Groups aim to ensure companies pay a fair return for taxpayer-owned minerals FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 25, 2019 Cheyenne, Wyo.— Five conservation groups moved today to intervene in a lawsuit to preserve the 2016 Valuation Rule, a set of federal requirements requiring fossil fuel companies to pay full royalties when extracting publicly owned minerals. The […]
Once-polluted stream is first to be removed from Montana’s Impaired Waters List FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 18, 2019 SILVER GATE, Mont. – Soda Butte Creek is the first stream polluted by mining ever to be removed from Montana’s Impaired Waters List. A celebration of this achievement takes place today with events in Cooke City and Silver Gate. For years, […]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 11, 2019 WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the House Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee held an oversight hearing on “The Future of the Federal Coal Program” to consider reform of the Department of the Interior coal leasing program. The Subcommittee heard testimony from four expert witnesses including Steve Charter, a rancher from Shepherd, MT and member of the Northern […]
Trump administration violated National Environmental Policy Act and Clean Water Act by approving controversial tar sands pipeline FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 1, 2019 Great Falls, MT— Northern Plains Resource Council joined a coalition of conservation groups in filing a federal lawsuit today challenging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ illegal approval of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline to […]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 1, 2019 HELENA, Mont. – Today, Governor Steve Bullock announced an agenda for the state of Montana to address climate change during a “Facebook Live Town Hall” streamed on the social media platform. Becky Mitchell, the chair of Northern Plains Resource Council, responded to the Governor’s proposal with the following statement on behalf of the […]
This op-ed by member Jeanie Alderson was first printed in the Billings Gazette on Jun 30, 2019. It was also published in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, the Missoulian, and the Montana Standard. The recent announcement of the closure of Colstrip Units 1 and 2 should concern all who live and work in Rosebud County. We […]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 19, 2019 BILLINGS, Mont. — Today, the Environmental Protection Agency released its final carbon rule for the U.S. power industry which diminishes many of the air quality protections found in the Obama-era Clean Power Plan it replaces. Northern Plains Resource Council member, Mark Fix, a Miles rancher along the Tongue River, issued the following statement on behalf of Northern Plains: “This […]
White House attempts to usurp separation of powers FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 29, 2019 BILLINGS, Mont. – Late this afternoon, the White House issued TransCanada a new Presidential Permit taking the unusual step of revoking its own prior 2017 permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. A Montana federal district court ruling in November of 2018 found that […]
Getting a tax increase through the Montana Legislature usually is an uphill, nearly impossible battle. Yet the Montana Senate’s Energy Committee last week rushed to approve legislation that could impose millions of dollars in costs on NorthWestern Energy customers for decades. Senate Bill 278 proposes to abolish regulations that require NorthWestern Energy to justify costs […]
Legislation bolstered by statewide grassroots organizing FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 12, 2019 BILLINGS, Mont. – The Yellowstone Gateway Protection Act, drafted by Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) and eventually supported by Montana’s entire congressional delegation, was passed on the floor of the United States Senate today. The bill is part of a broad public lands package, the Natural […]