NEWS RELEASE: There is no energy emergency. Trump used this false pretense to skip review and public input on expanding a crappy #coal mine. We're suing. @earthjustice.org @meic-official.bsky.social @biologicaldiversity.org @wildearthguardians.bsky.social #GreenSky

MEIC is part of the growing coalition demanding transparency and accountability on data center proposals in Montana. We’re calling on the PSC to require NorthWestern Energy to cough up more information about its secretive deals with data center developers.

Feeling at a loss after the bizarre, distressing and discouraging news from the federal government? You're not alone. Check out MEIC's newsletter for 3 concrete ways you can dive in and make a difference!

Helena! Join MEIC, Upper Missouri Waterkeeper, and Helena Interfaith Climate Advocates on March 4 for a panel discussion to learn about proposed data centers in MT, what is at stake, and how we can protect our communities. 📅 March 4 ⏰ 5:30 PM 📍Helena - Holter Museum of Art meic.org/events/prote...

Nuclear energy is being promoted as the answer to the climate crisis and meeting data center power demand, but what is this all this hype leaving out? Join us next Monday (Feb. 23) in Billings for conversation on nuclear energy's risks, realities, and why it's delaying actual climate solutions.

Safety is now just a recommendation for the nuclear industry. The new "rules" Trump's DOE just gave to the nuclear industry should alarm us all. "They're taking a wrecking ball to the system of nuclear safety and security regulation oversight," said Ed Lyman, @nucsafetyucs.bsky.social

The opportunity to participate in the decision-making process for Montana’s energy future is rapidly approaching. NorthWestern Energy released its latest draft IRP & is now gathering public input before submitting it to the PSC. Join MEIC at NorthWestern's presentations of its 20-year plan!

Utah is on the verge of becoming the first-ever permanent dumping ground for foreign nuclear power waste. MEIC stands in solidarity with the 80+ groups opposing the plan and raising serious concerns related to transportation routes, public transparency, and lack of meaningful tribal consultation.

NorthWestern Energy is leaving expensive coal in Montanans’ stockings this holiday season... 🪨🎁 Read MEIC energy transition engineer Nick Fitzmaurice's op-ed here: missoulacurrent.com/coal-holiday...

Join MEIC and Kyle Unruh of Renewable NW for a webinar on Jan. 22 to learn about NorthWestern Energy's draft Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) before community meetings begin on Jan. 27.⁠ ➡️ meic.org/events/meic-...

“It’s basically been a dumpster fire” sums it up. NorthWestern Energy is trying to do an end run around the PSC and the public. Right before acquiring a new share of the Colstrip plant, NorthWestern is asking the PSC to use a complex scheme to charge customers another $18M for the additional share.

Feeling like clean energy is a maze of jargon, headlines, and confusing policies? You’re not alone.⁠ ⁠ Join MEIC and Protect Our Winters (POW) in Bozeman on Thursday, Dec. 4 for a panel discussion on the future of clean energy in Montana!⁠ Drinks provided.⁠ #bozemanevents meic.org/events/clean...

Montanans shouldn't be forced to subsidize data centers that could make utility bills unaffordable and increase reliance on fossil fuels. MEIC and our partners are challenging NorthWestern Energy’s efforts to provide electricity to data centers before proving it won't adversely impact ratepayers.

“The water contamination that will result from this mine threatens the agricultural water quality of Rosebud Creek, which really concerns me,” said Clint McRae of Rocker Six cattle company, which has operated along Rosebud Creek for over a century.

BREAKING: We're challenging the #MTPol exempt well loophole, allied with municipalities, the MT Farm Bureau, landowners, enviros, etc. The loophole has allowed developers to drill thousands of new water wells w/o permits, even in basins that are legally closed to new appropriations.

This is why tighter regulations and closing loopholes is important. Because developers unfairly took advantage of the exempt well loophole, water right holders may lose water resources they depend on AND some Montana homeowners may lose access to water, to boot.

