A federal judge ruled the U.S. government did not adequately consider climate change and other environmental impacts of the massive transnational pipeline.
Endangered Species Act
Judge temporarily blocks grizzly bear hunt
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A Montana federal judge temporarily blocked a planned grizzly bear hunt near Yellowstone National Park while he weighs the merits of a lawsuit seeking to bar hunting of the iconic animal.
Keystone XL
Oil and water: The fight to save clean water on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation
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The Keystone XL pipeline oil pipeline is slated to cross the Missouri River near the edge of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. The Assiniboine & Sioux Tribes say the pipeline is a threat to their drinking water and way of life.
Keystone XL
Judge: TransCanada must study modified Keystone XL route
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A federal judge in Great Falls on Wednesday ordered the U.S. Department of State to update its environmental assessment of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline to reflect changes in the pipeline’s route through Nebraska. District Judge Brian Morris’ 13-page partial order is a temporary win for environmental and indigenous rights groups who sued the federal government under the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act.
Environment
Fort Peck tribal chairman signals desire to join Keystone XL lawsuit
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Fort Peck Indian Reservation tribal chairman Floyd Azure said he plans to urge the tribes’ executive board to join a lawsuit that accuses the federal government of failing to address the threat a foreign-owned oil pipeline poses to the tribes’ drinking water.
Keystone XL
Federal judge hears arguments in Keystone XL pipeline lawsuit
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Anti-pipeline plaintiffs presented oral arguments today in Great Falls federal court in a lawsuit against the federal government seeking to revoke permits greenlighting the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline that environmental and indigenous groups say were granted based on faulty outdated data.
Environment
Demonstrators march ahead of Keystone XL hearing
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Opponents of the Keystone XL oil pipeline gathered at Riverside Park in Great Falls on Wednesday in support of environmental and indigenous justice groups suing the U.S. government in federal court to stop the pipeline. The lawsuit, combined by U.S. District Judge Brian Morris from two similar suits, claims the U.S. Department of State and the Bureau of Land Management violated federal environmental laws when the Trump administration resurrected Keystone XL in January 2017.
2012 election
Montana Growth Network settles long-standing political practices lawsuit
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HELENA – A dark money political organization that spent hundreds of thousands of dollars during the 2012 election to support conservative candidates for office has settled a lawsuit accusing it of violating Montana’s campaign finance laws. The Montana Growth Network, headed by former Red Lodge Republican state Sen. Jason Priest, agreed to pay a $30,000 fine to the state Commissioner of Political Practices under the terms of the settlement.
coal
Few signs of coal revival despite Trump administration aupport
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Despite the Trump Administration’s ardent support of coal over renewable energy, the percentage of U.S. electricity from renewable sources continued its gradual rise in 2017. Wind, solar and hydroelectric energy accounted for 16 percent of power production during President Trump’s first year in office, up from 13 percent in 2016 and nearly double the level when Barack Obama became president in 2009, according to a Natural Resources Defense Council analysis.