The Montana Public Service Commission (PSC) Had No Authority to Go Forward Regarding Climate Change

Consideration of the Montana climate change petition was outside of the jurisdiction of Montana's Public Service Commission (PSC), set forth here:  https://psc.mt.gov/About-Us/What-We-Do 

In the event that providing such jurisdiction would have been advisable, it would have been up to Montana's Legislature to enact appropriate legislation regarding same.

Without such enactment, addressing the proposed climate change petition was ultra vires, meaning beyond the scope of PSC's authority.

The Commission had no authority to go forward regarding the issue of climate change.  Going forward was a waste of taxpayer dollars.

Gov. Gianforte's Foundation Has Given Away $57 Million Since 2017. Here's Where It Went.

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte is among the state’s highest-profile political figures. He’s also a major philanthropic force.  Nonprofit tax records indicate that his family foundation gave $57 million to charities and social issue nonprofits between 2017, the year Gianforte was first elected to public office as a Montana congressman, and 2022, the most recent year for which detailed data is publicly available. 

Montana Legislature Responds to Held Climate Case Montana Supreme Court Ruling

By Staff Writer, Montana Sentinel Press 

Incoming President of the Senate Matt Regier, Kalispell [pictured right], and Speaker of the House Brandon Ler, R-Savage, issued the following statement in response to the Montana Supreme Court’s ruling today [06/18/24] in the Held v. Montana case: 

The Montana Supreme Court turned the courtroom into a legislative policy committee, drastically overstepping its constitutional boundaries into the Legislature’s role and violating the separation of powers. Montanans will continue to suffer decades of economic and social harm if we don’t turn our activist and overreaching courts around.

Judicial reform was already a top priority for Republican lawmakers in our legislative session that starts in less than three weeks. After today, our message to the judiciary is simply this: buckle up. 

The Lesson From Montana, Stop Judicial Usurpation Before It Becomes Too Late

By Rob Natelson

From time to time I’ve told the story of how the left-leaning activists on the Montana Supreme Court exercise oligarchical control over the people of the state state—see, for example, here, here, and here. (“Oligarchy” means “rule by the few, as opposed to “democracy,” rule by the people.)

By misconstruing parts of the state constitution, the Montana justices have snatched state public policy from the democratic branches of government. Among the areas of policy where the justices’ political preferences are decisive are election law, environmental law, business regulation, and health law.

In those areas, the court severely restricts the options open to the people’s elected representatives. For example, when the legislature decided to move back the voter registration deadline from Election Day to the day before, the court declared the change unconstitutional. (Of course, the deadline for registration traditionally has been a full month before Election Day.) The court didn’t give the legislature even 24 hours leeway!

Global Warming Can’t Be Ignored, Montana’s Top Court Says, Upholding Landmark Climate Case

By Amy Beth Hanson 

Updated 3:26 PM MST, December 18, 2024

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Montana’s Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a landmark climate ruling that said the state was violating residents’ constitutional right to a clean environment by permitting oil, gas and coal projects without regard for global warming.

The justices, in a 6-1 ruling, rejected the state’s argument that greenhouse gases released from Montana fossil fuel projects are minuscule on a global scale and reducing them would have no effect on climate change, likening it to asking: “If everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you do it too?”

The plaintiffs can enforce their environmental rights “without requiring everyone else to stop jumping off bridges or adding fuel to the fire,” Chief Justice Mike McGrath wrote for the majority. “Otherwise the right to a clean and healthful environment is meaningless.”

Only a few other states, including Hawaii, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New York, have similar environmental protections enshrined in their constitutions.

Tax Cuts, Teacher Pay Boosts, Prison Expansion Shape Governor Gianforte’s Budget Proposal

By Eric Dietrich and Mara Silvers.

Fresh off a reelection win, Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte has proposed that Montana lawmakers adopt a two-year state budget that prioritizes further tax cuts alongside investments in public safety and education. The proposal represents a starting point for budget negotiations that will occur in and out of public view through the 2025 Legislature. 

