PNS Daily Newscast - January 19, 2020
The Biden inauguration speech seen as a potential launching point for a resilient democracy; an increase in mental distress noted in Virginia.
2021Talks - January 19, 2021
Trump expected to issue around 100 pardons and commutations today. Biden and Harris celebrate MKL and prep for first days in office. Voting rights legislation introduced in Congress could expand access to voting and reduce partisan gerrymandering.
Public News Service - MT: Energy Policy

COLSTRIP, Mont. -- Many landowners in southeastern Montana are displeased with Talen Energy's decision to challenge a cleanup plan for Colstrip's coal ash ponds. The company, which is part owner of the Colstrip power plants, says the $285 million plan for retired Units 1 and 2 is "grossly excessiv

HELENA, Mont. -- Tribes and conservation groups are urging Montana to deny a key permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline. Under the Clean Water Act, the state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) must certify the project won't violate water-quality standards before construction can start. The pip

LIVINGSTON, Mont. - Some Montanans are concerned about the lack of transparency in a proposal that's expected to have a major impact on the state's energy future. The Public Service Commission is considering a deal for NorthWestern Energy and another owner to buy a Washington state utility's stake

HELENA, Mont. - Sen. Jon Tester - D-Mont. - has introduced a bill that would bar the Department of Justice from appealing a court order ousting William Perry Pendley as acting head of the Bureau of Land Management. Gov. Steve Bullock brought - and won - a case against the BLM, charging that Pendle

MISSOULA, Mont. -- As wildfires rage across the West, a new report from the Montana Climate Solutions Council calls for a complete reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in the state by 2050. To reach this goal, the council recommends beefing up low-emission car standards and shifting away from a c

LEWISTOWN, Mont. - Conservation groups are disappointed in the Bureau of Land Management's resource plan for central Montana. The agency released the final resource-management plan for 650,000 acres overseen by its Lewistown field office. Aubrey Bertram, eastern Montana field director for the Mo

HELENA, Mont. - What happens when an oil or gas lease on Bureau of Land Management land goes up for auction and no one bids on it? It isn't taken off the market. Instead, oil companies can buy the lease for the low price of a $1.50 per acre. That's why Sen. Jon Tester - D-Mont. - is introducing th

HELENA, Mont. -- The Trump administration and Congress are considering relief for the fossil fuel industry, which has been hit hard by low demand during the coronavirus pandemic. But one progressive group says the federal government should bail out the states that are dependent on energy productio