In The News

GILLETTE, Wyo. – Coal from the Powder River Basin will soon be on its way to Japan to fuel two new coal gasification plants in Fukushima Prefecture. Gillette, Wyo.-based Cloud Peak Energy, which operates the Spring Creek Mine near Decker, will begin to ship up to 1 million tons of coal a year to Japan by the end of 2019, the company announced Tuesday. The coal will power two, state-of-the-art, coal gasification plants that will begin operation in 2020. These types of plants use combined-cycle technology to power the plants with reduced carbon emissions and more efficient generation. Japan is building the new next-generation coal technology plants in response

A coalition of privacy-minded senators nearly succeeded Tuesday night in blocking the path to extend a critical government surveillance program that allows the National Security Agency to target foreign communications without a warrant. Eight Senate Republicans joined more than two-dozen Democrats in an attempt to derail the extension of the program, but their efforts ultimately fell short by one vote. The final vote count was 60 to 38. The Senate Republicans who voted against advancing the measure to renew the spying authorities for six years were Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Steve Daines of Montana, Cory Gardner of Colorado, Dean

A bipartisan coalition of five senators has announced their intention to filibuster the FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act of 2017, a bill that expands warrantless surveillance of American citizens. Last week, the House passed a nearly identical bill. Led by Republican Senator Rand Paul and Democratic Senator Ron Wyden, the group of 3 Democrats and 2 Republicans held a press conference Tuesday about their own version of the bill, the USA Rights Act, which would require intelligence agencies to get warrants to read the communications of U.S. citizens. Elizabeth Warren, Steve Daines, and Patrick Leahy join Paul and Wyden. “I think

BILLINGS, Mont. – Thursday was National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. U.S. Senator Steve Daines recognized the day by publicly supporting legislation to crack down on online sex trafficking. He called it a growing problem in the state of Montana and that we must take steps now to stop trafficking in the community. The legislation is called Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act. It eliminates federal liability protections for websites that knowingly assist, support or facilitate online sex trafficking. It also allows state and local prosecutors to prosecute websites that violate federal sex trafficking laws. KULR-8 spoke with one sex trafficking survivor

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines recently introduced S. 2206, the Protect Public Use of Public Lands Act. This bill would release five wilderness study areas in Montana that for 40 years have been called “study” areas. According to the law, these and other “study areas” were to be examined for no more than five years by the U.S. Forest Service to determine the validity of a wilderness designation. The main word in the name that stands out is “study.” U.S. Sen. Lee Metcalf carried the bill that designated these and others as WSAs, and it passed into law in 1977. This

The Protect Public Use of Public Lands Act introduced by Sen. Daines is meant to remove the designation from five Wilderness Study Areas (WSA’s) and return them to the normal forest planning and travel planning process.  Many of the following criticisms from letters in the local media are not based on facts.  They are simply fear mongering from those promoting more wilderness and they need to be addressed.  First, these WSAs weren’t meant to be permanent. Sen. Metcalf’s 1977 law established the WSA’s and stated that they should be reviewed, not protected, by the Forest Service for wilderness characteristics.  Within

U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senator Steve Daines introduced bipartisan legislation, the Mitigating the Methamphetamine Epidemic and Promoting Tribal Health Act, or the Mitigating METH Act, to combat methamphetamine use across Montana and strengthen Indian tribes’ ability to fight this epidemic. “Methamphetamine use in Montana is tearing apart families and taking lives,” said Daines. “This is a crisis that needs immediate attention and more resources.” Background: • In the 21st Century Cures Act, enacted in 2016, Congress authorized $1 billion in funding over two years to address the opioid epidemic.  • Daines’ legislation would make efforts to combat methamphetamine use, alongside opioid abuse, eligible for funding under

Sanders and Mineral County residents can get excited as Missoula International Airport is set to pick up two more direct routes. Routes to Dallas and Chicago are all thanks to American Airlines. American Airlines will begin their daily service from Dallas to Missoula on June 7, 2018. A daily summer seasonal service from Chicago to Missoula will also begin on that date. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., applauded the airline for the two new additions when announced last week. “More flights in and out of Missoula also means more choices for Montana families and more business and job opportunities in our

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., introduced bipartisan legislation, the Mitigating the Methamphetamine Epidemic and Promoting Tribal Health Act, or the Mitigating METH Act, to combat methamphetamine use across Montana and strengthen Indian tribes’ ability to fight this epidemic. In the 21st Century Cures Act, enacted in 2016, Congress authorized $1 billion in funding over two years to address the opioid epidemic. The legislation would make efforts to combat methamphetamine use, alongside opioid abuse, eligible for funding under the 21st Century Cures Act.   Methamphetamine Crisis in Montana: Montana saw a 427 percent increase in methamphetamine violations from 2010-2015. 54 percent of