It’s a magical time of year in Montana. After approximately 237 months of winter, the snow has (mostly) melted, the trees are getting their leaves, and it’s time to mow the lawn again. I even put a fresh tank of sunshine in my car.
Hang on – what was that last part?
This year, we’re welcoming springtime with a rooftop full of solar panels. Sunlight is supplying all our energy needs and we’re sending out extra electrons to power our neighbors’ homes. But my favorite part of having solar panels is plugging in the car and letting the beautiful Montana sunshine flow from our rooftop into the car’s battery. It’s an amazing feeling of independence. We’ve all spent our lifetimes pumping gas or diesel into our vehicles, paying whatever price oil companies feel like charging us, because we’ve never had any other choice.
Alas, things are different now: we can make our own energy decisions. We’re not entirely beholden to Exxon or NorthWestern Energy, we can have energy freedom, finally.
This remarkable accomplishment came about thanks to innovation. Engineers, technicians, and scientists have ushered a new age of energy independence.
But those ideals don’t seem to be part of America’s future anymore. The Trump administration is eliminating the research programs that made American science and technology the envy of the world. The administration halted many projects midstream, snuffing out the promise of new discoveries. This is a bizarre act of national self-destruction, because scientific advancement benefits everyone, and saves us money along the way.
Montana’s Republican leaders have had many chances to defend American science and innovation – but chose to stay silent. As the United States surrenders global leadership on science and engineering, we’re giving a huge boost to China, who is coasting to an easy victory on modern energy technology. Rather than invest in ideas built here in the U.S., we’ll have no choice but to buy our tech from other countries, if they’ll sell it to us.
It doesn’t have to be this way. America already has some of the best energy policy in the world – all we have to do is not destroy it. The Inflation Reduction Act supercharged the American energy industry by investing in innovative and cleaner ways to produce and use energy. The program has already attracted hundreds of billions in private investments and is building over 100,000 new jobs. Americans are benefiting from lower levels of pollution, improved public health, lower energy bills, and increased global competitiveness in this rapidly advancing field.
The Inflation Reduction Act is helping Montana. The state plans to expand our electricity grid, make energy improvements to public schools, and weatherize homes against Montana’s wild weather. Companies are investing in our world-class wind energy, bringing billions into our state economy. Montana’s wind farms are delivering jobs, tax benefits, and money for our rural schools and public safety.
This progress was supposed to continue, with funding already set aside for Montana. All told, the Inflation Reduction Act was slated to invest $2.2 billion into our state, while growing 3,000 jobs.
But now, a bill is working its way through Congress that eliminates most of these energy investments. The money intended for Montana is likely to be taken away by our own leadership. Our planned projects will never be built.
Montana isn’t alone. The majority of modern energy projects are being built in red states, which gives GOP lawmakers an interesting choice. They can nix these projects because that’s what Trump wants. Or they can save the projects because it will benefit their own states – and the country in general.
Steve Daines, Tim Sheehy, Ryan Zinke, and Troy Downing could stand up to Trump any time they wanted to. They could stand up for Montana’s wind industry, and for innovations that lower our energy bills. Perhaps they lack the courage. Maybe they want us to stay tied to big corporations rather than making our own energy decisions. But we don’t know their reasons, because like many Republicans, they’re pretty quiet these days.
Courage and freedom are Montana’s core values. It’s easy to make a campaign ad boasting about one’s own virtues. But now is the time to actually show it.
Karin Kirk is a geologist and science journalist specializing in energy and climate. She lives in Bozema