Guest blog: Montana businesses poised to benefit from climate/energy legislation

By Mindy S. Lubber, president of Ceres. -- Luis

Maybe it's time for our congressional leaders to take a field trip to Montana. They could meet with dozens of business leaders there who today outlined a powerful economic future for Montana if a comprehensive climate and energy bill is passed.

"Renewable energy technologies like wind and even solar have a great potential to provide rural communities a needed tax base and employment opportunities," said John Bacon, who operates a wind farm in rural Wheatland County that provides 135 megawatts of clean electricity and pays $1.2 million of taxes annually.

"Good climate and energy policies will continue to provide opportunities for companies like ours to grow and prosper," added Scott Johnson, whose company uses camelina grown by Montana farmers to make aviation fuel for the U.S. military. The fuel has an 80 percent lower carbon footprint than petroleum.

Bacon and Johnson were among 100 business leaders who sent a letter today to their U.S. Senators urging them to support a strong climate and energy bill later this fall. The letter was signed by a diverse spectrum of businesses from the energy efficiency, agriculture, clean energy, health care and tourism sectors.

Among the tourism outfits was Denny Gignoux's Montana Rafting Co. in Glacier National Park.

"We're already seeing lots of impacts from climate change, including loss of snowpack, declining water levels, rising water temperatures and habitat loss," said Gignoux, whose industry generates more than $2 billion in economic activity for Montana each year. "We need swift action on climate change to preserve and protect our national parks."

To learn more of their stories, visit Climate Solutions.