News Archives
Alliance looks to unlock energy potential
By Erin Madison, Great Falls Tribune, 7/10/08
Northcentral Montana is sparsely populated but has huge energy potential, an expert told members of the National 25x'25 Alliance Steering Committee on Wednesday. Northcentral Montana has the potential for wind, oil and gas, coal and thermal energy, said Greg Kegel, dean of the College of Technological Sciences at Montana State University-Northern. It already has a huge natural gas pipeline that runs through it.
"We are rich in energy," Kegel said. The 25x'25 alliance spent Wednesday touring the Hi-Line, visiting energy-related projects. The alliance is working toward the national policy of supplying 25 percent of the nation's energy needs through renewable energy by 2025.
Missoula urged to hire sustainability coordinator
By Keila Szpaller, Missoulian, 7/8/08
Hire a sustainability coordinator in Missoula to take on global warming, that's the message the city is hearing from a few different fronts. In Fayetteville, Ark., adding such a position a year and a half ago did wonders for the bottom line. There, sustainability coordinator John Coleman said the first year he was hired, he paid for his own salary, and then some, in energy cost savings. Folks there took small steps the first year, like turning off computers and using daylight, he said.
Following the sun: Solar power isn't free, but it has backers
By Tom Lutey, Billings Gazette, 7/4/08
CUSTER - Even now there are places on Montana's sagebrush-covered plains where modern electricity never caught on. George Larsen's ranch is one of them. Where the road to Larsen's 20,000-acre property turns to gravel, the power lines do not follow. Larsen's parents, turn-of-the-century-sodbusters, harnessed the wind and power from a secondhand, 32-volt generator bought from a country school to electrify their place. The power generated from those two sources charged a system so eccentric that headlights served as indoor lighting in some buildings. And that's the way it was right up until recently, when George decided to go solar.
Meeting puts state's renewable energy projects in spotlight
By Karl Puckett, Great Falls Tribune, 7/2/08
The National Steering Committee of the 25x'25 Alliance, which promotes renewable energy development across the country, will meet next week in Great Falls. The committee also will tour solar, wind and biomass projects in northcentral Montana.
Cascade County Commissioner Peggy Beltrone, a committee member, is eager to show off the state's renewable energy efforts, particularly those of Montana State University-Northern in Havre, which has a Bio Energy Innovation and Testing Center.
West's governors plan climate strategy for next leader
Washington Post, 7/1/08
TETON VILLAGE, Wyo. — Citing the lack of any comprehensive federal policy to address global climate change, Western governors said Tuesday that they will work over the next 12 months to craft such an initiative for the next president.
Residents of the West, said Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., are in a unique position to lead the way."We are the most energy-relevant region in the world when you take a slice of western Canada right through the Western United States, and who isn't going to listen to this part of the world speak out on energy issues?"
While several states in the region are participating as observers in a regional carbon cap and trade initiative, for example, the larger consensus was that a national system developed at the federal level is needed in order to avoid "balkanization."
"We have a group of governors who will be coming together with their staffs and putting together a plan of action that we will be sending to the next administration," Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, a Democrat, said in a closing news conference at the Western Governors' Association annual meeting. "It would be pre-emptive for any of us here today to presume that we're weighing in on one tool in the toolbox over another."
Weather, low water keeping boats off lake
By Jordan Dawson, Bigfork Eagle, 6/26/08
Now that summer has officially arrived boat enthusiasts around the valley are eager to get out on the lake, but multiple weather related factors are making that difficult. The late snow and cold weather has forced the PPL, which operates Kerr Dam, to keep the lake level down due to flood risks from late snow run off. The late runoff has also caused more debris to be in the lake much later than usual.
Price of natural gas to be 'signficantly higher' this winter
Missoulian, 6/23/08
HELENA - The price for natural gas is hitting historic highs, and members of the Montana Public Service Commission worry it will continue to climb, translating into huge home-heating bills this winter. "We think we're approaching a crisis," said Commissioner Bob Raney, D-Livingston. "We know that the cost of gas this coming winter is going to be significantly higher than it was last winter, all across the country. We have to pay for it, or figure out how to use less."
