Star-Tribune Editorial Board

Montana's governor showed an appalling lack of leadership last week when he summarily rejected an agreement on water quality between his state and Wyoming.

Gov. Brian Schweitzer brought no alternative solutions to the table, and he didn't even bother to notify our state about his decision. He simply told a reporter, who contacted Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal for a comment.

We certainly don't discourage public officials from talking to newspapers. But Schweitzer's approach put Freudenthal in an unnecessarily awkward position. He didn't know if Schweitzer objected to a Nov. 20 agreement between the states, to some proposed new language, or to any agreement that might be reached in the future.

At the time of Schweitzer's unilateral action, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality was waiting for a response from its Montana counterpart. As Freudenthal dryly noted, "I guess we have our answer."

In 2006, Montana approved tighter standards on coal-bed methane water entering the Tongue River and its tributaries. Before the Environmental Protection Agency could approve the new restrictions, several companies sued the federal agency.

Wyoming joined the lawsuit on the industry's side, while Montana joined on the EPA's side. The two states have been working on a proposed agreement that would have set new water quality standards for the Tongue. But Schweitzer, lobbied by farming and fishing interests, complained that the standards wouldn't cover the Tongue's tributaries.

Now, thanks to Schweitzer, the negotiations are over, and the dispute will likely be resolved by the U.S. District Court in Cheyenne. If the court ultimately approves weaker water quality standards than the ones he rejected, Montana's governor has only himself to blame.