Montana State Legislature

Overview 
The Environmental Quality Council posted an online survey for the month of February, inviting Montanans to share their thoughts on the "Montana Climate Change Action Plan: Final Report of the Governor's Climate Change Advisory Committee." The Action Plan, released in November 2007, includes 54 recommendations.

The 54 recommendations are broken down into five categories:
Residential, Commercial, Institutional, and Industrial (RCII);
Energy Supply (ES);
Transportation and Land Use (TLU);
Agriculture, Forestry, and Waste Management (AFW); and
Cross-Cutting Issues (CC).

As part of its interim work, the EQC is reviewing the 54 recommendations. The survey, which is not a scientific poll, was intended to collect public comment and to invite the public to rank the recommendations on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being "do not support" and 5 being "fully support." There were no mechanisms to limit people from taking the survey multiple times or requirements to track participation.

EQC members also participated in the survey, and their responses are broken out separately from the public responses.

When the survey closed on Friday, Feb. 29, a total of 1,986 surveys had been submitted online. Of those surveys, 962 people volunteered to leave their name and/or affiliation.

The information below is intended to summarize the results of the ranking. The public comments logged in the online surveys also are posted. In addition several people submitted letters or additional comments. Some of those comments were sent anonymously, and the source could not be verified. In an effort to share all the information received in response to this survey, those comments too are posted under the "Additional comments link." To view individual comments on each recommendation, simply click on that recommendation listed below.

Because of the large volume of public comments, more than 600 pages, hard copies of this information are not presently available. If you would like additional information, contact Sonja Nowakowski at snowakowski@mt.gov or 444-3078.
 

Rank Results

•  Overview of EQC Survey Rankings
•  Synopsis of EQC Rankings
   
•  Overview of Public Survey Rankings Updated (3-7-08)
•  Synopsis of Public Rankings Updated (3-7-08)
  
  EQC Comments
•  EQC Comments on RecommendationsUpdated (3-6-08)
  
  Public Comment on Recommendations 
  —  RCII
•  RCII-1 Demand side management programs, efficiency funds and requirements
•  RCII-2 Market transformation and technology development programs
•  RCII-3 State level appliance efficiency standards and state support for improved federal standards
•  RCII-4 Building energy codes
•  RCII-5 "Beyond codes" building design incentives and mandatory programs
•  RCII-6 Consumer education programs
•  RCII-7 Support for implementation of clean combined heat and power
•  RCII-8 Support for renewable energy applications
•  RCII-9 Carbon tax
•  RCII-10 Industrial energy audits and recommended measure implementation
•  RCII-11 Low income and rental housing energy efficiency programs
•  RCII-12 State lead by example
•  RCII-13 Metering technologies w/opportunity for load management and choice
  —  ES
•  ES-1 Environmental Portfolio Standard
•  ES-2 Renewable energy incentives
•  ES-3 Research and Development (R&D), including R&D for energy storage and advanced fossil fuel technologies 
•  ES-4 Incentives and barrier removal (including interconnection rules and net metering arrangements) for Combined Heat and Power (CHP) and Clean Distributed Generation (DG)
•  ES-5 Incentives for advanced fossil fuel generation and Carbon Capture and Storage or Reuse (CCSR), including Combined Hydrogen and Electricity Production with carbon sequestration 
•  ES-6 Efficiency improvements and repowering of existing plants
•  ES-7 Demand-side management
•  ES-8/9 Market based mechanism to establish a price signal for GHG emissions
•  ES-10 Generation performance standards or GHG mitigation requirements for new (an/or existing) generation facilities, with/without GHG offsets. 
•  ES-11 Methane and CO2 reduction in oil and gas operations, including fuel use and emissions reduction in venting and flaring
•  ES-12 GHG reduction in refinery options, including in future coal-to-liquids refineries
•  ES-13 CO2 capture and storage or reuse (CCSR) in O&G operations, including refineries and coal-to-liquids operations
  —  TLU
•  TLU-1 Light duty vehicle clean car standards
•  TLU-2 Fuel efficient replacement tire program
•  TLU-3 Consumer information on vehicle miles per gallon (mpg)
•  TLU-4 Financial and market incentives for low GHG vehicle ownership and use
•  TLU-5 Growth and development bundle
•  TLU-6 Low carbon fuels
•  TLU-7 Heavy-duty vehicle emissions standards and retrofit incentives
•  TLU-8 Heavy-duty vehicle and locomotive idle reduction
•  TLU-9 Procurement of efficient fleet vehicles
•  TLU-10 Transportation system management
•  TLU-11 Intermodal freight transportation
•  TLU-12 Off-road engines and vehicles GHG emissions reductions
•  TLU-13 Reduced GHG emissions from aviation
  —  AFW
•  AFW-1 Agricultural soil carbon management-conservation/no till Agricultural soil carbon management-organic farming
•  AFW-2 Biodiesel Production (Incentives for feedstocks and production plants)
•  AFW-3 Ethanol production
•  AFW-4 Incentives for enhancing GHG benefits of conservation provisions of Farm Bill programs
•  AFW-5 Preserve open space and working lands: forests and agriculture
•  AFW-7 Expanded use of biomass feedstocks for energy use
•  AFW-8 Afforestation/Reforestation programs -- restocking
•  AFW-9 Improved management and restoration of existing stands
•  AFW-10 Expanded use of wood products for building materials
•  AFW-11 Programs to promote local food and fiber
•  AFW-12 Enhanced solid waste recovery and recycling
  —  CC
•  CC-1 GHG inventories and forecasts
•  CC-2 State GHG reporting
•  CC-3 State GHG registery
•  CC-4 State climate public education and outreach
•  CC-6 Options for state GHG goals or targets
•  CC-7 The state's own GHG emissions
•  CC-7.1 Establish a target for reducing the state's own GHG emissions
•  CC-7.2 Climate-neutral bonding
•  CC-7.3 Require evaluation of GHG emissions in environmental studies
•  CC-7.4 Join WCI and consider joining Chicago Climate Exchange
•  Additional Public CommentUpdated (3-6-08)