Montana

Tired Of Being Told To ‘Adapt,’ An Indigenous Community Wrote Its Own Climate Action Plan

February 21, 2023 Carly Graf, Next City. Create! climate crisis, Indigenous Peoples, Montana, Sustainability

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes live among some of the most spectacular landscapes in the country. Their home, the Flathead Reservation, covers 1.2 million acres dotted with soaring mountains, sweeping valleys, and lush forests. Flathead River bisects the land and drains into Flathead Lake, the largest body of fresh water west of the Mississippi River. Long before anyone called this place northwest Montana or considered it a tourist destination, it sustained the tribes and they sustained it. “We have a proven track record of sustainability,” says Shelly Fyant, former chair of the CSKT Tribal Council. “We can trace it back 14,000 years.”

Judge Reinstates Obama-Era Coal Leasing Moratorium On Federal Lands

August 13, 2022 Center for Biological Diversity. Resist! Coal Mining, Legal System, Montana, Victory

Great Falls, Montana - A federal judge in Montana District Court ruled today to reinstate a moratorium on new coal leasing on public lands, halting all coal leasing on federal lands until the Bureau of Land Management completes a more sufficient environmental analysis. The original moratorium set by the Obama administration in 2016 was overturned by Trump Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke in 2017. The Biden administration revoked the Zinke order last year, but did not reinstate the moratorium. “The Tribe has fought and sacrificed to protect our homelands for generations, and our lands and waters mean everything to us. We are thrilled that the court is requiring what we have always asked for: serious consideration of the impacts of the federal coal leasing program on the Tribe and our way of life,” said President Serena Wetherelt of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe.

Bull Mountains Victory And The ‘Social Cost Of Carbon’

April 29, 2022 Dave Jones, Resilience. Educate! Carbon emissions, Coal, Environment, Montana

Roundup, Montana - Some rare good news came down from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals recently. In a 2-1 decision, the court rejected an Environmental Assessment (EA) that would have green lighted expansion to the Bull Mountains underground coal mine near Roundup, Montana. The court majority held that the EA provided no scientific reasoning to support its conclusion that the expansion would have no significant impact on greenhouse gas emissions. A Trump appointee on the 3-judge panel dissented on grounds that courts “are ill-equipped to step into highly politicized scientific debates like this.” As a result of the 9th Circuit decision, four environmental groups — 350 Montana, Montana Environmental Information Center, Sierra Club, and WildEarth Guardians — will be allowed to continue their lawsuit challenging the environmental review in Montana federal court.

Montana Plaintiffs Announce First Children’s Climate Trial In US History

February 9, 2022 Jessica Corbett, Commondreams. Resist! climate crisis, Legal System, Montana, Oil and Gas

Young Montanans and their lawyers announced Monday that the first children's climate trial in U.S. history is set to begin a year from now in Helena, Montana. The historic trial in the constitutional climate lawsuit Held v. State of Montana is scheduled for February 6 through February 17, 2023 at the First Judicial District Court. "Going to trial means a chance for me and my fellow plaintiffs to have our climate injuries recognized and a solution realized," said Grace, one of the 16 plaintiffs, in a statement. "It means our voices are actually being heard by the courts, the government, the people who serve to protect us as citizens, and Montana's youth," she added.

Big Problems With Proposals For Small Nuclear Reactors

January 28, 2022 Mike Garrity, Counter Punch. Educate! Energy, Environment, Montana, Nuclear Energy

Politicians and investor-owned utilities are now proposing small nuclear reactors in Montana to replace the old coal-fired power plants at Colstrip. For the last 44 years a successful Citizens’ Initiative banned nuclear power in Montana unless approved by the voters. But Republican majorities in the 2021 Montana legislature repealed the initiative and Republican Governor Gianforte signed the bill into law. There are similar proposals in Wyoming and Idaho. But the rush to nukes suffered a major setback this month when the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission denied the application to build and operate the nation’s first small modular nuclear 720 megawatt reactor at the Idaho National Laboratory.

Confederated Salish And Kootenai Win The Day

August 12, 2021 Tara Sweeney, Indian Country Today. Educate! Bison, Indigenous Rights, Land Reform, Montana

Congratulations to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes on their recent acquisition of the National Bison Range. In September 2018, I made my first official trip as assistant secretary-Indian affairs to the homelands of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. The purpose of the trip was to learn about the irrigation project on the Flathead Reservation. I learned about the challenges with rate setting, aging infrastructure, the differing needs of Indian and non-Indian water users, water rights, the history behind the project and the need for a fair and just water claims settlement with the federal government. In addition to the irrigation project, I had the opportunity to visit the National Bison Range and learn about the cultural significance of the bison, and the range, to the Salish and Kootenai peoples.

