Montana
Beware 'unleashing freedom' to plunder and pollute • Daily Montanan
In his recent inaugural speech, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte spoke about how we have what the rest of the nation wants, saying: “The American dream lives in Montana and it’s here where we are proving what is possible when the government gets out of the way and empowers the people.”
If anything, his words reflect a relative newcomer’s poor understanding of Montana history — and what can happen when you “get government out of the way.” But long-time Montanans remember. We lived through and still suffer from the era when government was indeed “out of the way” and the rapacious appetites of the railroad, cattle, timber and mining barons ran rampant, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.
The record is clear, and while many scars yet remain, the benefits of regulating formerly unrestricted greed and destruction are evident all across this vast state.
Anyone who knew those who lived in Montana 100 years ago can easily recall their stories of hunters basically wiping out the wildlife populations. The most distinct example of human-caused destruction of wildlife was the decimation of the buffalo that once wandered our plains in the millions.
But the slaughter was stopped — not by individuals, but by the government. While buffalo continue to recover, Montana now boasts healthy populations of deer, elk, antelope and moose — all of which would have been hunted to extirpation were it not for the institution of regulations to prevent their demise.
Hunting seasons were established to protect the time when existing wildlife carried the next generation to replenish the herds. Regulatory limits on how many animals one individual could kill were instituted not to crush freedom, as the governor insinuated government has done, but to provide continuing opportunities for Montanans and generations yet to come.
While our clean rivers and abundant fisheries are the envy of the nation, that’s not by accident. Plenty of Montanans still remember when the Clark Fork was a dead river that ran red with mining and smelting wastes, which we will continue to wrestle with for decades to come.
The timber barons ran huge rafts of logs down the Blackfoot, destroying the banks and scouring the riverbed on their way to the mills and leaving behind clearcuts leaching sediment into once-healthy tributaries. Half a century later, the Blackfoot was again decimated when the Mike Horse mine tailings pond failed, flooding the river with toxic metals that wiped out the fishery.
And of course not all that long ago there was no such thing as the catch-and-release fishing ethic pioneered and promoted by iconic conservationists like Bud Lilly, who would willingly tell friends that in his youth it was “catch and release in bacon grease.”
While the governor lauds “unleashing freedom,” the undeniable reality of Montana’s past is that there must be sidebars on that “freedom” because there are those who will pillage the state’s wealth to get it while they can with no concern for the consequences.
The legislature’s GOP leaders, echoing the governor, have the regulatory laws that restored past damages and now protect Montanans and their environment in their crosshairs. But laws such as the Montana Environmental Policy Act protect all Montanans — and rest assured Republicans need clean air, water, and soil, too, as well as healthy populations of fish and wildlife.
Montanans continue to suffer from past deregulatory mistakes, which took our electricity rates from the lowest in the region to the highest. The lesson? Beware “unleashing freedom” if the result is actually unleashing rapacious corporations to once again plunder and pollute this great state.
HELENA, Mont — Gov. Greg Gianforte is backing a new effort to keep data centers from driving up Montanans’ power bills.
This week, Gianforte announced Montana is signing on to the Ratepayer Protection Pledge — an initiative endorsed by President Trump.
Several major technology companies like Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, and XAI first signed the pledge back in March.
The pledge comes as data center development continues to grow — raising questions about how much new energy will be needed and who will pay for it.
NBC Montana spoke with Julia Haggerty, professor of geography and department head of earth sciences at Montana State University, about whether Montana’s power grid is ready for that growth.
“Not without resolution of significant transmission bottlenecks and massive amounts of new generation. So, while our grid is adequately, relatively adequately equipped to serve the needs of our current load base, it’s definitely not equipped to accommodate the new demands without a lot of expansion,” she said.
According to the pledge, data center developers will pay for new power generation, and infrastructure needed to support their operations.
“It does align with ongoing regulatory efforts to ensure that the cost of new generation associated with data centers is borne by the developers of those data centers and not customers,” Haggerty said.
The governor’s office says Gianforte’s support of the pledge is designed to encourage responsible data center investments while protecting Montana ratepayers from long-term costs.
The Montana Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at July 7, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Mega Millions numbers from July 7 drawing
02-31-35-36-63, Mega Ball: 12
Check Mega Millions payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Big Sky Bonus numbers from July 7 drawing
09-21-24-29, Bonus: 15
Check Big Sky Bonus payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from July 7 drawing
27-43-48-49-50, Bonus: 02
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the Montana Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky For Life: 8:38 p.m. MT daily.
- Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Big Sky Bonus: 7:30 p.m. MT daily.
- Powerball Double Play: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Montana Cash: 8 p.m. MT on Wednesday and Saturday.
- Millionaire for Life: 9:15 p.m. MT daily.
Missed a draw? Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Great Falls Tribune editor. You can send feedback using this form.
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