2011

2010

• Settlement reached in Highwood power plant lawsuit (August 19, 2010) READ MEIC's SETTLEMENT WITH SME
• view KRTV news report
• view KFBB news report

• Panel OKs increasing renewable energy mandates (by Mike Dennison,  July 31, 2010)  A leading environmental lobby said...“We have tremendous potential to provide renewable resources, both inside and outside of our borders.  That will be an economic boon for the state.” ~Anne Hedges, program director for the Montana Environmental Information Center.

• MEIC wins Highwood zoning case: Supreme court says rezoning for Great Falls power plant was illegal (July 16, 2010)  READ COURT OPINION
• Groups sue over leasing of Otter Creek coal tracts (by Clair Johnson, Billings Gazette, May 13, 2010)
• No one fond of Senate’s global-warming bill (by Tom Lutey, Billings Gazette, May 18, 2010)
• BLM Suspends Some Oil and Gas Lease Sales to Review Warming Impacts (by Noelle Straub, Greenwire, printed in The New York Times, April 9, 2010)  MEIC was a plaintiff in the case.

• MEIC wins Highwood public records case:  City of Great Falls told to release power plant documents (BY RICHARD ECKE • TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER • MARCH 10, 2010)  Read court decision

• Climate change cited as Montana leases suspended (by Matthew Brown, AP, posted in washtingtonpost.com, March 18, 2010)  MEIC was a plaintiff in the case.
• State OKs $86M coal sale amid protests (by Matt Gouras, AP, March 18, 2010)
  
• Order opening city-SME files could become a landmark (Great Falls Tribune Editorial, March 14, 2010)
• City of Great Falls told to release power plant documents (BY RICHARD ECKE • TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER • MARCH 10, 2010)  Read court decision
• MT Land Board drops Otter Creek bid to 15 cents per ton (Feb. 17, 2010, KRTV.com VIDEO with MEIC's Anne Hedges)
• Land Board mulls lower price on Otter Creek coal (by MIKE DENNISON, Missoulian State Bureaxu, Friday, February 12, 2010)

2009

• City Club Missoula speakers detail greenhouse gas cap systems (By AJ MAZZOLINI of the Missoulian | Posted: Monday, January 11, 2010)
  
• Groups: Leave coal tracts untouched (by John S. Adams, Great Falls Tribune Capitol Bureau, December 9, 2009)
• DEQ will propose CO2 emission limits.  Environmental group hails EPA ruling; industry fears heavy cost (by Karl Puckett, Great Falls Tribune, December 8, 2009)
• High court hears Highwood zoning suit (by Karl Puckett, Great Falls Tribune, November 19, 2009)
• MEIC and other conservation groups oppose leasing Otter Creek coal tracts in Southeastern Montana.  Listen to KUFM radio story.
• Land Board takes pass, delays Otter Creek coal decision (By Mike Dennison, Gazette State Bureau, November 16, 2009)
• Climate Change Bill a Tough Sell in Montana (by Dan Testa, Flathead Beacon, 09-02-09)  “...But the Montana Environmental Information Center, perhaps the most influential and active environmental organization in the state, does not support the Waxman-Markey bill.”
  
• Montana revokes permit for new coal-fired power plant (Los Angeles Times, August 7, 2009)
• Cement burdens (4/22/09, Daniel Person, Bozeman Daily Chronicle)  Environmentalists are hailing a new government plan that promises to cut mercury output from cement plants—like the one in Three Forks [Montana]—by at least 81 percent. . . .

• 2009 LEGISLAURE:  Amendments to permit-process bill welcomed by key supporters (by Matt Gouras, AP, 04/17/09)

• Dirty Work (by Patrick Klemz, Missoulian, 3/05/2009) Lawmakers pledged to fix the state’s embattled Department of Environmental Quality during this session, but may be making a mess instead. So why isn’t DEQ Director Richard Opper speaking up?
  

• VICTORY on MEIC TOP PRIORITY:
  

SME puts coal on ice (by Karl Puckett, Great Falls Tribune, 2/3/09)  . . . Regulatory uncertainty has prompted a group of rural Montana electric utilities to shift a controversial coal-fired power plant to the back burner. . . ."This is an enormous step forward," said Anne Hedges of the Montana Environmental Information Center. "We are extremely pleased."

