Montana

Hometown Hopefuls: Cameron Wood, Montana

Published

11 months ago

June 9, 2023

Throughout the summer, in a series called Hometown Hopefuls, NBC is spotlighting the stories of Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls from all fifty states, as well as Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, as they work towards the opportunity to represent their country at the Paris 2024 Games next year. We’ll learn about their paths to their sports’ biggest stage, and the towns and communities that have been formative along the way. Visit NBCSports.com/hometownhopefuls for more stories from across America as these Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls prepare for Paris in summer 2024.

It takes a certain kind of daredevil to race BMX. Cameron Wood developed that trait as a toddler.

As Wood remembers it, he was just a few years old when he grabbed a wrench and took the training wheels off his bike when his parents weren’t looking. Then he taught himself how to ride in his native Montana.

The precociousness didn’t stop there. Wood, now 21, ranked second on the BMX World Cup circuit in 2022, becoming the latest American star in a relatively new Olympic event.

Next year, he can join an exclusive list of Montanans to win an Olympic medal, including Missoula’s Dave Johnson (1992 bronze medalist in decathlon) and Eric Bergoust (1998 gold medalist in aerials skiing).

For Wood, it all began in Bozeman. He played football and basketball, plus skied growing up. But he fell in love with speeding on wheels.

“On walks with my mom, I would [ride] down into people’s flower gardens and then just try and be creative with it,” he said.

One day, mom Andrea found a flyer for Gallatin Valley, a BMX track down the road. It was perfect. Her son could train, and her neighbors’ lawns wouldn’t get destroyed.

Wood neared his teenage years with two similar sport passions: motocross and BMX. In the former, he suffered concussions from bad crashes, which ultimately led to a focus on the latter.

“At a super young age, I honestly liked motocross more, but I just didn’t know my limits; I didn’t know when to hold myself back,” he said. “My parents definitely liked the idea of having to train and work for speed on a bike rather than obviously just twist your wrist and go as fast as you can.”

In the year that BMX debuted at the Beijing Games in 2008, Wood was already performing like a rider with Olympic aspirations, winning a U.S. Open title in the 7- and 8-year-old division at age 6.

The family moved to Phoenix when Wood was 16, in large part to foster his blossoming athletic career. He said that Montana had two BMX tracks in the entire state. He could only ride a few months out of the year due to the cold weather.

“When I did finally make the move to Arizona, and I had year-round nice weather and all the tools I needed — more tracks, faster racers — it was all things that I never had growing up,” he said. “So I feel like that is kind of what made the trajectory so drastic, and I guess there’s so much improvement in such a short period of time.”

Wood still credited Montana for making him adaptable. Cross-training in the winters with other sports helped him become a more well-rounded athlete. He also supported his pursuit with odd jobs: cleaning up his uncle’s construction sites, landscaping and babysitting.

All that work paid off in 2019. Wood said he won 17 domestic events in about 21 starts in the junior elite category. Then he moved to the senior level.

In his first senior pro race, Wood finished second between two-time Olympians Corben Sharrah and Nic Long just before the pandemic shut down sports in 2020.

“I remember literally being in the grandstands, and it probably would have been 2010 or 2011 with my dad, about 8 or 9 years old, watching them race,” Wood said. “So standing on that podium with them, it was a pretty cool moment.”

Wood then earned his first professional win at the January 2021 Winter Nationals, beating a field that included reigning Olympic champion Connor Fields.

But he didn’t have the international standing yet to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. Wood was 19, and no American man that young had ever made an Olympic team in BMX.

So he made his big splash in 2022. Wood debuted on the World Cup, reached the podium in his fourth start, then won his sixth, which he called the best accomplishment of his career thus far.

“I grew up watching World Cups and dreaming of the day that I was on the TV racing in them,” he said. “To be able to do that, let alone win it, it was a special moment.”

To make it more impressive, he did that while largely training on his own. Wood had been coached by 2012 Olympic silver medalist Sam Willoughby since 2019, but Willoughby took a job with his native Australian national team early last year.

“I had to improvise and kind of started just doing everything that he taught me, just a little bit more individually,” Wood said. He recently began working with German Medina, whom USA Cycling recently hired after a long spell with his native Colombia, a strong BMX nation.

Wood’s focus this summer is to continue to bolster his chances of qualifying for the Paris Games by accumulating strong results on the World Cup. A nation can earn up to three spots per gender for the Paris Games, and the qualifying window runs into 2024.

Then there are August’s world championships in Glasgow, Scotland. At last year’s worlds, Wood missed the final by 15 thousandths of a second in his 30-second semifinal as the youngest man to reach that round. The year before that, he was eighth as the youngest in the eight-man final at age 19, having yet to compete on the World Cup.

