Protecting and advancing air and water quality standards to ensure a clean and healthy climate for future generations. Campaign areas include fighting hardrock mines and pushing for air pollution regulations at power plants and industrial pollution sources.
Reducing our dependence on fossil fuels through an equitable transition to renewable and clean energy sources. Campaign areas include NorthWestern Energy accountability, development of clean and affordable energy, promotion of energy efficiency, and fighting coal, oil, and gas development and use in Montana.
The Clark Fork River is embedded at the heart and soul of Missoula (and Montana!), and we want to thank Karen Knudsen for all the heart and soul she has dedicated to helping the Clark Fork ecosystem become what it is today. MEIC is delighted to recognize her as our 2024 Conservationist of the Year.
Regardless of a person’s political stripes, most Montanans live here for very similar reasons. We all love this place we call home. We enjoy sharing the outdoors with our friends and family, and we want to pass on the beauty and love to our children. This is what we must keep in mind as we head into another legislative session where Republicans control the House, the Senate, all statewide elected offices, and our entire Congressional delegation.
On November 13, Anne Hedges was awarded the Headwaters Award from the NW Energy Coalition (NWEC). The Headwaters Award is named after the headwaters of the Columbia River in Columbia Lake in B.C. and honors achievement and leadership by a person who is directly involved in NWEC and excels in advancing the group’s collective goals and mission.
NorthWestern Energy’s rate case at the Montana Public Service Commission won’t be decided until after the April 2025 hearing, but MEIC is already working on it full tilt. Central to NorthWestern’s requested 26% increase to base electricity rates are its requests to 1) recover costs for the Yellowstone County Generating Station (YCGS) methane gas plant and 2) recover a blank check for future, life-extending investments at the Colstrip power plant.
For 50 years, MEIC has worked to keep Montana’s air and water clean. We have stopped dirty acid mines and helped pass and defend strong pollution control laws. And it’s all made possible by our members.
MEIC is made up of thousands of Montanans who care deeply about this state – our home. This strong membership has allowed MEIC to remain independent and to always fight for what is right. We would love to have you as a member too.
Mar 7, 2025 – To say Montanans’ public health safeguards are under attack by the current Montana legislature is a gross understatement.
Mar 2, 2025 – If you want to pay more for electricity that results in the storage of radioactive waste across Montana, then the nuclear hype is for you. Otherwise, hold on to your wallet.
Montana’s Smith River is renowned worldwide for its clean water, rugged canyon scenery, and blue ribbon trout fishery. The Smith is Montana’s only permitted recreational river. The permitted section of the Smith River winds 59 miles through a remote canyon in the Big Belt Mountains. Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks classifies the Smith River’s fishery as high-value, owing to its bountiful population of rainbow, brown, westslope cutthroat, and brook trout. The canyon walls of the Smith also boast some of the best examples of Native American pictographs in Montana.
Montana’s Smith River is an extraordinary resource, and deserves our most rigorous effort to protect it from mine pollution and dewatering. Montana Governor Greg Gianforte and the Department of Environmental Quality Director Chris Dorrington will make critical decisions that will determine the future of the Smith River and the Sheep Creek Mine.
Please contact Governor Gianforte and Director Dorrington. Let them know that the Smith River is an incredibly important place for the people of Montana and across the country and world, and should not be sacrificed for temporary and risky mining activities.
The Smith River and its tributaries provide crucial habitat and spawning grounds for regional trout fisheries. The Sheep Creek drainage accounts for over half of tributary spawning of rainbow trout in the Smith River drainage, and rainbow trout have been known to travel nearly 200 miles round-trip from the Missouri River to spawn!
The Smith River depends on clean cold water from its tributaries to sustain the aquatic life within its banks and the agricultural operations along it. Demands on the river’s waters already often exceed available flows in many years, creating challenges for downstream water users.
P: (406) 443-2520
E: meic@meic.org
324 Fuller Ave, #C-8
Helena, MT 59601
Mailing addresses:
P.O. Box 1184, Helena, MT, 59624
225 W. Front, Missoula, MT, 59802
