Big Sky Blog

As a relative newcomer to the Big Sky State, I know very little about the state-specific politics. So with the barrage of commercials urging voters to vote YES or NO on I-147, I thought it was about time to learn a little more about it (despite the fact that I am still a registered voter in Texas, where I joined the military). In a nutshell, here’s the basic stuff:

Here is the official word on the initiative from the official Montana State election site: “Title: Allow open-pit mining for gold or silver using heap leaching or vat leaching with cyanide ore-processing reagents; Author: Tamara Johnson, Environomics, Inc., P.O. Box 1026, Whitehall, MT 59759; Type: Initiative, I-147; Status: ON BALLOT”

From the “Yes On I-147″ Initiative Site: “It’s really about improving Montana’s economy. By reinvigorating Montana’s mining industry, we can provide more good jobs; expand the tax base from mining to help fund better education, health care, law enforcement and fire protection. I-147 gives the industry back the tools to work with that were taken away by environmental groups in 1998. It allows mining to use solutions containing cyanide to extract gold and silver but requires stringent new regulations to protect the environment.”

From the Montana Conservation Voters “No On I-147” Site: “The mining industry is spinning furiously, claiming that the new proposal contains new safeguards that will prevent these ill side effects. The truth is, every single new safeguard in the initiative has been used in Montana in the past. The only difference is that the new initiative puts them in statute where they used to be required by environmental regulators. The end effect will be the same: the safeguards will be in place and the safeguards will fail.”