U.S. Senator Tim Sheehy and staff from Senator Steve Daines, Representative Troy Downing, and Representative Ryan Zinke’s offices met with Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) Montana volunteers from across the state this week to discuss clean energy provisions that CCL believes are necessary to ensure an affordable, reliable energy supply.
These CCL volunteers are constituents who represent thousands of Montanans. They joined hundreds of other CCL volunteers from across the USA who held more than 400 face-to-face meetings with Republican and Democrat lawmakers and their staff in Washington, D.C. to push for climate and clean-energy legislation.
CCL volunteer Max Scheder-Bieshin said, “It was a pleasure and honor to meet with the staff of all our Montana delegation and discuss pragmatic, market-based policies to ensure affordable and reliable clean energy for Montanans. It was even more of an honor to do the same in person with Senator Sheehy.”
The volunteers asked the Montana delegation to support the clean energy transition for affordable and reliable power and to: (1) fund key clean energy programs in FY26 appropriations; (2) fix clean energy tax credit implementation; and (3) advance smart permitting reform for clean energy projects, particularly to build more transmission lines.
County officials, mayors, and Chambers of Commerce members have voiced support for their wind and solar farms. These projects have provided their counties with substantial impact fees and tax revenues, offsetting the need to raise local taxes for maintaining and building roads, schools, senior and veterans centers and other projects. They also provide hundreds of good-paying jobs.
The volunteers delivered letters from Wheatland, Rosebud, Musselshell, Golden Valley, and Gallatin counties and several mayors who requested that Congress protect the clean energy tax credits.
CCL volunteer Angie Winter said, “The staffers welcomed us and engaged in meaningful discussions of clean-energy solutions and how this Congress can use its power to preserve affordable and reliable energy for all Americans.”
Volunteer Nate Marshall added, “We often hear about partisan gridlock. Advancing policy is difficult. But Congressional offices and citizens agree on keeping energy affordable and reliable, making batteries and the technologies of the future in the U.S., and mitigating destructive wildfires. Meeting with our Members of Congress and building personal relationships with staff magnified these shared priorities and minimized shallow partisan talking points.”
The Montana CCL volunteers also advocated for healthy forest policy via the bipartisan Fix Our Forests Act. Senator Sheehy is a co-sponsor of this bill.
Nate concluded, “I felt honored that all of our Montana offices held substantive policy discussions with us and that I was personally able to share the letter of support for clean energy from Wheatland County Commissioners with Senator Tim Sheehy.”Citizens’ Climate Lobby is a nonpartisan, nonprofit grassroots volunteer organization that brings together people from across the political spectrum to advocate for a national bipartisan climate change solution.
Author: Staff
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