Everyone Deserves Clean Air
Support a strong Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) rule
We protect and improve Montana for future generations.
Protecting Air & Water
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.
Climate & Energy
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.
Down to Earth
Stay up-to-date on the latest environment news in Montana with Down to Earth, our quarterly membership publication.
KAREN KNUDSEN IS CONSERVATIONIST OF THE YEAR
MEIC’S LEGISLATIVE PREVIEW
ANNE HEDGES WINS LEADERSHIP AWARD
WHY ARE NORTHWESTERN ENERGY'S RATES SO HIGH?
KAREN KNUDSEN IS CONSERVATIONIST OF THE YEAR
Karen Knudsen Honored as MEIC’s Conservationist of the Year
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.
MEIC’S LEGISLATIVE PREVIEW
Legislature Is a Bright Spot Following Election Season
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.
ANNE HEDGES WINS LEADERSHIP AWARD
MEIC’s Anne Hedges Honored with Prestigious Award
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.
WHY ARE NORTHWESTERN ENERGY'S RATES SO HIGH?
Why are NorthWestern’s Rates So High?
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.
The Latest Stories and Actions from MEIC
Webinar Recording: MEIC Weekly Legislative Update, Jan. 16, 2025
January 17, 2025Webinar Recording: MEIC Weekly Legislative Update, Jan. 9, 2025
January 10, 2025Now hiring: MEIC Development Officer
January 9, 2025Montana’s Energy Transition: A Five Part Series
December 13, 2024
Let's rise up.
Help protect Montana’s clean air and water.
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.
MEIC in the News
Lawmakers can now keep bill draft info private. Few opt to allow public access
Jan 15, 2025 – Fewer than a third of Montana’s state lawmakers have signed a waiver allowing the public to view behind-the-scenes information used to draft bills. That’s a change from previous legislative sessions, when those files were fully public.
Enviromental impacts of Yellowstone Generating Station under review
Jan 9, 2025 – Anne Hedges, Executive Director of the Montana Environmental Information Center, explained, “ultimately our read of the case is it is an absolute victory for the people of the state to know that the state is going to have to consider climate change when it permits operations.”
More News:
Save Our Smith—more than just a river.
THE SMITH RIVER
A COMMON CAUSE
PROTECTING CLEAN WATER
THE SMITH RIVER
The Smith River is not a location for another failed mining experiment.
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.
A COMMON CAUSE
Urge Montana to protect the Smith.
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.
PROTECTING CLEAN WATER
It’s time to make a stand.
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.
“For a practice that has a known effect on soils and strata and water, the onus should be on the applicant [to pay for mine clean-up]. I appreciate mining practices, but what is anything worth if you don’t have clean water?”
J.P. Pomnichowski
Former Senator, SD 33
Montana Environmental
Information Center
Clean and healthful.
It's your right, our mission.
Stay Connected
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