Climate Connections: Defend foundational environmental protections
Anne Hedges and Katy Spence
To say Montanans’ public health safeguards are under attack by the current Montana legislature is a gross understatement. The Montana Environmental Information Center (MEIC) has lobbied the Montana legislature for over 50 years, and this legislative session stands out as alarmingly hostile to clean air, clean water, and public health. Legislators are acting as if people across this state don’t rely on clean air, clean water and a healthy climate to survive and thrive, and many seem intent on taking those protections down to rock bottom.
With the halfway point of the 2025 Montana Legislature behind us earlier this week, it’s important to celebrate the wins. Several bills that sought to crush Montana’s burgeoning (but very promising) wind energy industry have been defeated. A takings bill that would have prioritized private property over community voices and development was voted down on the Senate floor. And through MEIC’s website alone, thousands of Montanans comment on bills every week. Between our website, our partners’ channels, and old-fashioned phone calls, Montanans are showing up for our environment and our rights.
But there is still work to be done. Your voice can make a critical difference on climate and environmental bills over the next couple months.
When the Supreme Court affirmed the youth climate case, Held v. Montana, and ruled that parts of the Montana Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) were unconstitutional because they prohibited consideration of climate change in agency decision-making, they inadvertently put a target on this bedrock law that has protected Montanans and our natural resources for half a century. At least a half-dozen bills this session target MEPA, most seeking to undermine the court decision and limit consideration of the harm that certain types of development can cause to our air and water.
MEPA is the primary tool that the State of Montana uses to implement our Constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment, which Held determined includes the right to a healthy climate. MEPA forces the state to slow down and take a “hard look” at how permitted projects would impact water quality and air quality, historic and cultural resources, wildlife and neighboring residents or landowners. This attempt to undermine the State’s ability to protect our Constitutional rights is in clear violation of the court’s decision in Held, and we must push back.
While there’s one good bill that would revise MEPA to allow the state to consider climate change when they permit highly polluting industrial operations (HB 270, Rep. Katie Zolnikov, R-Billings), at least four other bills take aim at MEPA and the state’s ability to protect public health when the federal government refuses. SB 221 would remove the State’s ability to consider the climate impacts of most industrial operations.
HB 285 says that MEPA no longer implements our constitutional right to a clean and healthy environment and that long-term impacts don’t need to be considered. HB 291 would stop the state from protecting the climate and future generations by prohibiting the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions unless the federal government does so first… and that seems pretty unlikely over the next four years.
Our bedrock environmental polices aren’t the only protections on the chopping block. There are a number of industry bills that will lower the bar for pollution to favor speedy permitting and development.
One of the worst is HB 587 (Rep. Gary Parry, R-Colstrip) to allow coal mines to put more pollution into Montana’s rivers and streams by changing the definition of what is considered “material damage" under the law. This bill would make it so a violation of water quality standards isn't defined as material damage. This is particularly dangerous in eastern Montana, where coal mines already impact valuable water resources. As climate change worsens, our water becomes more precious, and giving handouts to coal companies at the expense of clean water and agricultural producers is deplorable.
And if you’re concerned by the increasing amount of green slime in our rivers and streams in the summer, you should be worried about a number of bills that would make that worse. Numerous bills seek to fast-track subdivision permitting by creating or expanding loopholes in environmental review. Under SB 262, DEQ would no longer conduct the MEPA environmental analysis for proposed subdivisions, eliminating consideration of cumulative impacts to rivers, lakes and streams from a multitude of septic systems across a watershed. Sprawl itself is terrible for our climate, and these impacts on our already stressed water resources will make climate adaptation even more difficult.
The time to address the climate crisis and protect water resources is now. If the legislature gets its way, it will drive us further into a hole from which it will be difficult, if not impossible, to climb out. We know clean air, clean water and a healthy climate are good for people’s health, their wallets, and the economy. We need your help to remind your legislators that the first rule of holes is to stop digging. Montana's natural resources and the people of this state deserve as much.
MEIC shares information about the most pressing bills that will impact our air, water, and life-sustaining climate on our website. Learn more and take action at www.meic.org/bill-tracker. You can also sign up for MEIC’s action alerts, and check out our weekly Legislative Updates every Thursday at 4:30pm during the session.
Anne Hedges is the Executive Director and Katy Spence is the Communications & Engagement Director at the Montana Environmental Information Center. Climate Smart Missoula brings this Climate Connections column to you twice per month. Learn more about our work and sign up for our e-newsletter at missoulaclimate.org.