Judge cancels Montana gas plant permit over climate impacts

By MATTHEW BROWN and AMY HANSON
Associated Press

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A Montana judge has canceled the air quality permit for a natural gas power plant that’s under construction along the Yellowstone River. State District Judge Michael Moses cited concerns over climate change in his Thursday order. Moses says Montana officials failed to adequately consider the 23 million tons of planet-warming greenhouse gases that the project would emit over several decades. The $250 million plant in Laurel proposed by NorthWestern Energy would burn natural gas to produce up to 175 megawatts of electricity. State officials say they have no regulatory authority over greenhouse gas emissions.