Beyond Coal Montana
Join us Tuesday, April 26, for an engaging panel and discussion:
From the mine to the power plant to the air we breathe and water we drink, coal threatens our health and the Earth’s climate.
2007 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Dr. Steve Running will present and discuss coal’s impacts on our warming planet; Attorney Jory Ruggiero of Western Justice Advocates will cover the health effects of Colstrip power plant’s leaking fly-ash ponds; and policy specialist Jessica Finn Coven of Climate Solutions in Seattle will talk about the EPA’s proposed rules in protecting public health from large-scale polluters like coal-fired power plants. Also find out what you can do to protect human health and the environment and move us beyond coal.
The panel will be moderated by Anne Hedges of the Montana Environmental Information Center in Helena.
Question and Answer period to follow panel discussion.
Where: Gallagher Business Bldg, Rm 123,
University of Montana campus, Missoula
When: Tuesday, April 26, 7:00 – 8:30 pm
Free and Open to the Public
For more information, contact Sierra Club’s Missoula field office at 549-1142 or e-mail brad.hash@sierraclub.org
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Sierra Club and Boom Swagger Salon hosted a mercury hair-testing event. By snipping a small bundle of hair and sending it for testing, participants will know exactly how much mercury is in their body and what they can do about it.
Mercury. It’s toxic. Every woman should get tested!
Wednesday, April 6, 12:00 – 2:00
Boom Swagger Salon, 204 S. 3rd st. W., Missoula
Check out the stories on the event below:
On President’s Day, Sierra Club, along with our great partner organizations, held a HUGE rally in Helena, Montana.
Amid freezing temperatures, dark gray skies and several inches of newly fallen snow, over 600 Montanans poured onto the state capitol lawn to rally for clean air, clean water, clean energy, and to challenge the clot of anti-environmental bills appearing before the Republican-dominated legislature. The event, titled For the Love of Montana, demonstrated support for those state and federal laws and agencies currently under legislative assault that are designed to protect our land, air and water.
Hat's off to all those who helped organize and those who attended the rally.
http://sierraclub.typepad.com/scrapbook/2011/02/six-hundred-rally-in-helena-for-the-love-of-montana.html
http://helenair.com/news/article_d33f81f4-3e51-11e0-83a6-001cc4c002e0.html
The Great Montana Coal Rush is on: 1.3 million tons of Otter Creek coal proposed for mining; 7 other proposed coal mines; 3 proposed coal export terminals on the Columbia River to ship Montana coal to Asia markets; and 1 railroad proposed to haul the climate disfiguring, health destroying coal out of state and into boilers. If this weren't enough, we have the second largest coal-fired power plant west of the Mississippi River complete with leaking ash ponds that are contaminating local groundwater.
But the Sierra Club is in full swing actively challenging Otter Creek and the Tongue River railroad. We're keeping a sharp eye on proposed mines in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and partnering with nearby Northern Cheyenne tribal members in an effort to stop proposed mines on the reservation while promoting clean energy development.
Montana, ranked 2nd in the nation in wind power potential, should be exclusively developing clean energy solutions rather than blowing up grasslands and ranchlands for short-term profits from filthy coal. Our future can't afford continuing down a path of finite fossil fuel development amid a warming planet and impacts to human health. Join us as we transition the the Big Sky state off coal and into the clean energy economy.
In the News:
Prospects of Burning Montana Coal in Asia on the Rise
Nov. 23, 2010. One proposed coal export terminal -- there are a few -- to ship Montana and Wyoming Powder River Basin coal to Asia has been approved by Cowlitz County Commissioners. This proposal, submitted by Millenium Bulk Logistics, a subsidiary of Australia-based Ambre Energy, is for a port along the Columbia River 40 miles north of Portland.
> Read the full story.
Nov. 28, 2010. Cloud Peak Energy, a Rio Tinto subsidiary and owner of Montana's enormous Spring Creek mine in Decker, says its banking on construction of coal terminals along the Columbia River to boost its coal exports to Asia.
> Read the full story.
But these ports are facing solid opposition in Oregon, Washington and Montana. Please check out this solid editorial from the Oregonian on Dec. 1, 2010:
> Check out the Columbia Riverkeeper website.
Aug. 16, 2010 - Delay in Coal Ash Decision Irresponsible Say Environmental Groups
The battle for coal ash regulation continues as environmental groups accuse the government of stalling a decision that could see the byproduct classified as a hazardous substance.
> Read the full story.
July 24, 2010 - EPA to Hold Coal Ash Hearing in Denver
Denver will be the site of one of five public hearings nationwide that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has scheduled on proposed rules for coal ash from power plants.
Coal ash, or "coal combustion residuals," is a solid waste material left over from the burning of coal to produce power. Utilities typically dispose of it in ponds or landfills.
> Read more: EPA to hold coal-ash hearing in Denver - Denver Business Journal
July 22, 2010 - Jennifer Johnson, Senior Vice President of Sales and Trading for Arch Coal Sales, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Arch Coal, Inc was recently elected the Vice President of the Coal Trading Association.
"She is responsible for the marketing and optimization of 140mm tons of PRB coal annually, as well as Arch’s coal trading activities."
> Read more onBusiness Wire
Follow Arch Coal, Inc. activity on bizWatch (Click "follow this")
May 20th, 2010 - On May 13, the Sierra Club and the Montana Environment Information Center (MEIC) filed a lawsuit alleging that the Montana Land Board failed to consider the Otter Creek mine's potential impacts on climate change.
"Our lawsuit and Northern Plains' lawsuit are essentially arguing on the same constitutional grounds," says Mike Scott of the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign. "But we're arguing that one of the things that needed to be considered before leasing the coal was its potential impacts on climate change."
Read the full story in the Missoula Independent: http://missoulanews.bigskypress.com/missoula/otter-creek/Content?oid=1257519
May 17th, 2010 - Arch Coal announced plans to open a Montana office in Billings and that William "Mike" Rowlands will act as director of the recently leased 8,300 acre Otter Creek Coal Tracts.
> See the article in the St. Louis Business Journal
Feb. 27, 2010 - Coal mines eyed near Red Lodge, Bridger
BILLINGS — Coal developers are maneuvering to build new mines in south-central Montana near Red Lodge, where the industry shut down decades ago after a tragic fire, leaving behind underground reserves estimated at a billion tons.
> Read full story in the Helena Independent Record
Featured Essay:
"High Plains Poison" by Rick Bass
Montana's own Rick Bass wrote an essay about Montana coal development featured in the March/April 2010 Sierra Club magazine.
"I begin my journey into Montana's coal hell at the Little Bighorn Battlefield. I'm on my way to eastern Montana's enormous coal-fired power plant at Colstrip, the second largest west of the Mississippi."