Wood also prioritizes visiting Montana every summer. Through the USA BMX Foundation, he has spoken at the schools he attended as a kid.

“The goal is to get kids on bikes,” he said. “That place is home, and it always will be.”

OlympicTalk is on Apple News. Favorite us!

Follow @nzaccardi

Source link

Montana

A small plane crashes in Montana, killing the pilot and a passenger

Published

2 hours ago

May 16, 2024

Press Room

A small plane crashes in Montana, killing the pilot and a passenger

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A single-engine airplane crashed in southeastern Montana, killing the pilot and the passenger, the Federal Aviation Administration reported.

The Piper PA-18 crashed near Tillitt Field Airport east of the town of Forsyth at about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, the FAA said. The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the cause of the crash.

Rosebud County Sheriff Allen Fulton said they have identified the victims but weren’t releasing their names yet. The crash did not start a fire, he said.

Source link

Montana

Alan Olson: Biden EV mandates not practical for Montana

Published

9 hours ago

May 16, 2024

Press Room

ALAN OLSON

Life in Montana takes energy.

Companies and individuals across the state have worked tirelessly over the years to ensure Montanans have the power to go about their lives in the way they want. It is part of what makes Montana the Last Best Place.

However, the Biden-Harris administration’s new EPA mandate threatens that freedom. Under the EPA’s final rule, two-thirds of vehicles sold by U.S. automakers need to be battery-powered or plug-in hybrid by 2032. Fundamentally — Montanans, and the rest of the United States, will eventually be forced to purchase an electric vehicle (EV) for their family car — no matter how expensive it is.

If Montana is to preserve a huge part of its residents’ way of life and prevent the stretching of some communities’ shallow pockets, we need all our policymakers in DC to step up to the plate and oppose this electric vehicle mandate.

As Executive Director of the Montana Petroleum Association, I have seen firsthand how hard our member companies work to provide reliable energy sources to the people of Montana. If the EPA’s mandate takes root, our member companies’ workers will suffer, as oil and gas jobs become fewer and further between.

It will also drastically increase consumer costs as a result of the mandated shifts to expensive and inefficient EV’s, which at this point simply do not support the hauling and long-distance needs of members of the oil and gas industry, or everyday Montana consumers.

Our member companies are actively addressing sustainability and climate issues, recognizing the importance of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and operating with the aim of providing Montanans with critical resources while respecting the importance of our environment — but the bottom line is that Montanans — and Americans — still rely heavily on gas- and diesel-powered vehicles, and shouldn’t be expected to scrimp in other essential areas, like groceries, just to eventually be able to afford an EV.

Kelley Blue Book reports that according to data from Cox Automotive, “the average transaction price for electric cars was $53,469 in July 2023, vs. gas-powered vehicles at $48,334.” The exponentially higher cost of an EV in addition to Montana’s rising cost of living is not insignificant. Car insurance for EVs is also costlier than gas powered vehicles, “on average, insurance for an electric car is $44 per month more expensive.” How can the government implement policies that impact Americans’ job availability and then double down by providing essentially one, expensive option for a cornerstone of their daily lives?

In addition to the financial strain this forced electric transition will have on consumers, it also heightens serious, existing concerns for Montana’s electric grid. Electrification of Montana vehicles will cause an inevitable increase in demand on our state’s limited grid capacity.

I commend Sen. Steve Daines’ and Attorney General Knudsen’s efforts to oppose this mandate, but unfortunately, it may not be enough.

We need Sen. Tester and all of our office holders to stand against this mandate from Washington, D.C. because failing to do so puts Montana consumers, and our energy security, in jeopardy.

Alan Olson is the Executive Director of the Montana Petroleum Association

Source link

Montana

Montana Supreme Court hears arguments on permit for Laurel power plant

Published

16 hours ago

May 16, 2024

Press Room

Montana Supreme Court hears arguments on permit for Laurel power plant

HELENA — Wednesday in Helena, advocates made their case on whether the state correctly granted NorthWestern Energy a permit for their planned power plant near Laurel.

The Montana Supreme Court met before a full audience Wednesday morning, to hear oral arguments in a case that centers on whether the Montana Department of Environmental Quality did sufficient environmental analysis when approving an air quality permit for the Yellowstone County Generation Station – a 175-megawatt natural-gas-fired plant.

Jonathon Ambarian

A full audience was in attendance May 15, 2024 as the Montana Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that centers on NorthWestern Energy’s planned Yellowstone County Generating Station near Laurel.

Last year, a state district judge in Billings vacated the permit. It came after environmental groups challenged DEQ’s decision, saying the agency hadn’t taken the required “hard look” at issues like the plant’s greenhouse gas emissions and the impact of its lighting and noise on nearby residents.

