The Blog at MSPC

The goal should be straightforward: keep Montana’s rivers healthy, accessible, and productive for the people and communities that depend on them—today and for generations to come.

It is vital for the judicial branch to hold the legislative branch to the same standard it uses to override citizen-approved ballot measures. If the legislature is going to pass omnibus tax bills and policy “hot messes,” the people should be free to exercise their right of initiative to respond.

Wildfire will remain part of life in the Mountain West. The question is whether states will continue paying primarily after disaster strikes or invest more deliberately before the next fire begins.

It takes an average of 18 to 36 months to rebuild a home burnt by wildfire in mere minutes, and most communities ravaged in an afternoon will take decades to be restored. Every day of this process is a day too long, but bureaucratic delays should not be adding months to the permitting process.

Washington’s ongoing denial of the impact its climate policies are having on the price of gas is in stark contrast to California, with similar policies. The Golden State at least has the honesty to acknowledge the cost increases for drivers.

As electricity demand accelerates across the West, maintaining Montana's competitive advantage will require continued investment in both energy production and the infrastructure needed to deliver it.

Data centers have the potential to be an economic boon to the regions in which they are built, along with laying the groundwork for advances in medicine, national defense, and other research. Slowing data center development must be done based on local context, including the consumption levels of the data center and regional water availability.

Prevention measures such as forest thinning, prescribed burns, fuels reduction projects, and infrastructure hardening receive far less attention than suppression measures, even though they can reduce the severity and cost of future fires.

The rule rescission brings common sense back to federal land management while also protecting the livelihoods of thousands who responsibly make a living on our shared inheritance.

Despite a massive hydroelectric advantage, Washington will continue to become more expensive due to its energy tax and regulatory policies, while Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming are likely to see the cost curve bend with their support for bringing more nuclear power online.

U.S. energy demand is expected to rise by about 3.5% each year through 2040. There is already severe stress on our aging energy infrastructure, even before accounting for the power-hungry needs of new technologies.

This new nuclear expansion by Meta and other tech companies sends a message to every major company with large energy needs. The nuclear landscape is different from what it has been in the past.

Because water is so precious, the law governing it should be fair and certain. People are entitled to know what they can and can’t do. They need assurance that the rules will not change suddenly. Unfortunately, the Montana state constitution’s water provisions are confused and contradictory.

Washington needs to seriously consider additional nuclear power that can meet the rising grid demand for generations to come.

We have dozens of policy recommendations for lawmakers to consider. These reforms can be acted on even with the challenging budget situations across the states. Here are a couple of our top recommendations for Idaho, Washington and Wyoming lawmakers

The successful plaintiffs in the Held v. Montana climate-change lawsuit are suing again—although it appears they will have to begin with a district judge rather than proceeding directly to the state supreme court.

Governor Little’s most recent effort is issuing a Request for Information (RFI) from his Office of Energy and Mineral Resources to gather the input of the sector and stakeholders to push towards a nuclear future.

What’s good for the goose is also good for the gander, or so the saying goes. But this adage never seems to hold true for the federal land discussion, even when an alliance could benefit both sides of the debate.

Decades of federal forest managers pursuing suppression-focused tactics led to a logjam of unmanaged forests waiting to ignite. Current federal policies barely chip away at the buildup, with only 0.08% of public lands treated with prescribed fire. A rate far below the accumulation of vulnerable fuels on public lands in the mountain states.

The Gem State recently took two important steps demonstrating its commitment to unleashing the potential of nuclear energy.