Montana

Montana could be an energy leader, but we’ve fallen behind

Published

2 years ago

July 14, 2024

Montana could be an energy leader, but we’ve fallen behind

A blast of Arctic air is nothing new for Montana – most of us have plenty of practice dealing with extreme cold and working together to keep ourselves and our neighbors safe.

But something rang different this time. Instead of reassurance that we’ll get through this together, and that Montanans always have each other’s backs, some of our statewide leaders used the dangerous weather as another opportunity to snipe at their constituents and make divisive comments.

Matt Rosendale posed in front of an idle wind farm on Saturday, braving the cold weather to make potshots at one of Montana’s most valuable resources. In a separate post that same day, Rosendale mocked Montana’s new electric school buses, which will help protect our kids from air pollution. His point, in both cases, is that fossil fuels are the only way we can survive.

But Rosendale may not have been aware that Colstrip had been running at half speed for nearly a week before he made his posts. Around midnight on Jan. 6, Colstrip’s output began to decrease, and it remained around half its normal capacity until Friday night. By Saturday morning, the power plant was back to full steam.

Later that same day, a major natural gas storage hub in Washington State went offline, halting gas distribution to the 1,500 mile long Northwest Pipeline. This pipeline serves millions of homes throughout a multistate region, and the outage triggered immediate calls for reduced energy use.

But the lights stayed on. We all remained warm and safe. No one except energy nerds like me noticed these disruptions. Why? Because we have an amazing, interconnected electricity grid that allows energy from different sources and regions to go where it’s needed. It’s a great example of the power of cooperation.

While some people can’t resist the temptation to use an emergency to prop their favorite energy source (or major political donor, in Rosendale’s case), events like this stress the entire system. There is no single type of energy that solves every problem. But what does solve these problems is a diverse blend of energy sources connected by a robust grid. Want proof? Just look at Texas with their isolated grid – and frequent electricity shortages.

Meanwhile, Sen. Steve Daines used the subzero temperatures as an opportunity to mock the whole idea of global warming. This cringeworthy comment came while many people in his hometown were suffering in the cold in camping trailers and makeshift housing. But Daines at least got one part right: Global warming is indeed a global problem. When Arctic air flows southward, the Artic becomes unusually warm. So while Montana was frigid, it was raining in Greenland. As the globe continues to warm, it will continue to drive extreme weather events, even above and beyond our normal extremes.

But there are solutions to these problems, thankfully. Energy is shifting from fewer, larger (and heavily polluting) power plants to smaller, more diverse, and more nimble power generation. We’re seeing exciting innovations in efficiency, energy storage, and ways to capture energy from wind, sun and geothermal heat. Montana has tremendous potential – thanks to our natural resources, our location near energy-hungry markets on the West Coast, and most of all from our hardworking people. We could be national leaders in today’s energy technology. Alas, we are not. States all around us have passed us in manufacturing and deployment of modern and cleaner energy infrastructure. Montana seems stuck in the past, unable to envision a cleaner future, while places like South Dakota, Iowa, and Georgia have become the new wave of energy leaders.

Montana has almost everything we need to catch up with other states. But perhaps the first step is for our leadership to want to make Montana better and stronger, and help steer us toward new areas of expertise. Instead of using the cold weather as an opportunity to learn and plan, they used it as a means to divide and diminish us. And that, sadly, is a complete waste of energy.

Karin Kirk is a geologist, science journalist, and ski instructor from Bozeman.

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Montana

Evacuation orders issued as 5,000-acre wildfire burns near Roundup, Montana

Published

3 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Evacuation orders issued as 5,000-acre wildfire burns near Roundup, Montana

ROUNDUP, Mont. —
The Rehder Creek Fire is burning 16 miles southeast of Roundup has grown to about 5,000 acres, prompting evacuation orders for residents in the Bruner Mountain Area/Subdivision.

The fire started Feb. 26, the cause is unknown and containment was at 0%.

Evacuation orders are in effect for all residents in the Bruner Mountain Area/Subdivision. The Musselshell County Sheriff’s Office is coordinating the evacuation orders, and 911 reverse calls have been sent out to advise people in the area.

A shelter is opening at the Roundup Community Center. Residents were told to contact Musselshell County DES for further information.

Firefighter and public safety remain the top priority. The public is asked to avoid the Fattig Creek and Rehder Road area so emergency personnel can safely and effectively perform their work.

Fire resources assigned to the incident include 40 total personnel, 11 engines, one Type 2 helicopter, three tenders and two dozers.