To learn more, click here. 

Gail Bell: Others Dictated For Her

http://missoulian.com/news/opinion/mailbag/mother-s-death-provided-painful-personal-example-of-need-to/article_3c8a1d98-1a9c-11e4-bb8e-001a4bcf887a.html

The July 25 guest column by Sara Myers and Dustin Hankinson begins with a discussion of pain, “great pain,” specifically. The paragraph goes on to use the phrase “great pain” to justify “death with dignity,” meaning assisted suicide and euthanasia.

With their column, I couldn’t help but think of my mother’s last years and the decision of others that it was time for her to die. Pain was used as a justification for increases in her medication – to get the job done. This happened three times before she finally died in the hospital on Sept. 6, 2010. The coroner’s report, case No. 100906, lists the cause of death as congestive heart failure with oxygen deprivation and “fentanyl therapy.” The manner of death is listed as “accident.”

Fentanyl is reported “to be 80 to 200 times as potent as morphine.” It’s also well known that fentanyl patch problems cause overdoses, injuries and deaths. See www.aboutlawsuits.com/fentanyl-patch-problems-continue-overdose-deaths-55136. A 100 mcg/hour fentanyl patch has a range within 24 hours of 1.9-3.8 ng/mL. Mom’s death result was 2.7 ng/mL on/or about 48 hours.

Climate Change Prediction Bust Leaves Montana Park Scrambling To Change Signs

By  Amanda Prestigiacomo, Jan 9, 2020   DailyWire.com

In another global warming or climate change prediction gone awry, Glacier National Park is scrambling to change signs warning visitors about glaciers being melted by 2020.

The signs were originally placed in the Montana park more than a decade ago, in accordance with predictions made by the U.S. Geological Survey.

According to Glacier National Park spokeswoman Gina Kurzmen, the park was made aware of the bunk prediction about the glaciers in 2017, “but tight maintenance budgets made it impossible for the park to immediately change the signs,” CNN reported Wednesday.

Some placards have been changed at St. Mary Visitor Center, but others throughout the park have not.

The Baxter Decision

By Margaret Dore

In 2009, the Montana Supreme Court issued Baxter v. State, which cracked open the door to the legalization of assisted suicide and euthanasia in Montana.* A local doctor subsequently announced that he was actively killing or assisting to kill his patients. As far as I know, no one did anything to stop him.

Assisted suicide and euthanasia became de facto legal. Some of these deaths were presumably voluntary. In my personal experience from other states, deaths also occur on an involuntary or nonvoluntary basis, for example due to financial concerns. Adult children want the money right away and/or fear that mom or dad will change their wills, leaving the children with nothing.

New Bill to Overturn Baxter

By Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA

Senator Carl Glimm will be introducing a new bill to overturn Montana's Baxter decision.  

The purpose will be to clarify once and for all that physician-assisted suicide is not legal in Montana. 

To learn more, please click here.

A Short History of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia in Montana

By Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA 

State Capitol

Assisted suicide means that someone provides the means and/or information for another person to commit suicide.  If a doctor is involved, the practice may be termed physician-assisted suicide.  Euthanasia is the administration of a lethal agent by another person. 

A.  Assisted Suicide

In 1895, the Montana Legislature enacted a criminal statute prohibiting assisted suicide as a "crime against the public safety."[1] In 1907, 1921 and 1947, this statute was re-codified, but its text remained unchanged.[2] The statute stated: "Every person who deliberately aids, or advises or encourages another to commit suicide is guilty of a felony."[3]

Join Us at the Fair!

This month, Choice is an Illusion will be at the fair in both Montana and Washington State. We have a long history of working in Montana, but this will be our first time in Washington.

In Montana, we will have a booth at the NW Montana Fair & Rodeo, in Kalispell, August 14-18, 2019. Click here to read our event flyer to learn more.