Protecting and advancing air and water quality standards to ensure a clean and healthy climate for future generations
Reducing our dependence on fossil fuels through an equitable transition to renewable and clean energy sources
What would you do if you discovered invisible pollution pouring out of the refinery next door, or right out of the gas stove in your home? Unfortunately, that’s exactly what is happening, and MEIC staff has seen it with our own eyes.
More than a decade of dogged advocacy and laser-focused persistence has paid off: The Montana Supreme Court found in favor of MEIC and our partners on a number of important, precedent-setting claims in regard to the permitting of a coal mine expansion in southeastern Montana – the Rosebud Coal Mine.
On Feb. 28, MEIC filed a formal petition with the Montana Public Service Commission (PSC), in partnership with businesses, organizations, and energy leaders from across Montana, requesting the PSC adopt a rule requiring consideration of climate change in its regulation of Montana utilities.
Now that the listening sessions have wrapped up, the DEQ has created a “MEPA Work Group” that is tasked with further discussing and evaluating MEPA and potentially offering recommendations on improving the process.
April 25, 2024 – The updated rule will have significant impacts on emissions of lung-damaging air pollutants in Montana.
For 50 years, MEIC has worked to keep Montana’s air and water clean. We have stopped dirty acid mines and helped pass and defend strong pollution control laws. And it’s all made possible by our members.
MEIC is made up of thousands of Montanans who care deeply about this state – our home. This strong membership has allowed MEIC to remain independent and to always fight for what is right. We would love to have you as a member too.
April 8, 2024 – The Montana Public Service Commission’s hearing room in Helena was full Monday, as conservation groups, businesses and others made their case that the PSC should be considering the costs of climate change when making regulatory decisions.
April 1, 2024 – A bill that would have allowed coal mines to violate water quality standards if excess pollution was only for a limited amount of time won’t become law in Montana, according to plaintiffs who challenged it and another related bill.
Montana’s Smith River is renowned worldwide for its clean water, rugged canyon scenery, and blue ribbon trout fishery. The Smith is Montana’s only permitted recreational river. The permitted section of the Smith River winds 59 miles through a remote canyon in the Big Belt Mountains. Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks classifies the Smith River’s fishery as high-value, owing to its bountiful population of rainbow, brown, westslope cutthroat, and brook trout. The canyon walls of the Smith also boast some of the best examples of Native American pictographs in Montana.
Montana’s Smith River is an extraordinary resource, and deserves our most rigorous effort to protect it from mine pollution and dewatering. Montana Governor Greg Gianforte and the Department of Environmental Quality Director Chris Dorrington will make critical decisions that will determine the future of the Smith River and the Sheep Creek Mine.
Please contact Governor Gianforte and Director Dorrington. Let them know that the Smith River is an incredibly important place for the people of Montana and across the country and world, and should not be sacrificed for temporary and risky mining activities.
The Smith River and its tributaries provide crucial habitat and spawning grounds for regional trout fisheries. The Sheep Creek drainage accounts for over half of tributary spawning of rainbow trout in the Smith River drainage, and rainbow trout have been known to travel nearly 200 miles round-trip from the Missouri River to spawn!
The Smith River depends on clean cold water from its tributaries to sustain the aquatic life within its banks and the agricultural operations along it. Demands on the river’s waters already often exceed available flows in many years, creating challenges for downstream water users.
Phone: (406) 443-2520
Email: meic@meic.org
Mail to: P.O. Box 1184, Helena, MT, 59624
Office locations:
107 W. Lawrence St., #N-6, Helena
225 W. Front, Missoula