Gift WaPo link: Post. As we’ve discussed, a group of Montanans sued the state because it rubber-stamps any and all fossil-fuel projects and in fact passed a law making it unlawful to do environmental reviews of said projects that include any climate change impact evaluations. The state constitution guarantees the right to “A clean and healthy environment.” The state will of course appeal, but this is good news and a great precedent.
Yay! Great news!
Huzzah! Apparently not all youths are useless.
This applies to all mining and energy projects. Locally, there is a gravel pit being proposed in a residential area–300 acres, 6-7 million yards to be extracted, running 24/7/365. Crushers are LOUD. There was a meeting 2 weeks ago with DEQ and not only were they not allowed to evaluate environmental impact, they were not allowed to take public comment under this MT law. People are pissed, and a lot of them likely voted for Gianforte and Daines. Live and fucking learn, folks.
Too many red states are now making it illegal to consider environmental concerns. They’ll fight this all the way to the Supreme Court, and who knows how that will turn out.
But right now… Yippeeee!
Montana does have citizen initiative. I wonder if support could be drummed up to repeal that law – in a state with along tradition of extraction.
When I was there, citizen initiatives did not favor the mining companies at all. I recall one where Anaconda was pouring millions into the “Yes” side, while the “No” side was entirely shoestring and word of mouth, but it still failed 2 to 1.
Not surprising that people who actually live in Montana want a better environment for themselves.
I hope this isn’t just the first step towards Logan’s Run…
Seriously, great news.
No, man… Wild In The Streets
But yeah, good on them, here’s hoping it sticks.