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Monthly Archives: February 2016
Documentary film on Bakken life debuts Sunday in Billings
The documentary film “Makoshika,” about life in the Bakken oil fields, will have its Billings premiere this Sunday at 7pm at the Babcock Theater, and will also be shown at the Art House Pub and Theater on March 4-6 and 9-10.
The 50-minute documentary is a culmination of the High Plains Heritage Project, which we first wrote about 18 months ago, when four Montana journalists set off for the Bakken to do in depth coverage of the past, present and future of the region.
Examining both the present boom and those since passed, “Makoshika” alternates between intimate first person narratives and historical commentary, asking viewers to look at the present through the lens of history.
With mild spring weather forecast for Billings this weekend, we recommend the journey.
Click to read more about the film, view the trailer, and order tickets for Sunday’s showing. Continue reading
Posted in Bakken
Tagged Bakken, High Plains Heritage Project, Jessica Jane Hart, Makoshika
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Study: Native trout populations endangered by global warming
We’re about a month away from the first mayfly hatch, and it’s getting to be time for a fisherman’s thoughts to turn to casting a fly on one of the magnificent wild trout streams along the Beartooth Front.
It’s something we take for granted, but a recent study by a team of researchers from the US Geological Survey (USGS), including two based in Montana, found that changes in climate directly and consistently influence trout populations worldwide.
“The key message is that climate does have a strong influence on trout populations, and this is something we have observed over time,” said lead author Ryan Kovach, stationed at Glacier National Park. “We’ve seen that year-to-year variations in streamflow and temperature can have an impact on trout populations. This highlights that climate and climate change is not speculative, it is realized. It is something that we need to confront now in terms of natural resource management, but also from a societal perspective.”
As waters inevitably warm and river levels drop, it is critical that we do everything we can to minimize impacts on our native trout populations. Continue reading
Impacts of Justice Scalia’s death on the federal Clean Power Plan and Paris climate agreement
This article looks at possible impacts of the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on the federal Clean Power Plan (CPP) and the Paris climate change agreement. Scalia died on Saturday, February 13.
Last December in Paris, representatives of 195 countries, representing more than 95% of global greenhouse gas emissions, reached a landmark climate agreement that will, for the first time, commit nearly every country to lowering planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions to help stave off the most drastic effects of climate change. United States leadership was key to passage, with President Obama committing to significant cuts in carbon emissions.
From a policy perspective, the key to the US commitment was the Administration’s Clean Power Plan (CPP), which will require power plants to make significant reductions in emissions. The standards limit the amount of carbon pollution released for every power plant covered by the rule, and they are the same for every plant in every state. The cuts would have their biggest impact on coal power.
The viability of the Paris agreement was threatened last week when, in one of the final decisions in which Scalia participated, the Court voted 5-4 to temporarily block the CPP. Scalia voted with the majority.
To find out what this means for the CPP, particularly with regard to its implementation in Montana, click the link.
Posted in Legal
Tagged Antonin Scalia, Clean Power Plan, Paris climate agreement, United States Supreme Court
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Bankruptcies gash the oil industry as clean energy growth surges; a lesson for the Beartooth Front
It is often important for communities to understand macroeconomic trends in making local decisions regarding business development and growth. This is certainly true in the energy sector, where long-term trends are clear. Along the Beartooth Front, these trends are particularly important in light of what has transpired over the last two years.
2015 was not kind to oil and gas operators. Between the filings of WBH Energy Partners on January 3 and Swift Energy on December 31, a total of 42 oil and gas companies filed for bankruptcy last year, with a combined total debt of $17.85 billion. These are levels last seen during the Great Depression, with many more to come in 2016.
While the oil and gas industry is deeply depressed, the clean energy industry is growing quickly. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance clean energy investment surged in 2015 to a record high of $328.9 billion, up 4% from 2013 and 3% from the previous record set in 2011. Global investment in clean energy has grown by nearly six times in dollar terms since 2004.
These trends are clear. Clean energy is replacing coal, oil and gas. The pace is gradual today, but market forces and government action will accelerate the change over the next two decades.
The oil market will probably recover in the short term, and there will probably be another boom. Another oil developer will come knocking on our door along the Beartooth Front, promising jobs and riches.
But we shouldn’t be fooled.
To read more, click the link.
Posted in Clean energy
Tagged clean energy, local regulation, oil bankruptcies, wind farms
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All briefs filed in Silvertip Zone case; Montana Supreme Court ruling is next
All briefs have now been filed in the Carbon County case before the Montana Supreme Court. In the case, Belfry landowners have challenged the Carbon County Commission’s rejection of their petition for land use regulations to protect their private properties from the harmful effects of oil and gas drilling.
The Supreme Court has previously agreed to review the case. The Court will now decide whether to schedule a hearing or make a decision after reviewing the briefs.
This case is important because Montana law affords few protections to landowners against damages that can occur when oil and gas activity takes place near their homes. Citizen initiated zoning (CIZ) is one of the few opportunities Montana citizens have to establish local regulations to protect their properties. It has been used effectively in places like Bozeman and Great Falls to establish regulations to protect citizens.
Yet that process is badly flawed. The Silvertip zoning case currently before the Supreme Court exposes some of the problems with the process. Silvertip landowners worked to meet all CIZ requirements. Their petitions were accepted by the Carbon County Commissioners, who then made the decision, after multiple public hearings, that the zone was “in the public interest and convenience,” as required by law.
Subsequent events that led the Commissioners to reverse their decision exposed some significant ambiguities in the process that will affect landowners in other counties. Cases like the current one can help to make the CIZ process more clearly defined in law so that the Silvertip landowners, as well as landowners in other communities, can take advantage of CIZ provisions to protect their properties.
To read more about the case and review briefs that have been filed, click the link. Continue reading
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