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UNCOMMON GROUND MIKE JOPEK BEST GRAM’ EVER
GUEST COLUMN DUANE ANKNEY
TAKE STAND AGAINST FEDERAL COAL LEASE MORATORIUM
IAM FULLY AWARE THAT THE house is about to get very quiet. Those words of solitude a friend recently said as I left his grieving home. His wife and our friend passed. The loss aches our hearts.
Sorrow moved my instincts to head to the broom closet and start the vacuum cleaner to break the silence. I wanted to turn on the volume for the muted base- ball game on the TV, but I knew they learned to watch sports silently.
Uncomfortable, I smiled awkwardly and said in my most steady voice, “I’ll catch you later.”
For anyone who’s spent four decades together in companionship, the transi- tion to solitude must be unimaginable. I cannot begin to yet understand what lies ahead. Gratefully, friends and family make it easier.
Our friend got her wings. She was the uni er of the family, a true matriarch who raised four boys to become men of character. She was the conversation, the reason, and the bond for all things good. And many loved her.
Recently, I’ve spent days visiting local hospitals. From my observation, the hos- pitals in White sh and Kalispell have amazingly caring and professional sta . I’m impressed by their compassion.
Serendipitously, one nurse informed us that she too was a Nurturing Center baby. Our friend had previously rocked her, like the baby whisperer for which she was known. Now this young, incred- ibly professional and caring nurse was rocking our friend.
Our friend designed and wrote the curriculum on early childhood educa- tion at the Flathead Valley Community College. Her programs provide students with the theoretical and practical knowl- edge needed to create environments to maximize the development and learning potential of all young children from birth to age eight.
Throughout her days our friend attended college. A life long learner, our friend spent decades learning, earning
education. She had a hunger for learning and worked hard to achieve her goals. She too started her higher educational pur- suits in community college.
All that while, she raised her boys and worked a full-time preschool job. She was an achiever who believed in better days ahead. Like so many before her, educa- tion, family, and hard work was her cho- sen path.
Without people like her, it’s unlikely the Early Childhood Center would be at FVCC. Thousands of lives were in u- enced by her teachings on developmen- tally appropriate education.
I have no words of solace for those who inherit great loss. We mourn together. We’re taught the ways and mimic famil- iar patterns of kindness, compassion and understanding.
The Flathead honored our friend last week. Love is not easy to put into words. Given that magnitude of testimonials rolling in these passing days, I’m over- whelmed with how well her students put their feelings into words.
There was much about our friend that was tremendously inspirational. She said what she felt in her heart. She was no-nonsense, yet warm to everyone. She was true to her convictions and right in her ways.
Her life was babies, toddlers, kids, stu- dents, sons, grandkids, family, friends and husband. She loved people and lived an honest life. Like any true mentor, she had a plan and in uenced many. Those examples make us better people.
It’s now our time. To all her students and to those who learned from our friend over a lifetime, believe and say why not. It’s your time to inspire the next genera- tion of babies to students. Like our men- tor, make a di erence in children’s lives.
In lieu of owers the family estab- lished the Marlyn James Scholarship at the White sh Credit Union. Early child- hood education was our friend’s life work and it was her passion. It’s one worthy leg- acy to leave for the next generation.
The Department of Interior has placed a sweeping moratorium on new federal coal leases in the United States. The stated objective of the moratorium is to pause the leasing in order to conduct a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) of this program.
But there are strong suggestions that the true aim of Interior’s move is to sim- ply place a permanent stop to all federal coal production. Even environmental groups, Interior’s usual allies, agree that this is more than a temporary pause as they laud the decision as a means to kill coal jobs.
Interior recently completed a series of public listening sessions to collect com- ments on their PEIS process. They held sessions in a number of coal-producing western states, but they conspicuously avoided Montana, arguably the state most impacted by their decision. Oh, but they did nd time to hold a hearing in Seattle – though Washington produces no federal coal and is not impacted by the proposal.
Interior’s snub prompted Sen. Steve Daines to hold his own listening session for Montanans, the comments from which will be put on the record with Interior. Hundreds of people turned out for Daines’ hearing on June 21 in Billings, with opposition to Interior’s decision outweighing the supporters by about four to one.
There was so much opposition to Interior because the elimination of fed- eral coal leasing in Montana is a really big deal. Montana holds the largest coal reserves in the country, but more than half of that coal is owned by the federal government.
That means there are thousands of jobs in Montana directly dependent on federal coal. Interior’s decision to stop coal leasing will eventually destroy all those jobs—at the mines, on the rail- roads, and in generating facilities.
This is going to be an enormous eco- nomic hit to the state of Montana. And though it’s centered in southeastern
Montana in places like Colstrip, it’ll have a ripple e ect that touches every community in the state.
Montana’s budget depends a great deal on coal production. Federal coal is especially valuable because half of the royalty revenues collected by Interior are returned to the state, amounting to about $50 million per biennium for the state General Fund.
That revenue is in addition to all the other taxes paid by coal companies on federal production – taxes on prop- erty, business equipment, payroll, and income. Simply put, our state budget is very dependent on coal production – especially production of federal coal— and undermining that industry will make it more di cult to fund educa- tion, law enforcement, infrastructure, and other core functions of government.
Production of tribally owned coal is also put in jeopardy by Interior’s deci- sion. Already, the Crow have laid o hundreds of workers due to the political attacks that have undermined the indus- try over the last two years.
Interior has claimed that the leasing moratorium is necessary so they can determine if coal companies are pay- ing their “fair share” for the federal coal they produce. That excuse rings hollow. Recent data indicate that coal producers pay ve times as much in federal royalty payments as they make in pro t from mining that coal.
The real objective of Interior’s leas- ing moratorium is fairly obvious: put a stop to federal coal mining. When taken together with the plethora of other fed- eral regulations aimed at killing coal, the picture becomes clear. The biggest threat to Montana coal is not soft mar- kets – it’s entirely political.
And that’s why we need our politi- cal leaders to ght back. Senator Daines deserves a big thank you from all Mon- tanans for protecting their interests in this matter. It’s a ght we can’t a ord to lose.
“EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION WAS OUR FRIEND’S LIFE WORK AND IT WAS HER PASSION. IT’S ONE WORTHY LEGACY TO LEAVE FOR THE NEXT GENERATION.”
multiple prestigious degrees in childhood
Mike (Uncommon Ground) Jopek and Dave (Closing Range) Skinner often fall on opposite sides of the fence when it comes to political and outdoor issues. Their columns alternate each week in the Flathead Beacon.
“MONTANA HOLDS THE LARGEST COAL RESERVES IN THE COUNTRY, BUT MORE THAN HALF OF THAT COAL IS OWNED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.”
Republican Sen. Duane Ankney represents Senate District 20, which includes Colstrip. He serves on the Senate Energy Committee.
JULY 6, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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