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land and water Two reports bolster Northern Plains efforts Coal exports could delay grain sent by Montana growers In recent months, more Montanans have expressed concerns about the impacts of increased coal train traffic from the Powder River Basin to existing and proposed coal ports in the Pacific Northwest. To provide some basic information to citizens and local officials, WORC (Western Organization of Resource Councils) commissioned a study by longtime rail transportation experts Terry Whiteside and Gerald Fauth III. WORC released the study at a press conference in July. Since solid numbers are hard to come by, the study’s authors went directly to the existing proposals for new or expanded coal ports. The proposed capacities of those ports show how much coal is projected for export. The authors used their decades of knowledge about rail transportation to calculate how much coal train traffic would be required to ship those volumes of coal. Titled Heavy Traffic Ahead: Rail Impacts of Powder River Basin Coal to Asia by Way of Pacific Northwest Terminals, the report shows that coal transport to the proposed terminals in the Pacific Northwest could exceed 75 million tons per year by 2017 and 170 million tons per year by 2022. This represents a tremendous increase in coal transport that will require additional overpasses, Toxic coal ash affects our members near Colstrip, who live near leaking PPL Montana coal ash ponds that have contaminated dozens of area wells and surface waters. Rosebud Protective Association (RPA) members have been pushing the state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to put a stop to the leaks and have met with DEQ numerous times ” The ability to ship effi ciently and economically is a critical component of success for our grain producers and markets. – Arlo Skari, Northern Plains member and grain grower from Chester underpasses, and other upgrades, costs which taxpayers have typically had to pay. “There are many areas along the railroad routes which will require major upgrading and expansion of existing railroad tracks and related infrastructure which could cost billions of dollars,” said Whiteside. “State and local governments will likely bear the brunt and burden of the related infrastructure costs in their localities and will likely be required to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in related mitigation, litigation, debt and other costs associated with the necessary improvements to accommodate export coal traffic levels.” The study also found that increased rail traffic will affect grain producers who need access to rail space. The producers, the report shows, will face increased competition for access to rail lines, potentially delaying shipments and increasing costs. “Montana ranks first nationally in the production of certified organic wheat and third in the production of all wheat and barley. Montana agriculture brings in $2 billion in annual revenue, much of that coming from grain growers,” said Arlo Skari, a Northern Plains member and grain grower from Chester. “The ability to ship efficiently and economically is a critical component of success for our grain producers and markets.” The report is available at www.heavytrafficahead.org and the Northern Plains website at www.northernplains.org – Steve Paulson, Larry Winslow to discuss their concerns. The DEQ is close to finalizing an agreement with PPL Montana and will release the agreement soon. However, RPA members maintain that they want a consent agreement that is stronger and holds the Colstrip power plant accountable for the pollution it has created. On top of this, in June, the federal Transportation Bill became a potential Undervalued coal cost $29 billion in lost revenue Taxpayers missed out on an estimated $28.9 billion in revenues over the past 30 years due to the failure of the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to ensure that taxpayers get a fair market value for U.S.-owned coal mined in the Powder River Basin. This is a key point made in a report recently released by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA). The report titled The Great Giveaway: An analysis of The United States’ Long-Term Trend of Selling Federally Owned Coal for Less Than Fair Market Value calls for a moratorium on additional Powder River Basin coal sales and a full-scale federal investigation of the deeply flawed BLM program. The vast majority of BLM coal sales in the Powder River Basin are non-competitive, proceeding with only one bidder. BLM coal-leasing activities neither have been audited nor subjected to any other publicly available external review for almost 30 years. This lack of oversight is especially troubling as a scandal erupted three decades ago after the BLM ignored its own appraisals in leasing Powder River Basin coal for $100 million less than its value. “The BLM has historically given vehicle for legal language that could have undermined state and federal oversight of the toxic pollution from coal ash. Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) was on the conference committee considering the final version of the Transportation Bill and was pushing to include this coal ash language. RPA members reached out to Baucus to protest including weak coal ash provisions, ” BLM is giving away coal so it can be exported by rail and shipped to China. This is an outrage. away publicly owned coal to giant energy corporations for practically nothing,” said Ellen Pfister, a Northern Plains member whose ranch sits above the Signal Peak underground coal mine in the Bull Mountains. “Currently, the BLM is giving away coal so it can be exported by rail and shipped to China. This is an outrage.” Pfister added, “If BLM is going to lease the public’s coal, it has to sell it for fair market value. It’s time for our government agencies to start doing their job and become proper stewards of our natural resources.” Given that the United States owns almost all the coal in the region, the U.S. government holds an effective monopoly on Western coal. IEEFA Executive Director David Schlissel said: “Our new report makes it clear that BLM is failing U.S. taxpayers on a colossal scale.... As a result of policy choices and an inherently subjective and flawed fair market value appraisal process, the U.S. Treasury has lost almost $30 billion in revenue throughout the past 30 years.” – Ellen Pfister, Northern Plains member and Bull Mountain rancher Tom Sanzillo, IEEFA finance director, conducted the analysis. He has written several studies on coal plants, rate impacts, credit analyses, and the public and private financial structures for coal. The report is available at www.ieefa.org and at www.northernplains.org – Steve Paulson, Larry Winslow Bad coal ash language kept out of Transportation Bill and thankfully, this provision was not included in the final bill. Lack of state and federal oversight of coal ash ponds has created a mess for Montana’s ranchers near Colstrip. The Montana DEQ and our federal legislators need to bear down and stop the leaking coal ash ponds at Colstrip to protect the water of adjacent landowners. – Natalie Snyders The The Plains Plains Truth Truth Summer Spring 2008 2012 Page 10
