by Roger Sullivan
Different paths have led each of us to MEIC. My path traces back to 1989 when I returned from a trip to find that, unannounced, an enormous rig had started drilling an exploratory oil and gas well on private land adjacent to Glacier National Park. Our small local conservation group, the North Fork Preservation Association, wanted to take legal action — if we could find a larger organization willing to join in the fray. My ensuing cold call to Jim Jensen, then-executive director of MEIC, was greeted with enthusiastic support, and our lawsuit immediately followed. Relying on the Montana Constitution’s rights to open meetings and public participation, we were able to set aside the permit issued by the Montana Board of Oil and Gas, bringing more transparency (if not accountability) to an industry-centric regulatory agency. Thus began my adventure-filled 37-year association with MEIC, including several terms as a board member.
Roger getting “down to earth” with grandsons Will and Rowan. Photo via Roger Sullivan.
Whatever path brought you to MEIC, I believe that what holds us together is the palpable sense of a deeply-caring community. Although we are far-flung across the vast Montana landscape, facing an array of threats to the environment, we have a shared sense of responsibility for fulfilling the promise of Montana’s Constitution that, “The State and each person shall maintain and improve a clean and healthful environment in Montana for present and future generations.” This shared commitment brings us up against powerful corporations, a state administration that not only ignores its constitutional obligations but abets their transgression, and a federal administration that holds environmental values in utter contempt.
And yet MEIC’s staff, with the vitally-important support of its members, has responded to these seemingly overwhelming challenges with a steadfast resolve based on rigorous research, including convening forums informing the public of the multi-dimensional threats posed by data centers; challenging EPA’s elimination of science-based climate and air pollution protections; demanding that the Public Service Commission do its job by regulating NorthWestern Energy in regards to unjustified rate increases resulting from NorthWestern Energy’s ill-advised commitment to fossil fuels; and opposing climate damaging fossil fuel projects, mining, pipelines, and generation. And so much more.
Our collective efforts to fulfill the promise of Montana’s Constitution, not only to this but future generations, recalls the closing lines of Adrienne Rich’s poem entitled “Natural Resources:”
I have to cast my lot with those
who age after age, perversely,
with no extraordinary power,
reconstitute the world.
I feel that this is the work that we, the members of the MEIC community, are engaged in — together!
Roger Sullivan is chair of MEIC’s litigation committee and a trial lawyer who has received a number of honors including Public Justice’s 2025 National Trial Lawyer of the Year for his work on the team that successfully litigated Held v. Montana.
This article was published in the June 2026 issue of Down To Earth.
