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1 SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 10
2 INTRODUCED BY J. SMALL, D. ANKNEY, J. WELBORN
3
4 A JOINT RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF
5 MONTANA URGING CONGRESS TO APPROPRIATE FUNDING UNDER THE ENERGY ACT OF 2020 FOR
6 THE DEVELOPMENT OF CARBON CAPTURE TECHNOLOGIES AT THE COLSTRIP ELECTRIC
7 GENERATING STATION IN ROSEBUD COUNTY, MONTANA.
8
9 WHEREAS, Units 3 and 4 of the Colstrip Electric Generating Station have been providing affordable
10 and reliable power throughout the Pacific Northwest for more than 40 years and have decades of service life
11 remaining; and
12 WHEREAS, the Colstrip Electric Generating Station provides employment to more than 250 high-wage
13 employees; and
14 WHEREAS, the Rosebud Mine provides employment to nearly 300 high-wage employees, and
15 provides inexpensive, low-sulfur coal to the Colstrip Electric Generating Station; and
16 WHEREAS, the Rosebud Mine contributes more than $40 million in tax revenue to the State of
17 Montana annually; and
18 WHEREAS, the Rosebud Mine contributes more than $11 million in royalties to the federal government
19 annually; and
20 WHEREAS, severance taxes from the Rosebud Mine have flowed into the Coal Severance Tax Trust
21 Fund for decades and established a trust with a corpus of more than $1 billion from which the interest has
22 funded countless schools and local water, wastewater, and bridge projects; and
23 WHEREAS, Montana has abundant reserves of coal and our nation has more than 300 years of
24 recoverable coal reserves and more than 30% of the country’s proven reserves with an estimated value of more
25 than $30 trillion; and
26 WHEREAS, even with the rapid deployment of renewable energy sources, the United States Energy
27 Information Administration estimates that coal will continue to account for nearly 15% of our national energy
28 production in the coming decades; and
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1 WHEREAS, utility customers and regulators are demanding reductions in our national energy carbon
2 footprint; and
3 WHEREAS, global investment dollars are migrating away from oil, natural gas, and coal toward
4 nonfossil fuel energy research and development; and
5 WHEREAS, complete removal of coal from the energy mix threatens Montana’s utility rate stability and
6 baseload dependability, which would require purchasing energy on the open market during times of high
7 demand, and threatens power dependability during severe weather events; and
8 WHEREAS, lack of investment and early closure of Colstrip Units 3 and 4 is projected to result in the
9 loss of more than 3,000 jobs, reduced collective income by Montana households of more than $325 million, a
10 reduction in state tax and nontax revenues on the order of $80 million a year, a population loss of more than
11 7,000 people, and reduced economic activity across the state due to higher electricity prices, reduced
12 interregional trade, and lower state government spending; and
13 WHEREAS, it is in the social and economic interest of the State of Montana to facilitate investment in
14 Colstrip to provide stable and affordable power, to preserve the economy, and to reduce emissions; and
15 WHEREAS, coal remains an essential part of the fuel mix to balance intermittent renewable power, and
16 Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage is the only technology able to achieve deep emission reductions for
17 reliable baseload power; and
18 WHEREAS, power plants equipped with Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage have potential to act
19 as anchor projects for the construction of shared infrastructure, including the creation of industrial carbon
20 capture hubs and clusters, with large quantities of carbon dioxide enabling economies of scale for infrastructure
21 development; and
22 WHEREAS, Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage reduces carbon dioxide emissions by more than
23 95%, with the reductions in emissions serving to benefit the health and welfare of Montana’s citizens, while
24 helping to preserve the natural environment and economy, and
25 WHEREAS, deployment strategies that shift the focus from large, stand-alone Carbon Capture
26 Utilization and Storage facilities to the development of industrial "hubs" with shared carbon dioxide transport
27 and storage infrastructure are opening up new investment opportunities; and
28 WHEREAS, development of Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage hubs and clusters will keep mines
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1 and power plants open, high-wage jobs preserved, and potentially attract hundreds of additional jobs in other
2 industries that benefit from decarbonization and downstream carbon dioxide products.
3
4 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF
5 THE STATE OF MONTANA:
6 (1) That the 67th Senate and House of Representatives of Montana maintain standing support of the
7 employees, businesses, and communities that contribute to Montana’s energy economy and our national
8 energy security.
9 (2) That the 67th Senate and House of Representatives of Montana will resist interference in the
10 operation and maintenance of Montana’s energy infrastructure that unduly threatens the viability of the
11 Rosebud Mine, Colstrip Electric Generating Station, and other coal mining operations in Montana that are
12 essential to the thousands of employees, contractors, and vendors who rely on the continued operation of these
13 facilities.
14 (3) That the 67th Senate and House of Representatives of Montana urge the United States Congress
15 to commit funding from the Energy Act of 2020 to fund carbon capture research and development and
16 implementation technologies, including commercial scale deployment, at the Colstrip Electric Generating
17 Station in Rosebud County, Montana.
18 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Secretary of State send copies of this resolution to the
19 President of the United States, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the Majority and
20 Minority Leaders of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate, and to each
21 member of the Montana Congressional Delegation.
22 - END -
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