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Welcome to the Montana Chapter of the Sierra Club |
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2012 Outings Schedule
Make Plans this Spring, Summer and Fall to join the Sierra Club for outdoor fun & service. — Outings start on May 19th.
Sign Up Today! Click here for more information. |
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See our Latest Newsletter
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May 10, 2012 in Helena: Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks
to Discuss Trapping of Wolves
The Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks will hold
a meeting to discuss the trapping of wolves.
The agenda will be set about ten days prior to
the meeting, which will begin at 8:30 a.m. and
continue throughout the day on May 10, 2012.
Please write to addresses below protesting
the trapping of wolves.
Please plan to attend this important meeting. MFWP
has informally decided to trap wolves, but we can stop it.
Click here to Write MFWP Commissioners TODAY!
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Tell EPA to reduce life-threatening air pollution in Montana!
Public Hearings in Helena May 1st, and Billings May 2nd
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is holding two Public Hearings on its plan to reduce haze-causing air pollution in Montana. The plan is supposed to reduce harmful emissions of nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide and particulate matter from industrial facilities including coal-fired power plants. These pollutants are unhealthy to breathe.
Unfortunately, the EPA appears to be giving a green light to an out-of-state corporation to pollute Montana’s air and avoid investing in clean-up technology. The Colstrip coal-fired power plant in SE Montana emits more of these harmful pollutants than Montana’s next 9 largest emitters combined! There is cost effective technology being used at hundreds of coal plants across the country — including in Montana — that would greatly reduced these dangerous pollutants BUT.... the EPA is not requiring it!
Help send the EPA a clear message: Modern pollution controls like Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) MUST BE REQUIRED at coal-burning power plants in Montana!
Please Attend the Hearing nearest you!
Tuesday May 1st Helena: Lewis & Clark Library, 120 S. Last Chance Gulch, 2:00 - 5:30 & 6:30 - 9:00
Wednesday May 2nd Billings: MSU Campus, 2804 3rd ave N., meeting rm. Broadway III-A, 1:00 - 5:00 & 6:00 - 8:00
Buses, vans and/or carpools for evening sessions, are planned from Missoula (for Helena) and from Bozeman (for Helena & Billings)* Transportation & RSVP - PLEASE CONTACT: Bob Clark, Missoula at 549-1142, bob.clark@sierraclub.org or Mike Scott, Billings at 839-3333, mike.scott@sierraclub.org.
* Buses/vans will provide complimentary meal & beverages!
Montanans deserve the best! Let’s make sure we don’t get stuck with sub-standard pollution controls....
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Comments Needed on EPA Regional Haze Plan for Montana
In Montana, being a good neighbor means more than just being polite and keeping the lawn mowed or changing a tire for a stranger on a dark night. It means doing unto those downwind as you would have done to yourself.
However, the good old boys from Pennsylvania Power and Light (PPL), the operators of Colstrip Power Plant, don't seem to share these values.
Instead of protecting Montana from their dirty pollution by upgrading Colstrip with 21st century pollution controls they are lobbying the EPA to pass weak coal pollution standards.
Fortunately, the EPA is taking comments on a draft regional haze plan for Montana, Unfortunately, the current draft doesn't require Pennsylvania Power & Light (PPL) invest in strong pollution control technology.
Click here to tell the EPA to protect Montanan's from dirty coal pollution and pass strong Regional Haze standards for Montana.
Across the country over 200 coal-fired power plants have installed strong pollution controls. This technology works much like a catalytic converter on your car keeping dangerous toxic gas from spewing into the air.
But PPL refuses to upgrade its facilities like others -- content to continue polluting our Big Sky, with noxious gas that threatens our health and air quality.
The good news is we still have time to influence the draft regional haze plan from the EPA. Colstrip's owners have a ton of money and lobbyists on their side, but we have something even better, the voices of people like you. Tell the EPA to implement strong Regional Haze standards for Montana.
Thanks for all you do for the environment,
Mike Scott
Sierra Club
Beyond Coal Campaign
P.S. - We need to get as many comments to the EPA as possible, so please forward this to your friends after you have taken action.
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Clean Air Act at Risk — Action Needed!
By Bob Clark, Organizing Representative, Missoula Field Office
As 2011 winds down, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) efforts
to curtail dangerous toxic pollution by adopting common-sense pollution
safeguards to protect public health, are in jeopardy. Clean air advocates
were disappointed by the Obama Administration’s delay of the Greenhouse
Gas and Smog standards in September. So, it is now more important than
ever for the EPA to adopt strong mercury and air toxics protections
as well as a strong Regional Haze Plan.
Mercury is a significant threat to public health and dirty coal-fired
power plants are the number one source of mercury pollution in the United
States. According to EPA studies, the mercury contamination problem
in the U.S. is so widespread that as many as one in six women of childbearing
age is likely to have mercury levels in her blood high enough to put
her baby at risk. There are 49 waterbodies in Montana that have been
determined by the MT Department of Environmental Quality to be “impaired
and threatened waterbodies in need of water quality restoration” due
to mercury contamination. These waterbodies, located in 20 different
counties, comprise 418,837 lake acres and 1,235 river miles.
The good news is that we already have the technology to clean up mercury
pollution by 90%. By enacting a strong federal standard we will reduce
mercury in the fish we eat quickly and significantly. Montana is one
of 19 states that already has an emission standard for mercury. However,
mercury pollution knows no boundaries and can travel hundreds of miles,
so it is important to have a strong nation-wide standard for mercury.
Additionally, the Mercury and Air Toxics standard is projected to create
31,000 short-term and 9,000 long-term jobs for ironworkers, pipefitters,
electricians, and boilermakers.