As a tumultuous 2025 comes to a close, we’re taking stock of how federal actions have impacted our work at MEIC this year. Join this webinar on Nov. 13 to get the inside scoop on what’s happening at the federal level, what we’re doing about it & what comes next. 👉Register: meic.org/events/the-i...

“Distinguishing customers into different classes allows customers to pay the costs associated with supplying their specific class — and not other classes — with electricity supply,” MEIC, Honor the Earth and NW Energy Coalition said in the joint comments filed on their behalf by Earthjustice.

Is the US on a fast track to a ☢️ disaster? The rush to build more nuclear power should give everyone pause. Beyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps on why the current push for new nukes is especially dangerous this time around: nuclearcosts.org/new-nuclear-...

“The richest men in America generally are building these data centers and they don’t need us to subsidize their power. They can afford to pay the power bill themselves.”- Anne Hedges, MEIC. Last Thursday, MEIC was in Butte to talk to community members about new #datacenter development. Read more 👇

Even the coal industry isn’t betting big on its future… At less than a penny per ton, the U.S. Department of the Interior rejected the only bid from Navajo Transitional Energy Company (NTEC) to mine 167 million tons of coal on public lands in Montana's Powder River Basin.

More data centers are coming to Butte. How can we ensure the community and its resources are prioritized over corporate profits? Join us tomorrow, Oct. 16, at the Montana Tech Copper Lounge at 5:30pm for a community conversation on data center development, energy bills, public engagement, & more.

⚡Join this webinar on Tuesday, Oct. 14 at 4:30pm on how the future of clean, affordable, and reliable energy is built on improved transmission and large, coordinated energy markets. More info at meic.org/transmission...

Can Montana Grow Without Losing What We Love? MEIC’s Sustainable Communities Director, Laura Collins, explains how Montana’s patterns of growth threaten our landscapes, communities, wildlife & way of life. We can chart a better path by planning for growth that respects the environment & our future.

It’s Earth Gives Day! 🌎 This day of giving highlights nonprofits driving environmental progress to protect our planet's future. Today, the first 10 donations to MEIC of $100 or more will be matched by Earth Gives! 🌱 Visit our page to show your support for MEIC: www.earthgives.org/organization...

The numbers don’t lie. Coal. Is. Expensive. “West Virginia is awash in coal, natural gas and oil, making it the fifth-leading producer of energy in the United States. Yet the state’s electricity costs have risen much faster than the national average."

“The Yellowstone River should not be a dumping ground for toxic waste, and DEQ has been turning a blind eye for years,” MEIC's Anne Hedges said. After years of allowing CHS Refinery in Laurel to discharge arsenic & other pollutants into our waters, Montana DEQ is proposing a measly $100,000 fine.

"They shouldn’t raise our energy prices or damage property values. Our community shouldn’t sacrifice water quality or quantity. We shouldn’t compete for power with data centers during winter storms that strain grid reliability. I want our community to gain rather than lose in this deal.”

MEIC joined Earth Gives 2025 🌎 This nationwide campaign supports nonprofits advancing environmental, climate, wildlife & renewable energy solutions. ⚡ Donating through Earth Gives supports MEIC's work to accelerate Montana’s clean energy future. Visit our page: www.earthgives.org/organization...

The Trump administration is hell-bent on propping up one of America’s oldest, dirtiest, and most expensive power sources. They’re expanding coal mining on public lands by up to 31 times the current operations and delaying pollution safeguards while endangering communities and our planet.

The plant will emit 25 million tons of GHG into Montana's atmosphere, yet DEQ’s environmental assessment downplays impacts of this significant increase in pollution. This ignores the harm to the neighbors in Laurel who have to live with this polluting plant on the banks of the Yellowstone River.

Because MT DEQ refuses to present an honest analysis of the climate impacts of the methane gas plant near Laurel (again), we are challenging its inadequate review (again). “We hate doing the same thing again, but if DEQ is not going to do its job we’re left with no choice,” said Anne Hedges, MEIC.

“Once again, DEQ ignored Montanans’ constitutional right to a stable climate when it failed to disclose the impact of a whopping 25 million tons of greenhouse gases from NorthWestern Energy’s large methane gas plant along the Yellowstone River,” said Anne Hedges, executive director of the MEIC.

