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Montana news about the environment, natural resources, wildlife, climate change and more.

Working group begins to update Montana's Environmental Policy Act

Power plant at Colstrip, MT.
Beth Saboe
/
MontanaPBS

A working group tasked with reviewing and updating Montana’s Environmental Policy Act is beginning to draft recommendations. The final product will guide the future work of state environmental regulators.

A key component of the group's work involves quantifying greenhouse gas emissions. They’ve suggested using emissions data from the EPA to measure how much a proposed development project would add to statewide emissions.

Greenhouse gas emissions trap heat in the earth’s atmosphere, contributing to climate change.

Some group members suggested putting a dollar figure associated with how much a project could add to greenhouse gas emissions, but the group hasn’t found consensus on that idea.

Another component of the process the group has not come to agreement on is weighing the climate impacts of a proposed project versus the economic benefits.

This task force is considering updates to the bedrock of the state’s environmental regulations as conversations around climate impacts are taking place across government. The Supreme Court is considering an appeal of the youth-led climate case Held v. Montana and utility regulators are deliberating a petition to consider climate change as part of their work.

The working group will present a complete list of recommendations in mid-May.

Ellis Juhlin is MTPR's Environmental Reporter. She covers wildlife, natural resources, climate change and agriculture stories. She worked at Utah Public Radio and Yellowstone Public Radio prior to joining MTPR, and in wildlife conservation before becoming a journalist. She has a Master's Degree in Ecology from Utah State University and is an average birder who wants you to keep your cat indoors. Her life is run by her two dogs, one of which is afraid of birds.

ellis.juhlin@mso.umt.edu
406-272-2568
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