Right To Work Defeated In Montana and Colorado

March 5, 2021 Brian Young, UcommBlog. Resist! Colorado, Labor Unions, Montana, Right to Work Laws

Montana and Colorado have both stopped attempts to pass Right to Work laws and will continue to be free bargaining states. In Montana, Republicans have control over the entire state government, a first in over 16 years. Yet, over the past month, union members and employers have successfully pushed legislators to vote against Right to Work. On Tuesday, with union members filling the gallery and lining the hallways, legislators voted down the bill by a vote of 38 in favor to 62 opposed. In a show of bipartisanship, 29 Republicans joined with 33 Democrats in opposing the bill. In speaking in opposition to the bill Rep. Derek Harvey, a Democrat from Butte spoke about the role that unions played in his city producing the copper that fueled the industrial revolution, electrified the nation, and supplied ammunition during both World Wars.

Federal Court Invalidates Key Permit For Keystone XL

April 19, 2020 the Center for Biological Diversity. Resist! Courts, Keystone XL, Montana, Water is Life

Great Falls, MT — A federal judge today ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers violated the law when it approved Nationwide Permit 12, a water-crossing permit critical for TC Energy’s Keystone XL tar sands pipeline and many other pipelines nationwide. The ruling invalidates Nationwide Permit 12, prohibiting the Corps from using this fast-tracked approval process for any pipelines nationwide, including Keystone XL. The ruling could also block construction through hundreds of water crossings along the Keystone XL pipeline route. The ruling comes in response to a lawsuit filed by conservation and landowner groups last year that challenged the Corps’ failure to adequately analyze the effects of pipelines authorized under Nationwide Permit 12, including Keystone XL, on local waterways, lands, wildlife and communities.

Montana Marchers Demand Justice And Safety For Indigenous Women

April 17, 2019 By Adrian Jawort, Newsmaven.io Resist! Indigenous Women, March, Montana

A sea of red-clad Native march participants and allies carried signs during the march from the Native American Achievement Center at Montana State University Billings to downtown at the Yellowstone County Courthouse lawn, with pictures and names of sisters, best friends, moms, daughters, cousins, and loved ones. During the march, they chanted slogans such as, “Silent no more!” and “No more stolen sisters!” while giving continuous war cries to honor and remember Indigenous women and girls that have been lost.

Montana Law Enforcement Gearing-Up For Mass Anti-Pipeline Protests

October 1, 2018 Hunter Pauli, Havreherald.com Educate! Law Enforcement, Montana, Pipelines, Protests

State and federal agencies are training Montana law enforcement officers to surveil anti-Keystone XL pipeline activists’ social media and arrest protesters en masse, according to correspondence obtained by the ACLU of Montana and provided to Montana Free Press. Agencies coordinating to train law enforcement officers in eastern Montana include police and sheriff’s departments, the Montana Highway Patrol, the Montana Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, Montana Disaster and Emergency Services, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana’s Anti-Terrorism Advisory Council.

Mining Companies Sue Montana After They’re Told To Clean Up Old Projects Before Starting New Ones

March 28, 2018 Matthew Brown, Billingsgazette.com Educate! Lawsuit, Mining, Montana

An Idaho mining company sued Montana environmental regulators on Friday for labeling the company and its president "bad actors" who should pay for cleanups at several polluted sites before pursuing two new mines beneath a wilderness area. Attorneys for subsidiaries of Hecla Mining described the state's allegation that the company is responsible for past and ongoing pollution from defunct mines as frivolous. Hecla, based in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, claims to be the oldest precious metals mining company in the United States. It says it had no direct involvement in the polluted mines at issue. Hecla's president, Phillips S. Baker Jr., who also chairs the National Mining Association, was formerly the chief financial officer for Pegasus Mining Co. of Spokane, Washington.

