#MTGov Daily Rundown: Bullock Supporters Shutdown Colstrip 1 and 2

Yesterday, Montana received devastating news. Talen Energy and the 5 electric utilities that make up the ownership of the Colstrip Power Plant announced yesterday that they will close units 1 and 2 of the Colstrip Power Plant by 2022 as part of a settlement with radical environmental groups. The closure will mean job losses, major uncertainty for the community of Colstrip, and large increases for wholesale power prices.

"The closure of at least two of Montana’s coal-fired power plants in Colstrip became a reality Tuesday, as plant owners agreed to close units 1 and 2 by mid-2022 to settle a lawsuit alleging clean-air violations at the facilities.

The plant owners – wholesale power marketer Talen Energy and five electric utilities in the Northwest -- and the two environmental groups that sued the owners in 2013 announced the settlement Tuesday afternoon." -MTN News, 7/12/2016


While Governor Bullock expressed "disappointment" at the news, the governor is conflicted on Colstrip. He has received donations from board members of both the Montana Environmental Center and the Sierra Club, the two groups who filed the suit to close Colstrip 1 and 2.

From MEIC:

Greg Lind (Missoula) - $1,300 to Steve Bullock 2016, $1260 in 2012

Bob Ream (Helena) -$300 to Steve Bullock in 2016, $1260 in 2012

Jennifer Swearingen (Bozeman) - $200 to SB in 2016, $650 in 2012

John Rundquist Treasurer (Helena) - $250 Steve Bullock 2012

Alexis Bonogofsky (Billings) -$350 Steve Bullock (2012)


From the Sierra Club's Montana Executive Committee:

Teresa Brock - $100 to SB in 2016

Mike Scott (staff) - $400 to SB in 2016 (there are two Michael Scott's in the database, but the other donated $40 in 2012)

Bob Clark - $100 to SB in 2016, $25 in 2012

ICYMI-Governor Bullock endorsed Hillary Clinton for President, who promises a radical anti-coal, anti-gun agenda for Montana and the nation.

“…we’re gonna put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business”-Hillary Clinton, on CNN, 3/13/2016

Also, a liberal blogger is "ashamed to be a Democrat" over the Montana Democratic Party's lie that Greg Gianforte is from New Jersey. Gianforte has lived in Bozeman for 20 years and first came to Montana 40 years ago.

"I simply do not understand why the DGA, the Bullock campaign, and the Democratic Party, continue to lie that Gianforte’s a “New Jersey multimillionaire.” Their conduct makes me ashamed to be a Democrat." -Flathead Memo, 7/12/2016

"These lying Democrats are not perjuring themselves. They’re not under oath. But they are embarrassing themselves, and many good and decent members of their party, without being aware that they are, such is their lack of shame. By their behavior, they’re declaring they have no moral obligation to tell the truth; that everything is subordinate to the exigencies of winning." -Flathead Memo, 7/12/2016