Reader C. H. writes in on this post about Gov. Schweitzer’s opposition to cap-and-trade:

Schweitzer’s also upset that GM is cancelling its contract with the only American (located in Montana) supplier of platinum and palladium for the production of catalytic converters. So where is GM going to get those materials? Russia and South Africa.

More here from the Billings Gazette from earlier in July:

HELENA — Tax-dollar-dependent General Motors is trying to cancel its contract with the nation’s only platinum and palladium mine, the Stillwater Mine in Montana’s Beartooth Mountains, even as it evidently retains contracts with foreign mines.
The news came out this week as GM emerged from bankruptcy as a new company in which the U.S. Treasury is the primary shareholder.
It has ignited outrage in Montana and company leaders.
“Damn right, I’m mad,” Gov. Brian Schweitzer said Friday. “They reached into my pocket so they can stay in business and then they take actions to put Montanans out of business.”
Schweitzer this week sent a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Larry Summers, director of the National Economic Council, objecting to GM’s efforts. Geithner and Summers together head up the president’s Auto Task Force.

And the AP reports from yesterday:

BILLINGS, Mont. — A federal bankruptcy judge granted General Motors Co. permission Wednesday to cut ties with a Montana precious metals supplier so it can instead use cheaper foreign suppliers.
The cancellation of the Stillwater Mining Co. contract was approved by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Gerber in New York following a hearing. No appeal was planned, said Stillwater spokesman John Beaudry. He said the only recourse could be through the Obama administration’s auto task force, which so far has not responded to calls for pressure on GM’s management.
Meanwhile, Montana’s U.S. senators called the move “appalling” for a taxpayer-subsidized company and asked GM to reconsider.
GM backed out of its arrangement with Stillwater and canceled dozens of other contracts to slim down expenses and emerge from federal bankruptcy protection.

Stimulating.