Natural gas is used to heat more than 250,000 Montana homes. During the summer, demand for natural gas usually is low and prices are too. However, residential customers of NorthWestern Energy, the state's largest natural gas utility, are paying $14.91 per dekatherm for natural gas this month. That's well above last summer's price of $9 to $10, and about as high as prices have been in the past decade. During winter months, a household with natural gas heat may use 15 to 20 dekatherms. At current prices, that means a $300 monthly bill.
"Montana Meadows as Indicators of Climate Change”
By Laura Bell, Big Sky Weekly, 6/18/08
On Friday, June 27th, the Big Sky Institute (BSI) will cut the ribbon and officially open their new office in Westfork Meadows, next to the Big Sky Chamber of Commerce Building. The Big Sky Institute is a science, education and outreach institute created by Montana State University and the community of Big Sky. BSI’s goal is to better understand large intact ecosystems—like the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem—in order to better understand our changing world.
BSI programming wouldn’t be complete without the traditional Mountains & Minds lecture series, which kicks off on July 8th at the new BSI office. Join Professor Diane Debinski for her presentation of "Montane Meadows as Indicators of Climate Change.” This free lecture begins at 7 p.m. Diane Debinski is a professor of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology at Iowa State University. She has done extensive research in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, looking at topics from prairie restoration to species distribution in the mountains. She will talk about her local research and there will be ample opportunity for questions and discussion.
Foresters may extend 'let it burn' policy beyond wilderness areas
By Michael Jamison, Missoulian, 6/10/08
KALISPELL - Foresters looking to fight fire with fire have started looking beyond the boundaries of designated wilderness areas, and this summer will apply a sort of “let it burn” policy to public lands throughout northwest Montana.
They call it “wildland fire use” and this summer it could be used in the North Fork Flathead drainage above Columbia Falls, the Swan Range near Bigfork and the Mission Mountains.
While many wildfires will be fought, others can provide “a valuable tool for land managers,” said Steve Brady, Swan Lake district ranger for the Flathead National Forest. “Decisions to use naturally ignited fire as a tool for resource management objectives are made incident by incident, and only under certain conditions,” he said.
Gas Prices Hit Rural Northern Rockies, New Mexico
By Courtney Lowery, New West News, 6/9/08
Montana, Wyoming, New Mexico and Idaho are the hardest hit in the West by $4.00 gasoline, according to a study in today’s New York Times. The study looks at percentage of income spent on gas, so rural areas in the Northern Rockies, Great Plains and southeast look the worst because of low median incomes and high use of vehicle travel. Most of Montanans spend 7-10 percent of their income on gas with one pocket in eastern Montana between 10-16 percent.
SDG&E will buy power from Montana wind farms
By Bruce V. Bigelow, San Diego Union Tribune, 6/6/08
San Diego Gas & Electric said yesterday it has signed power-purchase agreements with a renewable energy company for electricity generated from two soon-to-be-constructed wind farms in Montana. Under two 15-year contracts, Glacier Wind Energy will add 210 megawatts from wind energy facilities under development near Glacier National Park to SDG&E's total power-generating capacity.
With vast reserves, Montana eyes coal expansion
By Adam Tanner, 6/3/08
ABSALOKA MINE, Montana (Reuters) - Underneath Montana lies an estimated $1.5 trillion of coal, but with uncertainty about future environmental rules, investors are wary about opening new mines in the rugged Western U.S. state. Many say a big boost to Montana coal production can only follow November's national election, when a new president could lead the way in clarifying environmental laws and encouraging cleaner coal technology. Montana ends the long U.S. state-by-state presidential primary process on Tuesday.
"Nothing is going to happen until we have a carbon law, that's the bottom line," Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer told Reuters. "It needs a new president."
Crowning achievement
Daily Inter Lake, 5/28/08
June 6 conference explores ‘backbone of the world’ - The Crown of the Continent will take center stage on June 6 during a special program in Kalispell. The conference, sponsored by The University of Montana and Flathead Valley Community College, features a variety of speakers including Dan Fagre, a U.S. Geological Service scientist headquartered in Glacier National Park, who will talk about the many aspects of climate change in the Crown of the Continent, especially in Glacier Park where he has been studying the glaciers and the changing terrain and wildlife habitat.
