean coal" liquefaction technology as well as others, such as getting oil from tar sands.

Despite the term "clean coal," the synthetic oil produced still emits carbon dioxide, an important greenhouse gas, during its manufacture as well as its combustion. Its use is, however, cleaner than burning the coal. And the kind of huge plants envisioned by the governor certainly would be easier and less controversial to erect in the Powder River area than in more populated parts of the country.

Schweitzer said he plans to devote much of his time over the next few months exploring the possibilities more thoroughly. It's an effort that could carry a big payoff.