2012 Election Vote No on Referendum 123 Millionaire kickback could cripple state The severity of this fire season, which has damaged the property of multiple Northern Plains members and left quite a few more on evacuation alert, reminds us how important it is to be prepared. It adds even more significance to one of the most troubling measures on our ballot this November: Legislative Referendum 123. That’s because if the referendum passes, it would leave the state unable to respond to emerging fiscal or natural disasters because it would prevent the state from leaving some “grain in the bin” to weather the bad times. The measure is another product of the shamelessly irresponsible 2011 Legislature. Referendum 123 is also extremely unfair to Montana family ranchers. In fact, Referendum123 would send almost 60 percent of the rebates to the richest 20 percent of Montanans. Montana farmers and ranchers should Montanans rise up William A. Clark used his vast Butte copper-mining wealth to manipulate the Montana state government and literally buy votes to make himself a U.S. senator. Blatant corruption by Clark and the other Copper Kings created a furor that led to passage, by citizen initiative, of Montana’s Corrupt Practices Act in 1912. ” I never bought a man who wasn’t for sale. – William A. Clark The century of transparent campaign-finance restrictions that followed, preventing corporate money from influencing elections, came to an end in June when the U.S. Supreme Court summarily reversed the Montana law and upheld its controversial Citizens United ruling. Clark’s corruption contributed to passage of the 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, establishing election of U.S. senators by the people instead of by the state legislature. – www.DemocracyNow.org be especially concerned about this measure since rebates are based on the amount of residential property and income taxes paid by each taxpayer. That means taxes paid on nonresidential property would not be factored into individual rebates, leaving most rural Montanans empty handed. Referendum 123 is not only dangerous – it is flat out unconstitutional. As proposed, it would create an automatic tax rebate based on what the Legislative Fiscal Analyst thinks the state’s ending fund balance will be. Last year, the analyst was off by hundreds of millions of dollars. What you can do Get more information by visiting www.NoLR123.org or call (406) 359-1233. Vote Yes on I-166 In 1912, Montana passed the Corrupt Practices Act to ban corporate spending in elections. Until then, Anaconda Copper King William A. Clark and his friends used their wealth to buy courts, politicians, newspapers – anything and anyone that could help them or hinder their opponents. At his peak, Clark bought himself a U.S. Senate seat, advertising in his newspapers that he would pay $10,000 cash to any Montana legislator who would vote to send him to Washington D.C. (this was before senators were directly elected by voters). Montanans know better than most people how money corrupts politics. On June 25, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Corrupt Practices Act on a 5-4 decision, opening the floodgates for These tax rebates would be mandatory – regardless of the state’s fiscal condition. It would mean tax rebates to the wealthiest Montanans even if it means slashing funds for schools, public safety, and other services. Referendum 123 strips all oversight power from our legislature and hands it directly to the Legislative Fiscal Analyst with no recourse for oversight from our elected representation. unlimited corporate spending in Montana elections, and taking away the power of any state to keep its elections clean. The ruling comes on the heels of an earlier decision allowing corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money in federal elections, Citizens United vs. FEC (commonly referred to as ‘Citizens United’). When billionaire out-of-state corporations are allowed to spend tens of millions of dollars to flood television, radio, and mailboxes for their candidates, it makes it Mechanically, the measure would provide a property and income tax rebate whenever the state’s ending fund balance exceeds the projected fiscal analyst’s projection by more than 25%. However, not all citizens are treated equally – in fact, even multimillionaires who don’t pay income taxes in Montana could receive these rebates. While District Court judge Sherlock recently ruled that Referendum 123 is unconstitutional, it was appealed to the Montana Supreme Court. Because of this appeal, it is slated to be on the ballot. The only way it gets thrown off the ballot is if the Supreme Court upholds Judge Sherlock's ruling before ballots are certified on August 23. In the meantime, all of us should talk with our family and neighbors about the far-reaching and irresponsible consequences of Referendum 123. Any smart businessperson or homeowner knows that it’s important to leave a little in the bank for a rainy day. Montana’s state government shouldn’t be run any differently. Tell your friends and family to vote NO on LR 123. – Svein Newman, Clayton Elliott Keep corporate money out of politics hard to hear the voices of the everyday Montanans who should be the ones electing politicians and holding them accountable. Our best shot at taking our democracy back is an American constitutional amendment. That battle will be a long one, and must be won in three-quarters of the states. Given our history, it makes sense for us to lead in Montana. Corporations are not people – they don’t have kids, they don’t fight in wars for our country, they don’t go to jail when they commit crimes. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Vote yes on I-166 to make it the policy of Montana that corporations are not people and their billions of dollars have no place in our politics. – Svein Newman The Plains Truth Summer Winter 2009 2012 Page 11 11
Page 1 and 2: For 40 Years Protecting Montana’s
Page 3 and 4: people of the plains Commitment to
Page 5 and 6: What would you do if 40-50 addition
Page 7 and 8: land and water Momentum builds for
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Page 13 and 14: Much work remains on Farm Bill: Big
Page 15 and 16: council roundup GNA members study l

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