Gov. Bullock, it's time to act on climate change

In 2005, then-Gov. Brian Schweitzer directed Montana’s Department of Environmental Quality to create a Climate Change Advisory Council to find cost-effective solutions to global warming. Schweitzer had been in office less than a year, and this seemed like a promising first step on climate change for his administration. But almost eight years later, the state’s resolve to act on climate seems to have dissolved.

This isn’t for want of solutions. The advisory council recommended 54 policies to reduce carbon emissions, from stronger clean energy standards to helping consumers make smart energy choices. But Schweitzer largely ignored or forgot about the report he’d commissioned. His administration became known instead for a very different kind of energy policy — strip mining and exporting Montana coal.

It’s been eight years since our former governor suggested the state do something serious about climate change. It’s time our current governor acted on that advice.

Gov. Steve Bullock has been in office almost as long as Schweitzer had been when he gave his directive to DEQ. But Bullock has yet to take any comparable step on climate change, though the threats have not diminished.

Recent years in the West have been characterized by drought, floods and wildfires — natural disasters increasing in frequency and intensity due to climate change. Again this year, Montana’s blue-ribbon trout streams closed during the best fishing season due to warm water. Glacier National Park has lost 125 out of 150 mountain glaciers. Climate change has serious implications for Montana agriculture, tourism and forestry.

In the halls of the state Capitol, though, you’d think this was a non-issue. But the real test awaits Gov. Bullock: Will he approve the proposed Otter Creek coal-for-export mine?

Schweitzer’s most notable (and infamous) energy achievement was marshalling a majority of the State Land Board to vote in favor of leasing Montana’s public land in Otter Creek to Arch Coal Inc. This 2010 vote gave Arch Coal the go-ahead to apply for a permit to mine 1.3 billion tons of coal. If built, the coal mine would be one of the largest in the country.

Bullock, who in 2010 sat on the State Land Board in his capacity as attorney general, joined Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau in opposing the lease. But Bullock later clarified his position. He supported the mining project. At 15 cents per ton, he just didn’t think the state was getting enough money from it.

With Bullock as governor, you might therefore think approval of Arch Coal’s plan would now be assured. But some things have changed since 2010. For one, it’s become apparent the mine’s purpose is to export coal overseas. The outpouring of citizen opposition to polluting our state and cooking the climate, all to send coal to China, has been impressive.

On Sept. 15, policymakers got a glimpse of the opposition they can expect if Otter Creek gets the green light. Fourteen people walked onto a railroad right-of-way in Helena, sat between the two main tracks, and peacefully shut down the main route used to deliver Montana coal to the West Coast. Sit-in participants, most of whom were new to civil disobedience, included students, working people and retirees — just the demographics politicians like to court. Otter Creek, it seems, is the kind of issue that makes people re-think how far they’re willing to go.  

No other decision Bullock’s administration makes will have such huge climate implications. And make no mistake — Bullock will decide if the Otter Creek Mine goes through. For Arch Coal to break ground, its mining plan must be approved by Bullock’s DEQ and the State Land Board he now chairs.

As one rail blockade participant told the Helena Independent Record, “If they approve the Otter Creek Mine, I and many other citizens will be ready to put our bodies on the line to stop the exportation of coal.”

This column isn’t an endorsement of such actions. The authors listed at the end of the column belong to four different organizations, some of which endorse civil disobedience, others of which do not. But we note the Otter Creek debate has galvanized Montanans in a way few energy issues have.

It’s your move, governor.

Steve Thompson, of Whitefish, represents Glacier Climate Action. He was joined in signing this letter by Nick Engelfried, Blue Skies Campaign, Missoula; Duane Catlett, Capitol Climate Action, Helena; and Kristen Walser of the Bozeman Climate Alliance.