The event will take place in the Arts and Technology Building at FVCC, beginning at 12:15 p.m. and continuing through until 8:30 p.m.
Bike trip to teach about about energy issues, climate change
By Mary Pickett, Billings Gazette, 5/27/08
Heavy rain pelting the KOA campground shelter didn't dampen the enthusiasm of Devin Trainor on the first day of a monthlong class to study energy issues and climate change across Montana. Trainor, 22, of Boston, Mass., is one of nine students who signed up for the class that will take them bicycling 650 miles from Billings to Whitefish.
Conservative group hits senators on climate bill
By Jim Kuhnhenn, The Associated Press, 5/26/08
A conservative, free-market advocacy group will begin airing ads this week pressing Senate Republicans and Democrats to vote against a bill that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Club for Growth wants to scuttle a bill by Sens. Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, and John Warner, R-Va., that the Senate is scheduled to begin debating next month. Despite the ad campaign, the bill seems to lack the votes needed to overcome a filibuster.
With $250,000 in radio and television spots, the Club for Growth is targeting Republican Sens. Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, and Democratic Sens. Robert Byrd and Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia and Max Baucus and Jon Tester of Montana. Dole, a co-sponsor of the bill, as well as Alexander, Baucus and Rockefeller face re-election this year.
Experts Encourage Mitigation, Adaptation to Climate Change
By Susan Duncan, New West News, 5/17/08
At the Burton K. Wheeler Conference, "Climate Change in Montana: Impacts and Opportunities for Agriculture and Energy," regional leaders share ideas on greenhouse gas reduction, carbon sequestration, resource development and local action plans for mitigating the effects of climate change.
City previews climate protection ideas
By Amanda Ricker, Bozeman Daily Chronicle, 5/15/08
Efforts by the city of Bozeman to reduce its carbon footprint can be cost neutral if not cost saving, the Citizens Climate Protection Task Force told the City Commission on Wednesday.
Following the past year of study by the task force, the City Commission got its first official look at the group’s draft recommendations to reduce municipal greenhouse-gas emissions during a policy meeting Wednesday. The commission suggested that its final decision on whether to approve the recommendations be made in June, delaying the vote from its originally scheduled May 27 meeting.
The task force’s plan calls for the city of Bozeman to reduce municipal greenhouse-gas emissions 15 percent below the year 2000 levels by the year 2020. Several dozen recommendations for planning, building, energy, transportation, land use, waste water, recycling and education spell out how to get there.
Legislators make progress on global warming recommendations
By Matt Gouras, Associated Press, 5/13/08
Lawmakers chipped away at global warming recommendations again Monday, giving a nod to some of the less controversial items coming out of a task force appointed by Gov. Brian Schweitzer. The legislative Environmental Quality Council agreed to tackle legislation that promotes, with minimal expenditure, the use of local food, recycling and energy efficiency programs.
‘Irreplaceable': Photo exhibit shows images of climate change close to home
By John Cramer, Missoulian, 5/8/08
Western Montanans have been living with climate change for years, including longer droughts, worsening wildfires and dwindling snowpacks. But they'll get a new perspective on global warming when a 40-print photo exhibit opens Thursday at the Roxy Theater in Missoula.
Rural co-ops prepare for Senate climate change battle
The Senate is expected to begin debate on global climate change legislation in early June. The bill would require utility companies, manufacturers and others to gradually lower their emissions by 2050 and establish a market for so-called "emissions allowances," which could be freely bought and sold. The goal is to reduce carbon-based greenhouse gases that are contributing to the warming of the earth's surface and to minimizing the cost of doing so.
Salmon decline is a wake-up call
By Doug Howell, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 4/28/08
It is hard to find the silver lining in a situation as dire as the collapse of wild salmon off the Oregon and California coasts (April 9 P-I). A full closure of the recreational and commercial fishing season will have far-reaching negative impacts. From the fishermen and suppliers to the restaurants and individuals who buy salmon at the market, it is another blow to our struggling economy.