• Climate task-force advice languishes (by Kahrin Deines, Associated Press - 01/26/09)

• Insurers balk at discounts for proper fire safety (by Kahrin Deines, Associated Press, 01/15/09)

2008

• Highwood Power Plant:
  

  Ruling could spell trouble for coal plants (by Karl Puckett, Great Falls Tribune, November 14, 2008)

• Great Falls Tribune Applauds MEIC (July 20, 2008).  Read the court decision (766 KB pdf) Watch the video of KFBB's news report, "Citizens want Highwood Documents from Great Falls"
• State asked to make rule for fine emissions (July 16, 2008)
• Highwood plant foes slap DEQ with lawsuit (July 1, 2008)
• Highwood plant group pushes out Billings co-op (April 29, 2008)
• Listen to Montana Public Radio story on Yellowstone Valley Electric Co-op pulling out of Highwood in which MEIC's Anne Hedges is interviewed.

• Highwood plant has a setback (April 22, 2008)  Read more about the proposed plant near Great Falls.

• Farmers Sue Cascade County over Rezoning for Coal-fired Power Plant - Again (April 10, 2008)

• Electric co-op won't get USDA funds for proposed power plant (Feb 28, 2008)
• Governor seeks investigation of former plant owner (by The Associated Press - 02/22/08)

• "Appeals court rejects Bush administration's mercury emission standards," by John S. Adams, Great Falls Tribune Capitol Bureau (published Feb 9, 2008)

  Montana Environmental Information Center

• Air Force Eyes Montana Site for Coal-to-Liquids Plant, Energy Prospects West (February 5, 2008)

• "Air Force pitches coal-to-liquids plant," by MATTHEW BROWN, Associated Press (published on Thursday, January 31, 2008)
• Hassles Abound for Montana Coal-Power Project, by Penelope Kern, Energy Prospects West (January 22, 2008)

2007

• The Energy Challenge:  Fight Against Coal Plants Draws Diverse Partners (by Susan Moran, The New York Times, October 20, 2007). 
  
• and the NY Times editorial that followed: Montana and Kansas Take on Big Coal (October 23, 2007)
  
• Pipe dream: Hopes for a coal-powered future darken by the day (by John S. Adams, Missoula Independent, 09/20/2007).
  
• Coal Rush Reverses, Power Firms Follow: Plans for New Plants Stalled by Growing Opposition (by Steven Mufson, Washington Post Staff Writer. September 4, 2007)
• Lawsuit ties up plan for coal plant near Great Falls (by MATTHEW BROWN, Associated Press. August 30, 2007)
• LISTEN to KUFM interview about Affordable, Reliable, and Clean Energy with Missoula Mayor John Engen (who withdrew city support for the Highwood plant), MEIC's Anne Hedges, and Electric City Power board member George Golie (August 27, 2007. NOTE: the segment begins at minute 7:15 of the 27 minute program)
• Coal-fired electricity proposal blasted (by KEILA SZPALLER of the Missoulian, August 19, 2007)
• MEIC WINS LEGAL CHALLENGE: Roundup Power permit ruled invalid (by CLAIR JOHNSON, The Gazette Staff, 7/17/07)
  
• Citizens spar over coal-fired power plant rezoning, (by RICHARD ECKE, Tribune Staff Writer, 5/16/07)
• MEIC files lawsuit over access to drafts of public documents, (by The Associated Press, 5/12/07)
• Guest Opinion: Senate amendments best answer to deregulation debacle by MEIC Energy Policy Director PATRICK JUDGE (Published in the Billings Gazette, April 10, 2007)
  
• Schweitzer calls coal-fired power plant technology of the past (Jan. 28, 2007)
  

2006

• Power plant site zoning challenged (Billings Gazette, by Associated Press, Sunday, December 24, 2006)
• "10 ways to reduce energy use" By MEIC's Patrick Judge (08/17/06)
• Group fights burning of tires (The Associated Press, August 29, 2006) BOZEMAN — An environmental group here is challenging portions of a new state assessment that concluded Holcim Inc.'s proposal to burn tires at its cement plant would pose no additional environmental threat...
  
• Federal judge kills gold mine's lawsuit (By JENNIFER MCKEE, Gazette State Bureau) HELENA 4/20/2006 — A federal judge has tossed out claims by a Colorado mining company that Montana's voter-passed ban on cyanide leach mining illegally robbed the company of a would-be mine near Lincoln...