While EPA's data ranks the Colstrip power plant in Montana as the 10th highest emitter of CO2, satellite and aircraft monitoring show it actually ranks 5th when running at full capacity.

Join us for a panel discussion during Missoula's Climate Solutions Week on Monday, 9/29 at 5:30pm⚡ MEIC, Rep. Shelly Fyant & Honor the Earth will discuss the false promises & impacts of nuclear energy & why it's not the climate solution we need right now. More here: tockify.com/climatesmart...

Nuclear generation is too expensive, too risky, and too slow to develop to meet our energy needs. Nuclear is failing, and AI can’t rescue it. Read more from Amory Lovins in Utility Dive: www.utilitydive.com/.../nuclear-...

Anne Hedges, MEIC executive director, on data centers coming to Montana ⬇️

In this Substack article from The Land Desk, Jonathan P. Thompson writes about how data centers are colonizing the West's power grids, upending the energy transition, and placing the financial burden on utility customers. @landdesk.bsky.social Read it here: www.landdesk.org/.../data-cen....

Raise a glass to clean water! 🙌💧 In an ongoing battle to defend Montana waters against Canadian coal mining pollution, the Montana DEQ denied a petition from Lincoln County Commissioners that would have doubled the amount of allowable selenium pollution in Lake Koocanusa.

MEIC will be at Sunday Streets Missoula on Sept. 7! ⁠ ⁠ This event encourages us to rethink one of our largest public spaces - our streets. By temporarily closing the streets to cars, we can experience how our communities can be more livable & build support for broader transportation choices.⁠

Protect Montana's Waters from Toxic Coal Pollution! ➡️ We need you to ask MT DEQ to stay strong in its defense of the selenium standard that protects aquatic life, Montana’s world-class fishery, and communities and Tribes from Canadian mine pollution. 📢 Comment by Aug. 13: meic.org/bill-tracker...

The U.S. Department of the Interior approved an expansion of the Rosebud coal strip mine in Montana, the sole source of coal for the highly polluting Colstrip power plant. This expansion will further jeopardize water, wildlife & the climate, while driving up electricity costs with expensive coal.

"And while our congressmen hide behind press releases hyping this new law, keep in mind that it will result in not only lost and destroyed public lands, but higher energy bills, increased wildfires, increased drought, more flash floods, and more intense heat waves.” dailymontanan.com/2025/07/22/m...

“Trump is illegally delaying clean air laws from his desk because polluters make more money when they just dump their toxic chemicals in our air,” said Patrice Simms, vice president of litigation at Earthjustice’s Healthy Communities program. www.eenews.net/articles/tru...

We need smarter decisions about transmission, and BPA’s decision to join Markets+ instead of a day-ahead market for the West developed by the California Independent System Operator is not one of them. www.utilitydive.com/news/bonnevi...

Have you seen the Clark Fork River that runs throughs Missoula lately? A bloom of algae is painting the river green. Montana's rivers are prone to algal blooms due to a number of factors. Low water flow and increased nutrients can spark growth of different kinds of algae, with a range of impacts. 👇

"To say that keeping information from the public is necessary for a governor to satisfy his constitutional obligations is just silly. We’ve had 50 years of governors [operating] under this constitutional provision of right to know abiding by it.” montanafreepress.org/2025/05/19/g...

Renewable energy = energy independence. By harnessing Montana's clean energy potential, we have a chance to lower energy bills, create jobs, and boost the local economy. As Karen Kirk stresses, it’s time for MT leaders to step up and embrace this opportunity. flatheadbeacon.com/2025/05/17/m...

As wind development comes to Montana, “the people who are for it are a lot quieter than those who are against it," says one local official. New from @karinkirk.bsky.social insideclimatenews.org/news/1405202...

As AI usage grows, so does its water footprint. Bloomberg reveals that since 2022, about two-thirds of new data centers have been built in high water-stressed areas, worsening local water shortages. www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...