As families, communities and local businesses try to deal with the consequences of this year's fishery collapse, scientists are working to understand the causes. Rising to the top of that list -- the 800-pound gorilla in the room -- is global warming.
DEQ Launches Montana Climate Change Website
By Paul Driscoll, 4/22/08
Helena - All over the world, people are coming together and recognizing the threats of global climate change. The same is true in Montana. People are asking questions, reviewing the data, wondering about the future and looking for ways to change the outcome. On April 22, Earth Day 2008, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality,(DEQ), launched the Montana Climate Change website at www.MontanaClimateChange.mt.gov.
"We created this site so that people both from Montana, and anywhere else in the world, will have a convenient place to find credible data and resources about how climate change is impacting the state.," said Richard Opper, Director of the DEQ. "I also wanted a place where people could start finding answers to the challenges we will face and ways that they can make a difference."
“Green” Jobs Can Revive Economy, Golden Says
By Kyle Lehman, New West News, 4/16/08
To address the problem of climate change Americans must strive to create a “green” economy bolstered by federal regulations that promote innovation and investment, said K.C. Golden in his lecture Tuesday night at the University of Montana.
Public works specialists meet this week in Missoula
Missoulian, 4/7/08
MISSOULA - Climate change and urban issues expert Chuck Tooley will give the keynote speech at the regional convention of the American Public Works Association in Missoula this week. Tooley, who retired in 2005 as the longest-serving mayor of Billings, trained with former Vice President Al Gore as one of the first 50 people Gore chose to give his presentation for The Climate Project designed to educate citizens and governments about global warming. In his Missoula address, “Global Warming,” at the conference luncheon on Wednesday, Tooley will talk about the implications of global warming for public works.
As Fight for Water Heats Up, Prized Fish Suffer
By Jim Robbins, New York Times, 4/1/08
WISDOM, Mont. — It’s a simple fact of life across the rural West, as it is here in Montana’s mountain-ringed Big Hole River Valley. Flooding river bottoms to grow hay sustains the economy but means less water in the river for the prized wild trout population. The competition for water is not new, but it is intensifying as the climate here gets warmer and drier.
“The biggest worry for trout is that smaller streams will simply run dry in late summer and temperatures in the remaining pools will exceed lethal levels,” said Steven W. Running, a climate scientist at the University of Montana in Missoula who is a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. “Even if the stream has good flow 11 months of the year, fish have to survive the highest stress conditions in late summer. We could lose the populations in these smaller streams, and they won’t come back.”
Study: American West Warming Faster than Rest of Planet
By Grant Rhodes, New West News, 3/31/08
Is it hotter in here, or is it just the American West? According to a new climate study by the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization and the Natural Resources Defense Council, the U.S. West is getting warmer at nearly twice the rate of the rest of the world.
“Global warming is hitting the West hard,” Theo Spencer of the NRDC said in a release. “It is already taking an economic toll on the region’s tourism, recreation, skiing, hunting and fishing activities.”
Click here to see the study.
Carbon plan debate: Boon or disaster?
By Mike Stark, Billings Gazette, 3/20/08
Depending on whom you talked to Wednesday, a proposal aimed at cutting U.S. carbon emissions will either have dire consequences for Montana's economy or will create ample business opportunities that also better the environment. For much of the day, Billings was the latest stage for an ongoing national debate about the potential costs of curbing carbon dioxide emissions linked to the earth's warming climate.
Green and lean: Carbon-neutral home results in $28 February power bill
By Micahel Moore, Missoulian, 03/16/08
The first power bill is in, for the month of February. And this is what it says $28.05. For a winter month. In Montana. Zia and Niels Maumenee's grand plan is working, better than they ever imagined. "It's gratifying and exciting," Zia Maumenee said recently. "You do all the planning, but you never know exactly how it's going to work until it's up and running." The idea was simple enough. The Maumenees, who both work at the University of Montana, wanted to live more lightly on the earth, use less energy, pollute less, feel less implicated in climate change.
