The Battle for Clean Energy in Coal Country
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Montana has a long history of making money by extracting and exporting its natural resources,\\xa0namely coal. State politicians and Montana\\u2019s largest electricity utility company seem set on keeping it that way.\\xa0
\\n\\nReveal\\u2019s Jonathan Jones travels to the southeastern part of the state, to a town called Colstrip. It is home to one of the largest coal seams in the country \\u2013 and one of the largest coal-fired power plants in the West. He finds the state\\u2019s single largest power company, NorthWestern Energy, recently expanded its share in the Colstrip power plant and is planning to build a new methane gas plant on the banks of the Yellowstone River. Meanwhile, in the state capital of Helena, lawmakers have passed a flurry of bills to ensure the state\\u2019s continued reliance on fossil fuels. NorthWestern supports many of these bills, including one of the most extreme laws to keep the state from addressing climate change. Jones follows the money behind the coal expansion in Montana and the local and statewide resistance efforts to push the state toward clean energy.\\xa0
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