Issue Position: Conservation and the Environment

Issue Position

Stewardship of Montana's constitutional guarantee of a clean and healthful environment

One of the reasons I have lived in the Rocky Mountain West all my life is the access to rivers, lakes and mountains that define our region.

I will unequivocally fight for healthy communities, stewardship of our lands, and clean, renewable energy for future generations.

I pledge to be an advocate who works towards a renewable energy economy to ensure clean energy jobs and an independent energy future for Montana.

"To waste, to destroy, our natural resources, to skin and exhaust the land instead of using it so as to increase its usefulness, will result in undermining in the days of our children the very prosperity which we ought by right to hand down to them amplified. . . "
~Theodore Roosevelt

Climate Change
Leading scientists around the world agree that man-made greenhouse gases from fossil fuels are causing global warming. Effects are already being seen worldwide and even here in Montana. Long-term consequences will be devastating. I will work to reduce global warming pollution as the future of the last best place is critically at stake.

Solving global warming means investing in clean renewable energy.

Rivers and Streams
I will invest energy at the legislature in conserving, protecting and restoring Montana's coldwater fisheries and their watersheds.

I will also work towards the further promotion of a fishery management that preserves and improves populations of wild fish, prioritizing the conservation of populations of native species, such as cutthroat and bull trout.

"Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters."
~Norman Maclean, A River Runs Through It

Energy Efficiency for Utilities
Last session, the Energy Efficiency Standard for Utilities died in the House Energy committee on a party-line vote with all Montana Democrats supporting it.

Eighteen other states in the U.S. have adopted energy efficiency standards, and the federal government is considering enacting a national standard.

This is important and worthwhile legislation.

Big Sky Rivers Act
Last session HB 455, the Big Sky Rivers Act, sponsored by Rep. Michele Reinhart (D-Missoula), would have empowered local governments to create a 250-foot streamside management area to buffer Montana's "Big 10" rivers from new commercial and residential development. Streamside management zones give our rivers and streams room to breathe, protecting public health and safety as well as world-class fish and wildlife. Despite widespread support, HB 455 failed in the House Local Government Committee on a tie, party-line vote, with Democrats supporting the measure and Republicans opposing it. I will work to further see that this smart and practical policy passes in 2011.

I am proud to be a paid member and supporter of Montana Conservation Voters, Clark Fork Coalition, Montana Trout Unlimited, and Montana Audubon.

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