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and a successful landowner program has improved the sh’s habitat.
BILLINGS
5. Montana U.S. House Candidates
Clash Over Coal in Debate
Democrat Denise Juneau asserted strong support for the coal industry while Republican U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke highlighted her vote against a major east- ern Montana mining project as natural resources took center stage on Sept. 1 during a sometimes-raucous U.S. House debate.
The two major party candidates met for their second debate before a boister- ous crowd of hundreds at Montana State University in Billings. Libertarian Mike Fellows did not attend because of health issues.
Zinke said Juneau’s 2010 Land Board vote against selling a state-owned coal reserve near Ashland belied her claim to be an industry supporter.
He also accused her of taking “blood money” in the form of campaign dona- tions from opponents of a West Coast port that could have been an outlet for Montana coal as the industry faces severe troubles at home.
“When my opponent says she’s pro- coal, I don’t think anything can be fur- ther from the truth,” Zinke said.
But Juneau, Montana’s superinten- dent of public instruction, disputed Zin- ke’s claim that regulations were at the heart of coal’s troubles. She pointed to economic shifts that have favored cheap natural gas at coal’s expense.
Juneau said her 2010 vote in oppo- sition to the Otter Creek mining proj- ect came after hearing concerns from surrounding landowners and members of the Northern Cheyenne tribe. The mine proposal has since been e ectively dropped after sponsor Arch Coal, Inc. declared bankruptcy.
She also touted her 2014 support of expanding Montana’s largest under- ground coal mine and votes she’s cast in favor of leasing state land for oil and gas exploration and logging.
“I’m a supporter of natural resource development and I have a record on that and I’m proud of that,” she said.
The candidates revisited the issue of refugee resettlement, which also came up during an previous debate in Frazer in response to Missoula County inviting 100 displaced people annually to resettle in the Missoula area.
Juneau repeated her assertion that Americans need to retain their “moral center” and remember that most refu- gees are women, children and families.
Zinke has called for suspending the refugee program until more thorough vetting can be done.
COLSTRIP
6. Retro t of Coal- red Power Plant
Priced at $1.2 Billion
Retro tting Montana’s largest coal- red power plant to reduce greenhouse gas emissions would cost at least $1.2 bil- lion, but selling captured carbon dioxide for use in oil elds could help o set the cost, federal o cials said last week.
Senior U.S. Department of Energy representatives presented the agency’s analysis of reducing emissions from the Colstrip plant at the request of Gov. Steve Bullock.
Colstrip is the state’s main human- caused source of carbon dioxide emis- sions, a major contributor to climate change.
Bullock, a Democrat, is up for re-elec- tion in November. He’s faced a barrage of Republican criticism for not doing enough to protect the aging plant, as a shift toward other fuels and more strin- gent pollution regulations batter the coal industry.
“We need to be saying, what can we do to nd solutions?” Bullock said to utility and mining executives gathered at his o ce in Helena for the public release of the Energy Department ndings. “Those discussions only become more urgent given recent developments at Colstrip.”
The southeastern Montana plant in 2014 emitted about 16.5 million tons of carbon dioxide — two-thirds of the state’s reported total, according to the Environ- mental Protection Agency.
Two of Colstrip’s four electrici- ty-generating units will close by 2022 under a legal settlement reached last month between the plant’s owners and environmentalists.
Retro ts on the remaining two units could reduce emissions between 30 per- cent and 47 percent, at a cost of $1.2 bil- lion to $1.4 billion, said Angelos Kok- kinos, the Energy Department’s director of advanced energy systems.
The agency did not account for the ongoing cost to run carbon-capturing equipment. A previous Department of Energy study suggested those expenses could roughly double the price tag.
Putting the captured carbon dioxide to use by pumping the gas into under- ground crude oil reserves to boost pro- duction could bring in revenues of $3 billion to $4.4 billion over 25 years, Kok- kinos said.
But the revenue gures are based on projected demand for carbon dioxide with oil selling for $106 a barrel. That’s more than double the current price.
There are no de nitive plans to cap- ture carbon from Colstrip and neither the plant’s owners nor government o - cials have o ered to pay for it.
Bullock said he was interested in establishing a work group of interested parties to re ne the idea and come up with more speci c details on costs, said Bullock spokeswoman Ronja Abel.
Colin Marshall, president of Cloud Peak Energy, which operates Montana’s largest coal mine, said he was encouraged that federal energy o cials had identi ed technology to reduce emissions while retaining jobs.
A spokesman for Bullock’s challenger, Bozeman businessman Greg Gianforte, said he viewed Wednesday’s presenta- tion as a campaign stunt, but added that capturing Colstrip’s carbon should be considered.
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