HELENA — The Montana State Capitol building was filled with a large crowd attending a climate advocacy rally on Friday.
"Recognize that we are a part of our environment, not apart from it. We are not defending nature; we are nature defending itself," said Luca Welle, one of the rally speakers.
Families for a Liveable Climate organized the rally in the capitol's rotunda with other groups like the Montana Environmental Information Center, Forward Montana, Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes, and Mountain Mamas.
The rally included ten speakers who shared their experiences with how the environment affects their lives.
Mountain Mama state director Erin Benedict said, "About 500 people are expected to turn out today to really let our legislatures know that we care about the climate, we care about the environment, and we want to see a better tomorrow for our future generations."
Montana Sen. Barry Usher says he believes there is climate change, but not in the same way many rally attendees do.
"The climate changes over decades and centuries, and it ebbs and flows, and I don't necessarily believe that humans have a big hand in that," he said.
The 69th session is the first time the legislature has met since the landmark Held v. Montana case, which affirmed Montana's "fundamental constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment."
Usher said, "The courts are not scientists, and I believe that for them to rule on that case is definitely an overreach."
"I think it's undeniable that climate is being affected currently. We can look at occurrences like the Missoula windstorm. We can look at fires. We can look at drought," said Benedict.
Friday afternoon, the House Natural Resources Committee heard House Bill 229, proposed by Representative Debo Powers.
The bill would revise "the Montana Environmental Policy Act to implement the Montana Supreme Court's decision in Held v. State of Montana and eliminate the prohibition on evaluating greenhouse gas emissions."