Resurrecting the southern line: Conference focuses on linking Billings and Missoula
By Richard Hanners, Whitefish Pilot, 3/13/08
With gasoline prices expected to top $4 this summer and concerns growing about climate change and "carbon footprints," there has been a renewed interest in passenger travel across the U.S. -- and here in Montana. Last October, the Senate approved the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act, which calls for studies of two former long-distance train routes to see if they should be brought back.
Recycling popular measure in global warming survey
By The Associated Press, 3/6/08
HELENA - A public survey on recommendations in a climate change report found recycling to be among the most popular ideas, and boosting ethanol production among the least popular. The recommendations come from the governor's Climate Change Advisory Committee. More than 50 ideas for reducing greenhouse gas emissions are now in front of a legislative interim committee. That committee is looking at the recommendations to see which they would like to support in legislation next year. Nearly 2,000 of the online surveys were filled out.
The most popular recommendation was increasing Montana's solid waste recycling rates to 17 percent by 2008 and more down the road. It received positive comments from 63 percent of respondents, the Legislative Services Division said. Other proposals with high marks include buying efficient state fleet vehicles, reforestation programs, programs to encourage the use of local food sources, consumer education programs, new energy efficient building codes and reduction of greenhouse gases in some oil and gas operations.
Results of the climate change survey are posted here.
Council to Review Results of Climate Change Survey
Montana Legislative Branch, 2/29/08
At a meeting March 10, the Environmental Quality Council (EQC) of the Montana Legislature will look at results of a public survey on climate change that has garnered more than a thousand responses. The meeting will begin at 2 p.m. in Room 102 of the State Capitol. The bipartisan council is reviewing recommendations outlined in the "Montana Climate Change Action Plan: Final Report of the Governor's Climate Change Advisory Committee." The council conducted the survey in February to learn what the public thinks of the recommendations. It asked people to rank the relative importance of the recommendations and invited them to share their comments.
Western Governors Agree to Develop Alternative Transport Fuels
Environment News Service, 2/27/08
WASHINGTON, DC - Western governors have pledged to take action within their states and also as a region to speed the development and use of alternative fuels, improve vehicle fuel efficiency and reduce dependence on foreign oil. A resolution adopted by the Western Governors' Association Saturday incorporates many recommendations contained in the association's new report, "Transportation Fuels for the Future."
Survey on Montana Climate Change Action Plan
The Montana Environmental Quality Council (EQC), a committee of the state legislature, is interested in your thoughts on policies that might be further discussed in addressing the issue of climate change in Montana. The council is currently reviewing the 54 recommendations included in the "Montana Climate Change Action Plan: Final Report of the Governor's Climate Change Advisory Committee." In order to better understand how the public feels about the recommendations, the EQC is conducting a survey. Members are asking Montanans to take the survey online at http://leg.mt.gov/css/climate_survey.asp.
B.C. introduces carbon tax
By Jonathan Fowlie and Fiona Anderson, Vancouver Sun, 2/19/08
VICTORIA -- Driving and other fuel-dependent activities are about to get more expensive as British Columbia becomes the first jurisdiction in North America to introduce a consumer-based carbon tax.
Track Climate Change at Home With Project BudBurst
Environment News Service, 2/15/08
BOULDER, Colorado - By noticing when plants bud, flower and leaf out, volunteers can track climate change as part of a nationwide initiative starting Friday. Project BudBurst allows students, gardeners, and other citizen scientists in every state to enter their observations into an online database that will give researchers a detailed picture of the warming climate.
Gov. Schweitzer, Panelists Urge Aggressive Action on Climate Change
By Peter Metcalf, New West Network, 2/1/08
Naming global climate change as the most pressing issue facing the nation, Gov. Brian Schweitzer called for swift and decisive action by individuals, industry and government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in a speech at the University of Montana Thursday night.
Lecture Series to Explore Climate Change Solutions
Missoulian, 1/25/08
The nine-part 2008 Wilderness Issues Lecture Series - "Climate Change: Moving from Science to Solutions" - will take place during February, March and April at the University of Montana. The lectures, free and open to the public, will run from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on the first three Tuesdays of each month and feature speakers from varied disciplines and fields, each with practical experience working in innovative ways to understand and effectively respond to climate change.
