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.
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From the slopes of Whitefish, researchers are using ski resorts to gather valuable data – and seeds, that could help restore forests. In some regions of Montana, over 90 percent of whitebark pines have died. -
Snowpack in the West typically reaches its peak in early April but that hasn’t happened this year. Drought persists, setting up conditions for wildfires and low water supply. This warm, snowless winter points to a warming climate and trouble for Montana farmers. -
Have you had any unexpected bird sightings this winter? Maybe you saw birds in unexpected places or times. Or maybe birds you expected never showed up. You're not alone. Bird researchers – and an observant listener – have noticed, too. That listener wants to know: What do we know about how climate change is impacting birds, both in and out of Montana? -
In the last episode of Grounding season two, Host Sarah Aronson and MTPR Host and Producer Lauren Korn talk about the homesickness they feel for places they love that have changed. And, they put a word to that feeling—solastalgia. Lauren interviews writer and editor Paul Bogard, who created an anthology sourced from people coming to terms with the word and the feeling of solastalgia. -
Grounding episode five takes a stab at an age-old question: what is a human’s place within nature? Host Sarah Aronson speaks to two environmental philosophers—Soazig Le Bihan and Christopher J. Preston—about that divide, and tugs at the dissonance that exists when we’re trying to understand our place in the world relative to other creatures. Are we supposed to go forth and conquer, or should we be ashamed of the impact we’ve had on different species? -
In episode four of Grounding, Sarah Aronson talks to a pharmacist, Dr. Hayley Blackburn, who shares some environmental facts about the industry—one being that pharmaceuticals have been found in water bodies on every single continent. Aronson talks to Blackburn about Prozac fish and drug waste and how Blackburn navigates her moral injury working in an industry that doesn't always align with her values.
