Ever since Congress enacted the Superfund law nearly half a century ago, the phrase “polluter pays” has meant that individuals corporations, or entities responsible for polluting the environment will be held liable for the costs to clean up their toxic disasters.  

But comes now president-elect Donald Trump’s promise that “polluter pays” has an entirely different meaning — and one that’s fraught with creating foreseeable and avoidable environmental disasters primarily by excluding the public from agency permits and approvals. 

As he posted to Truth Social this week:  “Any person or company investing ONE BILLION DOLLARS, OR MORE, in the United States of America, will receive fully expedited approvals and permits, including, but in no way limited to, all Environmental approvals.  GET READY TO ROCK!!!”

That choice of words is pretty ironic given the largest Superfund site in the nation is located right here in good old Butte, Montana — and the toxic pollution that not only plagues the town, but 100 miles of the Clark Fork River, came from mining rock and spewing the resulting poisons on the land, air and water.

Equally ironic and tragic is the fact that since Superfund’s enactment Butte, Anaconda, and the 100 miles of the Upper Clark Fork River have seen hundreds of millions of dollars spent trying to remediate (not clean up and reclaim) the vast scope of the pollution.

How did it happen?  Almost exactly like Trump’s incredibly ignorant offer that if you pay enough, you can buy government approval to pollute at will.  Only here, it happened because the Copper Kings “paid to pollute” through buying, bribing, threatening, and controlling the legislature, judges, sheriffs, and local and state government officials.

The old Butte joke at the legislature back then was to ask new legislators if “they got their envelope?” 

Of course, they’d ask, “What envelope?” 

And the old legislators would say “the one with the money from The Company” – because in fact, the Anaconda Company used to toss envelopes full of cash through the transom windows of the hotel rooms where legislators stayed in downtown Helena.  

No problem with pesky laws when you pay to pollute.  The Copper Kings got the gold, but Butte and Montana got the shaft and pit and poisoned river.  They fled with their fortunes, but here we are, 40+ years into Superfund activities with a projected “end” of — get this — 2038!  

I doubt Trump has ever been to Butte to admire the Berkeley Pit’s 50 billion gallons of toxic water — which will never be “cleaned up.”  He likely hasn’t seen the Opportunity Ponds, either, where millions of tons of toxic sediment removed from behind the failing Milltown Dam are now stored in the floodplain with groundwater only a foot (if that) below the surface. 

Nor, I suspect, has he ever been to Love Canal where unsuspecting residents were poisoned by buried chemical wastes in an incident so horrific it gave birth to the Superfund law because the culprits thought they could get away with scraping some dirt over the deadly toxins and selling it as a subdivision. 

There’s much wisdom in the old saying “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”  And indeed, in Montana, the idea of “pay to pollute” is all too familiar and the “cure” remains both incredibly expensive and illusive. 

Before Trump goes through with his incredibly ill-conceived and shortsighted plan, maybe he ought to take a trip to Butte and see the results of “pay to pollute” — because here in Montana, we’ve been there and done that.  

Pacific Tigers (5-6) vs. UNLV Rebels (4-4)

Henderson, Nevada; Saturday, 10:30 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Pacific and UNLV square off in Henderson, Nevada.

The Rebels have a 4-4 record against non-conference oppponents. UNLV is ninth in the MWC scoring 72.9 points while shooting 44.5% from the field.

The Tigers are 5-6 in non-conference play. Pacific ranks seventh in the WCC with 14.7 assists per game led by Lamar Washington averaging 6.5.

UNLV makes 44.5% of its shots from the field this season, which is 3.8 percentage points higher than Pacific has allowed to its opponents (40.7%). Pacific averages 71.9 points per game, 0.7 fewer than the 72.6 UNLV allows.

TOP PERFORMERS: Dedan Thomas Jr. is shooting 40.4% and averaging 16.8 points for the Rebels.

Elias Ralph is scoring 17.3 points per game and averaging 8.0 rebounds for the Tigers.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

New Mexico’s Democratic governor has firmly rejected President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to deploy the National Guard in support of mass deportations, slamming the policy as detrimental to both families and the state’s economy.

Trump has repeatedly pledged to deploy the National Guard to enact his mass deportation policy and promised to shut down the CBP One app, end the catch-and-release policy, and reinstate the “Remain in Mexico” program as part of his hard-line immigration agenda.

In an exclusive statement to Newsweek, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham stressed her commitment to opposing policies that she believes would “wreak havoc” on New Mexico’s workforce and communities.

“We’ll use every legal tool at our disposal to challenge mass deportations, and we’ll join with other states in doing so because there is strength in numbers,” said Lujan Grisham.

“I will not assign the New Mexico National Guard to assist with mass deportations that break up families and wreak havoc on our economy in New Mexico. Federalizing the guard so that we have no one here to deal with natural disasters and other emergencies is untenable,” Lujan Grisham told Newsweek.

The governor’s statement comes as Trump has made immigration a key issue in his agenda, with plans for aggressive deportation policies and a crackdown on illegal immigration. Lujan Grisham, however, expressed concern about the broader implications of such measures on both the state’s residents and its resources.

While opposing mass deportations, Lujan Grisham made it clear that she is willing to cooperate with the federal government to address criminal activity related to immigration. She said that New Mexico would welcome the assistance of additional federal agents.

“We want every resource available that assists with investigations, interdictions, and deportations of convicted felons and those who enter our country and engage in criminal activity. If the incoming Trump administration wants to assign more federal agents to work with us in that regard, it is welcomed. This is where our focus should be.”

Tom Homan, the former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has been put in charge of overseeing mass deportations.

The newly appointed border czar has repeatedly criticised Democrats who are unwilling to cooperate with the incoming administration.

Newsweek understands the governor has not spoken with Homan since the president announced his nomination.

Lujan Grisham also called on Congress to revive and pass a stalled bipartisan border security bill, advocating for a more comprehensive solution to immigration challenges.

“If President-elect Trump and Republicans who will soon control both chambers of Congress want to solve the larger immigration challenge, they should revive and pass the stalled bipartisan immigration bill,” she said.

“If they’re serious about securing the border as opposed to just grandstanding on this issue, they’ll pass the bill.”

In response, Trump-Vance Transition Spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Newsweek Trump will carry out “the largest deportation operation” in U.S. history and lower costs for Americans.

“President Trump will enlist every federal power and coordinate with state authorities to institute the largest deportation operation of illegal criminals, drug dealers, and human traffickers in American history while simultaneously lowering costs for families and strengthening our workforce,” the incoming White House press secretary said.

“The American people reelected President Trump by a resounding margin, giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail, like deporting migrant criminals and restoring our economic greatness. He will deliver.”

New Mexico, a border state with significant immigrant populations, has been at the center of debates on immigration enforcement. Lujan Grisham’s position adds her to a growing list of state leaders who are preparing to challenge the incoming administration’s controversial immigration policies.

Democrats across the nation are spearheading a wave of grassroots activism, legal actions, and legislative initiatives to safeguard immigrant communities.

Trump has vowed to go after those admitted into the United States under programs established to protect migrants from certain countries.

A letter signed by seven leading Democratic Party senators seen by Newsweek was sent to President Joe Biden, asking him to act now to protect current legal migrants.

Lujan Grisham urged the president-elect and the American public to adopt more respectful rhetoric when discussing immigrants.

“I urge the President-elect and all Americans to use respectful rhetoric when talking about migrants who are seeking a better life, or anyone else for that matter,” Lujan Grisham said.