Article published Jun 4, 2007

Montana emissions rank high nationally in per-capita study

By RICHARD ECKE

Tribune Staff Writer

Montana ranks seventh in the nation for per-capita carbon dioxide emissions, but the state ranks low in the total amount of carbon dioxide released.

That high per-capita ranking is probably caused by its industrial plants, officials said.

While Montana hardly beats Louisiana or Texas in terms of the number of oil refineries and coal-fired power plants, it has more oil refineries than North Dakota, and the most coal-fired plants in the Northwest, according to Paul Cartwright, energy analyst for Montana's Department of Environmental Quality.

For example, Montana has three oil refineries in Billings and a small one in Great Falls, Cartwright noted. North Dakota has one oil refinery.

Among the Northwest states, Montana is tops in coal-fired power, with Idaho, Oregon and Washington emphasizing power from dams.

Montana also has an aluminum plant at Columbia Falls that emits carbon dioxide.

Carbon dioxide contains carbon and oxygen, and is considered a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. Rising temperatures across the globe are melting glaciers and polar ice, and may endanger people across the world living along coastlines if water levels rise too much, according to experts.

A state report on greenhouse gases is expected to be released in July, according to Steve Running, ecology professor at the University of Montana and scientific adviser to the governor's Climate Change Committee.

Running said he is not surprised Montana would rank high in per-capita carbon dioxide emissions.

"It's all about Colstrip," Running said. Coal-fired plants at Colstrip release a large amount of carbon dioxide, "and we don't have very many people to spread it around on," he said.

At the same time, Running said national figures on carbon dioxide release are more significant than state-by-state breakdowns.

"Really, an emission per capita is kind of a meaningless number," he said. "Where that power goes, who knows where it goes."

Cartwright agreed that a lot of electricity from Colstrip is shipped out of state, so the carbon dioxide released to produce that power should not count against Montana.

Before seeing the figures, Running guessed that California was far down the list on per-capita carbon dioxide emitted.

He was right. California ranked 47th on the list, even though it imports a lot of power from elsewhere.

"So what does that prove?" Running asked.

However, Running argues that greenhouse gases and climate change are big problems.

People need to keep the issue in perspective, he said.

"Planting more forest is absolutely a great thing to do, and it will help a little bit," Running said. Trees in healthy middle-aged forests can convert more carbon dioxide to oxygen than they give off.

But Running said people need to know they shouldn't plant a tree and then "hop in their Hummer and drive home."

He said his favorite way for Montanans to help reduce greenhouse gases would be "wildly unpopular."

"If people just drive 65 miles an hour instead of 80, they'd gain five miles a gallon, maybe more," Running said. He added he has been driving 65 mph lately.

"When I go 65, I get steam-rollered," he said.

There are other ways to conserve, people can buy compact fluorescent light bulbs for their homes to save energy, as well as energy-efficient refrigerators and furnaces, he said.

"Solar panels are coming on like gangbusters," Running added. In a few years, solar panels may be cost-effective to buy for homes, he predicted.

But a key to reducing carbon dioxide emissions is cutting the gases released by industry, not just in the United States, but in China and India, he said.

This country must get serious in that regard, according to Running.

"I don't think we should build even one more coal-fired electric plant," he said. "We've got to get China and India to cooperate."

China has plans to build one new coal plant a week.

"If they do, it's all over," Running said.

He acknowledged skepticism among some Americans about climate change, although he said there is less skepticism among people who have read reports on the issue by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Running suggested people read IPCC reports on the Internet at www.ipcc.ch.

"This isn't just looking at temperature records," he said.

Running said many officials have ignored the issue, in part because doing something about greenhouse gases would mean massive changes across the world.

"Everybody's petrified," he said. "I am too."

Experts and political figures remain far apart on exactly how to reduce greenhouse gases, however.

Trying to counterbalance what they view as liberal hysteria on the topic are groups including the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which has rapped the use of facts and figures by former Vice President Al Gore. Gore's film about climate change, "An Inconvenient Truth," garnered an Oscar from Hollywood.

Marlo Lewis Jr., a senior fellow at the institute, has questioned Gore's approach.

"In fact, nearly every significant statement Gore makes regarding climate science and climate policy is either one sided, misleading, exaggerated, speculative, or wrong," Lewis wrote on the group's Web site.