Echo opinion from Montana ~ Coal is a dying fossil fuel energy

An opinion letter to the editor published in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, a Montana newspaper, written by Bob Roughton

Montana Republican Congressman Greg Gianforte supports tax credits for coal ~ a dying industry

In the past, coal has been a major benefit to Montanans, for decades. 

In the past, coal created good-paying jobs and paid tens of millions in taxes to state and local government. 

Nevertheless, now coal, nationwide, is a fading industry, not because of regulation but because of market forces.

At the same time, renewable energy has been growing at double-digit rates, now accounting for over ten million jobs, one hundred times the total employment in the coal industry!

The real treasures in our "treasure state" are wind and sun, the two leading drivers of rapid growth in the renewable energy industry. But do Representative Gianforte (Republican), and his mentor Senator Steve Daines (Republican), support renewable energy? No! Why don’t they advocate for the same levels of tax subsidies for renewables that coal and oil enjoy? The answer is found in the lopsided campaign contributions they receive from the mining and energy industries.

Republican Gianforte’s blind eye to what could be a major economic boon to Montana, by investing in renewable energy, comes from either avarice or negligence, and both are politics at it’s worst. It’s one more reason that Gianforte deserves defeat in November. 

We need someone in Congress who will put Montanans energy needs first.