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Montana

February 26 recap: Missoula and Western Montana news you may have missed today

Published

15 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

February 26 recap: Missoula and Western Montana news you may have missed today

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Montana

Escobar, Jayapal, Members of Congress Call on Camp East Montana to be Shut Down – Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal

Published

1 day ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

Escobar, Jayapal, Members of Congress Call on Camp East Montana to be Shut Down – Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (TX-16) – joined by Representative Pramila Jayapal, the Ranking Member of the Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee, and 22 other Members of Congress – sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Todd Lyons calling for the immediate closure of Camp East Montana in El Paso. They cite urgent humanitarian concerns following multiple deaths in custody, documented unsafe conditions, and serious deficiencies in medical care.

This marks the fourth letter Congresswoman Escobar has sent to DHS and ICE leadership. The previous three letters have gone unanswered.

The letter can be found in its entirety below and here.

“Secretary Noem and Acting Director Lyons:

We are urgently calling on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS or the Department) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to shut down Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas.

Camp East Montana has been operational for six months, and at least three people have died at the site since December 2025: Francisco Gaspar-Andres, Geraldo Lunas Campos, and Victor Manuel Diaz. The El Paso County Medical Examiner has officially ruled Lunas Campos’ death a homicide, citing “asphyxia due to neck and torso compression.”

Camp East Montana was constructed in a matter of weeks and opened before construction was complete and it does not have enough federal staff on-site to provide adequate oversight. Over the last several months, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, in whose district this facility is located, has sent multiple letters to DHS and ICE regarding concerns about the conditions at Camp East Montana, and has received no responses.

According to detainees, there have been constant and consistent problems at the facility since it opened, beginning with the facility’s poor construction and poor ambient temperature control. Upon opening, the drinking water at Camp East Montana tasted foul and made some detainees sick. Detainees continue to be served inadequate meals, including food that is rotten or frozen; last fall, the facility was also consistently failing to make dietary accommodations for detainees. Detainees have shared that they have sporadic access to outside spaces and recreational areas, and that their dormitory pods are cleaned only once every eight days, despite pods housing up to 72 people at a time. Laundry services are not consistent, and people are washing their clothes in the facility showers. Additionally, the facility experiences flooding and sewage backups when it rains, leading to stagnant water.

One of the biggest concerns with the Camp East Montana facility is the inadequate medical care being provided to detainees. Our offices have heard that only the most ill detainees are referred to the medical unit and that there are inconsistencies as to how soon after arriving detainees are able to undergo initial medical screenings. Detainees with chronic health issues who rely on regimented medications for their health have had difficulty accessing necessary medications, including blood pressure medication and insulin.

At least one of the deaths that occurred in ICE custody, the death of Francisco Gaspar-Andres, appears to partially be the result of poor medical care by staff at the facility. According to ICE’s own account, Gaspar-Andres sought medical attention from facility staff for increasingly serious symptoms, but was only transferred to an area hospital once his condition had severely deteriorated.

In addition to our concerns about poor medical care, we are also aware that detainees have experienced irregular access to their legal counsel, including instances of detainees having only two minutes allotted per phone call every 8 days, which is contrary to ICE’s Detention Standards on access to counsel, and that the belatedly created law library lacks adequate resources for the amount of people currently held at the facility. In January 2026, ICE announced the on-site death of Geraldo Lunas Campos “after experiencing medical distress.” ICE opened an investigation into the death, but did not provide a cause of death. However, The Washington Post later reported that another man detained at Camp East Montana had witnessed guards choking Lunas Campos when he refused to enter a segregated housing unit. Weeks later, the El Paso County Medical Examiner ruled that Lunas Campos had experienced “asphyxia due to neck and torso compression” and ruled his death a homicide.

Lunas Campos is the first detainee to die at Camp East Montana as a result of a use-of-force incident, but we are strongly concerned that he will not be the last if ICE is allowed to continue operating Camp East Montana.

ICE was given $45 billion in taxpayer dollars in the reconciliation bill, $1.2 billion of which were awarded to Acquisition Logistics, LLC, a company with no previous experience managing immigration detention facilities, to build and oversee Camp East Montana. However, in the wake of three deaths in custody so far, continued concerns about conditions at the facility, and ICE’s apparent disinterest in responding to oversight letters from Congress, we do not believe Camp East Montana is being run professionally or responsibly.

Camp East Montana must be shut down. For the safety of everyone at the facility, for an end to abuses to detainees, and for fiscal responsibility to the American people, the site cannot continue to operate. We are calling on DHS and ICE to move to immediately close operations at Camp East Montana.

We look forward to hearing from the Department promptly on this matter.

The other co-signers include Representatives Yassamin Ansari, Nanette Barragán, Yvette Clarke, Lloyd Doggett, Maxwell Frost, Jesús “Chuy” García, Sylvia Garcia, Daniel Goldman, Jimmy Gomez, Henry Johnson, Stephen Lynch, Seth Moulton, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Delia Ramirez, Andrea Salinas, Janice Schakowsky, Darren Soto, Rashida Tlaib, Paul Tonko, Lauren Underwood, Gabe Vasquez, and Nydia Velázquez.

Issues: Immigration

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