Tax Day Marks 100 Days for U.S. Senate; Report Tracks Votes
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
MISSOULA, Mont. - Today is a benchmark for the U.S. Senate. It's the 100th day of the session and a new report from the Sierra Club tracks votes on clean energy, climate change and natural resources.
Montana's freshman Senator Steve Daines' record is taken to task, specifically for opposing legislation that would have supported communities to prepare for climate impacts and for supporting exemptions for coal pollution. Gail Gutsche, board member with Montana Conservation Voters, says those decisions don't reflect Montana values that are so focused on the outdoors.
"Montanans are looking for leadership from their elected officials," says Gutsche. "They're looking for solutions and ignoring the problem will not make it go away."
The report shows votes on those issues mainly tracked along party lines and Senator Daines has voted with the Republican majority on those issues, which often are promoted as values based on "less government."
Jonathan Matthews in Helena is an executive committee member with the Montana Chapter of the Sierra Club. He says the values don't appear to be party motivated. He claims, Senator Daines is motivated by corporate interests and profits.
"All of his votes appear to be in line with that kind of desire and not in line with the desire to protect our state," says Matthews. "That we call the 'last best place' to keep it the last best place."
Matthews says the state's outdoor heritage and economy should be the focus of decisions related to clean air and water, and averting climate change.
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