During Wednesday’s arguments, DEQ and NorthWestern defended the permitting decision and called on the Supreme Court to reverse the district court ruling.

Shannon Heim, NorthWestern’s general counsel and vice president of federal government affairs, said greenhouse gases aren’t regulated the same way as other pollutants, so DEQ didn’t have authority to regulate them. Therefore, she argued the permit can’t be vacated simply because the department didn’t review their impacts.

“The DEQ could not, in the exercise of its lawful authority, deny the permit based on greenhouse gas emissions, because there are no legal standards for greenhouse gas emissions,” she said.

Montana Supreme Court Laurel Plant — Jenny Harbine, an attorney for Earthjustice, addressed the Montana Supreme Court May 15, 2024, during oral arguments in a case that centers on NorthWestern Energy’s planned Yellowstone County Generating Station near Laurel.

Jenny Harbine, an attorney for Earthjustice, represented the plaintiffs – Montana Environmental Information Center and the Sierra Club. She argued DEQ is required to look more broadly at the possible impacts of a project, and that the emissions from the Laurel plant had to be considered in the context of the potential effects of climate change in Montana.

“Plaintiffs here are not criticizing the analysis that DEQ did do,” she said. “Our point is that there’s analysis that DEQ omitted.”

Harbine said plaintiffs are also concerned that, because the district court put a stay on its decision and NorthWestern was able to resume construction, they could begin operations without having had the full review plaintiffs believe is necessary.

Both sides in this case noted that the issues raised here overlap with those in Held v. Montana, the prominent climate change lawsuit that is also now before the Montana Supreme Court. In Held, a state district judge ruled that a law preventing regulators from considering greenhouse gas emissions in environmental reviews was unconstitutional. The 2023 Montana Legislature passed that law in response to the judge’s decision that vacated the permit for the Laurel plant.

Jeremiah Langston, an attorney for DEQ, said the department had been planning to update its review in light of that law when it was blocked. He encouraged the Supreme Court to make its decision in Held and this case at the same time or somehow tie them together.

“It would be immensely helpful to DEQ to know what laws apply to its MEPA analysis for a project,” he said.

Harbine said Held gave an example of the broad impacts of the state’s policies on climate reviews, and this case provided a specific example.

“I would just urge that whether the issue is resolved in this case or in Held – or in both, which we think is most appropriate – that it be done in a manner that prevents the constitutional infringement that would be caused when that plant begins operating and emitting greenhouse gas emissions before those emissions have been studied by DEQ,” she said.

The Supreme Court generally takes no immediate action after an oral argument, and that was again the case Wednesday.

Laurel Plant Capitol Rally — Attendees hold signs protesting against NorthWestern Energy’s planned power plant near Laurel, during a May 15, 2024, rally organized by Northern Plains Resource Council.

After the hearing, the conservation group Northern Plains Resource Council held a rally at the State Capitol, saying the possible impacts of the Laurel plant’s emissions need to be taken into account.

Those in attendance chanted “Clean and healthful; it’s our right!” – referring to the Montana Constitution’s guarantee of a “clean and healthful environment.”

Mary Fitzpatrick, a Northern Plains member, said people in Laurel and downwind of the plant in Billings have concerns about the potential health effects. MTN asked her what she thought would have changed if DEQ had taken a closer look at the plant’s greenhouse gas emissions.

“It’s hard to say – you know, just listening to the arguments, I got the impression that, possibly, nothing – except that we would know,” she said. “You can’t manage or change what you don’t measure.”

John Hines, NorthWestern’s vice president of supply and Montana government affairs, said the company sees the capacity of the Yellowstone County Generating Station as critical to make sure they can keep serving customers when other resources aren’t available. He said solar and wind production tends to be more unreliable during extreme weather, and that the company will be forced to pay more to purchase power on the open market if it doesn’t have a on-demand generation facility like this.

“The bottom line is we have to have enough electrons and enough gas on our system to meet our customers’ needs when it’s critical weather – and, you know, we saw that in January when it was -45,” he said. “That’s our first obligation. And none of the groups who are throwing out alternative proposals have that responsibility.”

Hines said, if YCGS had been in operation during the January cold snap, it could have saved customers about $12 million over six days. He said renewables are a significant part of NorthWestern’s portfolio, and that it’s unfair for opponents to accuse the company of building the plant for profit because they could make more profit by building the same capacity in renewable projects.

Hines said YCGS could be fully operational within the next month and a half. He said NorthWestern has taken steps to address some of the concerns neighbors have raised about lighting and noise.

“We’ve been operating Yellowstone now in a test mode for quite some time, and local people have been asking us when are we going to start the engines,” he said. “So obviously the noise issue has been abated.”

Source link