A diverse group of over 40 Montana organizations and businesses submitted a petition to the Montana Public Service Commission (PSC) today to request that it adopt rules requiring consideration of climate change in its regulation of Montana gas and electric utilities. Montana courts have twice found that the state has an obligation to consider climate change in decision making. This petition asks the PSC to abide by Montanans’ Constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment which includes the right to a stable climate. With broad oversight authority over Montana utilities, the PSC makes decisions that can either promote or discourage continued utility investment in fossil-fuel infrastructure. Thus, the PSC has the most consequential role of any decision-making body in the state in determining Montana’s impact on the climate.
Read the petition here.
Read the press release here.