The EPA is also working on a Regional Haze Plan that would protect public
health and improve air quality in National Parks and Wilderness Areas.
The plan could require Montana’s largest polluters, like the Colstrip
and Corette power plants, to control Particulate Matter, nitrogen oxide,
and sulfur dioxide emissions. These pollutants cause serious respiratory
illnesses yet affordable technology exists today that would significantly
decrease these emissions. The final rule is due by June 2012 and has
the potential to significantly improve air quality in our state.
Unfortunately, these public health safeguards have been under constant
attack by industry and members of Congress (such as Rep. Denny Rehberg),
who are putting the profits of Big Oil and Coal, above public health.
It is critical that we prevent Congress from interfering with EPA’s
progress and ensure that the Obama administration finalizes these much
needed safeguards.
Contact our Senators’ offices and urge them to protect the Clean Air
Act and EPA’s authority to protect public health!
Contact Congressman Rehberg’s office and tell him to Clean Up his
Act: (202) 225-3211 or e-mail comments at: http://rehberg.house.gov
For more information, visit: http://www.sierraclub.org/stoppolluters/ or contact Sierra Club’s Missoula field office at 406-549-1142.
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Take Action - Safe Chemicals Act
The Safe Chemicals Act of 2011, would require that chemicals be evaluated for safety before they're placed in products. The Bill was recently reintroduced in the U.S. Senate. We're helping fellow supporters to convince Senators Baucus and Tester to co-sponsor this critical legislation, and we need your help. Montana plays an incredibly important role in determining the future of the Safe Chemicals Act because Senator Baucus sits on the Committee on Environment and Public Works, the committee in which the legislation has been introduced.
Womens Voices for the Earth is gathering petition signatures asking Senators Baucus and Tester to co-sponsor the Safe Chemicals Act. The Montana Chapter of the Sierra Club proudly endorses this legislation! Please sign the petition Today!
Click Here to Comment Today.
Read More from Women's Voices.
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Missoula
County, Conservation Organizations File Suit To Seek A Full Environmental
Review Of Mega-Load Project
Missoula County and the National Wildlife Federation - along with the
Montana Environmental Information Center and the Montana Chapter of
the Sierra Club represented by the Western Environmental Law Center
(Missoula office) and local attorneys Robert Gentry and Summer Nelson
- filed
a lawsuit in Montana District Court to protect Montana‘s citizens, economy and ecosystems from the potentially
harmful impacts of Exxon/Mobil‘s mega-load transport project.
Read more...
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Sierra Club Watershed Restoration projects
In 2009, Sierra Club and Trout Unlimited volunteers worked on the Little McCormick Creek Restoration Project, northwest of Missoula, Montana. In 2010, The Montana Chapter of the Sierra Club has partnered with Trout Unlimited to help restore several tributaries of Fish Creek, an important tributary of the middle Clark Fork River near Missoula, Montana.
More Information |
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U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service proposes new-and-improved critical habitat designation for bull trout.
On January 13, 2010 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) released a new critical habitat designation for bull trout, a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, throughout the Northwest, including western Montana. The new draft — offering four-to-six times more protected waters than a previous proposal in 2005 —includes 21,694 miles of stream habitat and 533,426 acres of reservoirs and lakes in Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon and Nevada.
More Information |
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The Great Burn Proposed Wilderness Area
The Great Burn is a 250,000 acre expanse of wild country along the Montana/Idaho border west of Missoula, Montana in the northern Bitterroot Mountains. This primeval landscape burned heavily in the Great Fire of 1910 leaving charred snags, grassy slopes, and expanses of sub-alpine meadows. High cirques, impressive stands of mountain hemlock, and dozens of clear lakes also adorn the high country. While not as high and "craggy" as the main Bitterroot Range to the south, the area is biologically rich. Spared by the great fire are magical pockets of ancient western red cedar - some individuals over 500 years old - carpeted underfoot with mossy beds of sword and maidenhair ferns. Wind-swept peaks like Rhodes and Crater rise to nearly 8,000 ft., and an abundance of moisture nurtures the area. The Burn is a critical biological link between the massive Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness complex to the south and the Cabinet-Yaak ecosystem to the north. Full protection of this interstate wildland is essential to ensure a quality wilderness experiences for future generations.
More Information |
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Sierra Club Action Alert!
Help Pass Comprehensive Clean Energy Legislation this Spring!
Right now the Senate is debating a clean energy bill that would mean more jobs, less pollution, and greater security (Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, S. 1733). But this bill won’t work if corporate polluters refuse to pay their fair share, and instead lobby to weaken the clean air laws that reduce pollution. As Montana’s Senators Baucus and Tester help move this clean energy bill forward, they have the chance to stand up to the corporate polluters that are seeking bailouts and loopholes. Click here for more Information & talking points.
Urge Senators Max Baucus and Jon
Tester to support important climate
and energy legislation! |
Holcim Trident Cement Kiln
on the Missouri River |
Holcim's Plan to Burn Tires
on the banks of the Missouri River
Tire Burning in Three Forks?
The Headwaters Group is working to stop Holcim, Inc.'s plans to burn tires at their Trident cement kiln north of Three Forks near Headwaters State Park.
May 25, 2007 Update
The Montana Department of Environmental Quality has announced that it expects to release the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in June 2007. A record of decision on Holcim’s air quality permit will be published approximately 15 days later. We do not anticipate that there will be another opportunity for public comment. If the outcome is not satisfactory, the next step will be to appeal the decision to the Board of Environmental Review. We will only have 15 days after the record of decision to appeal so stay tuned...
Other Sources of Information. We have been working closely with:
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