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MEIC's program on energy policy and global warming pollution.

GSpeck judith turbineMontana’s energy future is at a crossroads.  Energy conservation and renewable energy alternatives such as wind and solar power need to take priority over new coal-fired power plants — especially the proposed HIGHWOOD GENERATING STATION near Great Falls — that Montana does not need, that increase global warming pollution, and that violate Montanans’ right to a clean and healthful environment

Montana's Governor Brian Schweitzer has made so-called “clean coal” a central focus of his energy policy.  The claim is that the technology exists, and that it has virtually no environmental impact.  But given the sheer magnitude of the proposed facilities—such as the proposed coal-to-liquids fuels refinery to be located at Malmstrom Air Force Base—and given that the technology to capture and forever sequester carbon emissions is a decade away, MEIC is carefully analyzing these claims.

On the national level, MEIC is working with a coalition of environmental organizations to promote the Cap & Dividend bill—climate change legislation that will help reduce global warming pollution while protecting the incomes and buying power of American families.

MEIC has helped form forward-looking Energy Policy in Montana on many fronts (including working with citizens, utilities, and policymakers to repair the damage caused by deregulation).  One important aspect of this effort is  Community Outreach and Education on energy issues.

 

Overheard...

(Letter in the Billings Gazette, 2/15/09)

I am deeply grateful to the Montana Environmental Information Center and local activists for stopping the Highwood Generating Station near Great Falls. Building a coal-fired power plant now, when global warming is threatening not only the environment but the entire agricultural economy of Montana, would have been a horrible mistake for Montana.

Unless the carbon emissions are appropriately sequestered, coal is simply an obsolete fuel. We cannot use it. Global warming is not a myth, it is real, and it could cause an enormous amount of harm to Montana's environment and agricultural economy. Whether or not precipitation declines, the expected increase in temperature from carbon dioxide emissions will make our climate much more arid. Winters will be shorter, spring runoff will come sooner, the fire season will be longer, and farmers will find it harder to grow a profitable yield.

Every farm and ranch in Montana is truly threatened by global warming. We all could go broke because of it. People who say that developing coal is good for the economy are ignoring science and denying reality. The best thing for the economy is not only to stop new coal plants but shut down existing ones, replacing them with something that will help our economy: windmills. Let's start with the Mount Everest of carbon emissions in Montana, Colstrip.

MEIC and the local activists did the right thing for Montana. We should all be grateful to them.

~ Wade Sikorski, Baker MT

 

 
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