Montana Enacts Net Neutrality, Provides Template For Other States To Follow

January 24, 2018 Phillip Tracy, Dailydot.com Resist! FCC, Montana, Net Neutrality

The state’s governor, Steve Bullock, signed an executive order Monday that effectively reinstates net neutrality principles dismantled by the Federal Communications Commission(FCC) in December. Montana will curtail the power of internet service providers (ISPs) by preventing those with a state contract to block or charge more for faster speeds to certain websites. “There has been a lot of talk around the country about how to respond to the recent decision by the Federal Communications Commission to repeal net neutrality rules, which keep the internet free and open. It’s time to actually do something about it,” Bullock said in a statement. “This is a simple step states can take to preserve and protect net neutrality. We can’t wait for folks in Washington, D.C., to come to their senses and reinstate these rules.”

Jury Convicts ‘Valve Turner’ Leonard Higgins On Both Counts

November 24, 2017 Bennett Hall, gazettetimes.com Resist! Activists, Environment, Montana, Pipelines, Protests

By Bennett Hall for Corvallis Gazette-Times - FORT BENTON, Mont. — A Montana jury took just one hour to find climate activist Leonard Higgins guilty of misdemeanor trespassing and felony criminal mischief on Wednesday for his role in the “valve turner” protest that briefly shut down the flow of Canadian crude through pipelines in four U.S. states last year. The 65-year-old former Corvallis resident is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 2 by Judge Daniel Boucher in Chouteau County District Court. He faces a potential maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on the criminal mischief count. The 12-person jury could have found Higgins guilty of a lesser charge but determined that his actions caused more than $1,500 in damage to the pipeline’s owner, Spectra Energy (now Enbridge Corp.), making the criminal mischief a felony offense. Higgins’ lead defense attorney, Herman Watson IV of Bozeman, said his client intends to appeal the verdict to the Montana Supreme Court. “That’s always been the plan, and we already have the appeal written,” Watson said. Like his four fellow valve turners, Higgins had hoped to employ a necessity defense, which would have allowed him to argue that his crimes were justified by the imminent danger to humanity of climate change caused by burning fossil fuels. Boucher denied that motion, saying that “the energy policy of the United States is not on trial.”

Case Hinges On Amount Of Damage Caused By Corvallis Activist

November 23, 2017 Bennett Hall, gazettetimes.com Resist! Courts, Montana, Pipelines

By Bennett Hall for Corvallis Gazette-Times - FORT BENTON, Mont. — Leonard Higgins admits he broke into a remote Montana control facility in October 2016 and turned an emergency shutoff valve on the Spectra Express pipeline. But exactly how much harm did he do? That was the central question during the opening day of his trial on trespassing and criminal mischief charges, which began Tuesday in Chouteau County District Court in Fort Benton, Montana. The 65-year-old former Corvallis resident was one of five “valve turners” who took part in a coordinated action last year to close down oil pipelines in four states to dramatize what they call a climate change emergency. If Higgins is convicted of trespassing — which he admits to doing — he could face up to a year in jail. The criminal mischief charge, however, is a felony count that could earn him a much longer sentence — up to a decade in the Montana State Prison. But under Montana law, the state must prove Higgins caused more than $1,500 in damage to get a felony conviction. Chouteau County Attorney Steven Gannon says he did. In his opening statement on Tuesday, Gannon noted that Higgins used bolt cutters to cut through four steel chains and a padlock to enter the fenced enclosure and free the wheel that operates the emergency shutoff valve, damaging an actuator cover in the process.

Montana Quadruples Solar Energy Capacity In One Year

September 19, 2017 Erin Loranger, www.helenair.com Create! Montana, New Economy, Solar Energy

By Erin Loranger for Independent Record - The state quadrupled its solar energy production over the past year, according to an announcement by Lt. Gov Mike Cooney on Friday. Montana was producing 6.6 megawatts of installed capacity a year ago. The governor’s office released an energy plan, Montana Energy Future, with a goal to double solar capacity by 2025. Now the state has an installed capacity of 26 megawatts. “It’s an incredible honor to announce Montana has not only doubled our solar production much earlier than expected, we’ve quadrupled it in a single year,” he said. Cooney said the state hopes to continue increasing solar production, which creates jobs and promotes energy independence. “Done right, we can drive economic growth while sparking new clean technology,” he said. There are 373,807 solar jobs as of 2016 in the United States. The solar industry employs more people than coal, natural gas, wind or nuclear sources. The announcement was made at the Lewis and Clark Library in Helena, which installed a 50kW rooftop solar array earlier this year.

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