My Page: Bob Clark

Guest Opinion

The Environmental Protection Agency is currently working to establish common-sense standards for pollution such as smog, particulate matter, carbon dioxide, mercury, and arsenic. The agency is gathering public comment on its Mercury and Air Toxics Rule, greenhouse gas standards are nearly finalized, and an ozone and smog rule is under development. These measures will protect public health, save millions of dollars on health care costs, improve workplace safety and productivity, and create much needed jobs.

Mercury pollution from coal-fired power plants contributes to the contamination of our fisheries and puts Montanans at risk, especially women and children. And although Montana is one of 19 states that have a standard for mercury emissions, mercury pollution does not respect state boundaries, which is why it is so important that the EPA regulate coal-fired power plants throughout the United States, because many states have not developed their own mechanisms for reduction. According to the EPA, coal-burning power plants contribute more than 50 percent of all domestic human-caused mercury emissions in the U.S., making them the largest source of such mercury pollution in the country.

Proposal has everything to do with real estate profits

On September 9th and 10th 1805, after traveling down the Bitterroot River, the Lewis and Clark Expedition camped at Travelers Rest in the shadow of Lolo Peak. On September 11th while traveling up present-day Lolo Creek, Lewis wrote in his journal “the mountains on the left high & covered with snow.� Lolo Peak (9,096' elev.), now Missoula Montana's loftiest landmark dominates the high peaks at the northern boundary of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness and looks today much as it did 200 years ago.

A massive ski resort development billed as the largest in North America (A ski area twice the size of Big Mountain in Whitefish, MT.) is being proposed for the public lands surrounding Lolo Peak. The proposed development of a full-service “village� with high-end shops, 2200 exclusive housing units, ice skating rink and a golf course is just 3 miles from historic sites at Travelers Rest State Park and the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail and would forever blemish the historic view from the adjacent Lolo Trail. [more]