HELENA – Fourteen Republican state legislators from eastern Montana have signed a letter to the state Land Board urging its members to lease the rights to 570 million tons of coal in the state-owned Otter Creek tracts near Ashland.
The letter, written by Rep. Tom McGillvray of Billings and signed by the other lawmakers, says “it is time to stop leaving our treasure buried in the ground!” It also says the argument that developing the coal will create global warming is simply “rhetoric.”
The board, comprised of Montana’s five top statewide elected officeholders, is set to vote Monday on whether to put the state’s 572 million tons of coal up for bid to potential developers. Its members, all of whom are Democrats, have been the target of intense lobbying in advance of the vote.
Last week, several environmental groups and prominent climate expert Steve Running told the board they were concerned about global warming, and the costs of developing the coal would be too great to justify the short-term benefit to the state.
Lawmakers who signed the letter are Senate President Bob Story of Park City; Sens. Roy Brown and Jeff Essmann of Billings; Reps. Cary Smith, Ken Peterson and Elsie Arntzen, all of Billings; Reps. Krayton Kerns and Penny Morgan of Laurel; Rep. Lee Randall of Broadus, Rep. Dave Kasten of Brockway; Rep. David Howard of Park City; Rep. Duane Ankney of Colstrip; and Rep. Walt McNutt of Sidney.