Despite the veto of a key piece of Montana environmental legislation, advocates are not giving up on the measure becoming law - even though the state Legislature has already adjourned.

Senate bill 442 would have infused $30 million into the coffers of Habitat Montana, the state's premier conservation program created by the Legislature.

It protects wildlife habitat and access to public lands for hunters, hikers and fishermen - as well as roads, veterans' programs and mental-health services.

Alex Blackmer, communications manager with Wild Montana, said the bill had unwavering bipartisan support - which is why it shocked him and other supporters when Gov. Greg Gianforte vetoed it after the session ended.

"It's supported by farmers and ranchers and veterans and hunters and local governments and business organizations and conservationists and EMTs and you name it," said Blackmer. "So, for the governor to have vetoed it the way he did is really disappointing."

Gianforte cited some technical and funding issues in his veto letter, but Blackmer said supporters are attempting what's known as a "poll override" - which involves sending questionnaires to lawmakers who could still choose to override the veto, even though they are no longer at the Capitol.

The poll override works like this: The Montana Secretary of State sends out the questionnaire, which has to be completed and returned within 30 days.

Blackmer said this amounts to a last-ditch effort to save a critical piece of environmental legislation.

"Because the Legislature has a constitutional right to address a governor's veto, this is just a way for them to do that when they're not all gathered in the same place," said Blackmer. "Everyone has gone home. A lot of folks are back to work, back on their land. It's a chance for everyone to participate in the democratic process."

136 of Montana's 150 legislators voted in favor of the bill. Two-thirds of the Legislature would have to vote to overturn the veto during the mail-in poll override effort.




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Next week, elected officials in Minnesota, along with Latine and environmental organizations, will gather to discuss a recent delegation trip to Puerto Rico.

Participants said climate solutions they observed underscore the strength of grassroots work. The weeklong visit in the first half of August was led by Communities Organizing Latine Power and Action. Those who made the trip saw firsthand how certain areas are establishing climate resiliency in the wake of two large hurricanes that devastated the island in 2017.

Rep. María Isa Pérez-Vega, DFL-St. Paul, who has Puerto Rican roots, was part of the delegation and said community-driven efforts really stood out.

"We have resources here in the states that they don't," Pérez-Vega explained. "They've managed to live without power, without water, without hospitals, and schools being shut down."

The delegation pointed to a mountain town developing a community-owned solar microgrid which stands a better chance of keeping the power on in a disaster. Officials hope such work inspires Minnesota community organizers to balance their grassroots responses to climate threats with calls for more equitable policies.

Next Tuesday's discussion will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the group's worker center in South Minneapolis.

Ryan Pérez, organizing director for the group Communities Organizing Latine Power and Action, said the trip also revealed more issues stemming from climate migration.

"We were really fortunate enough to visit a migration organization in Puerto Rico," Pérez recounted. "That organization actually addresses Dominicans and Haitians that migrate to the island because the conditions there are better than in the Dominican Republic and Haiti."

Pérez noted within Puerto Rico, there are some levels of discrimination toward those migrating to the island. He suggested while the Midwest faces its own climate threats, the Minnesota region could learn lessons about welcoming others who travel here to escape weather disasters from other parts of the world.

The L.A. area is about to get $12-million dollars from Bezos Earth Fund's "Greening America's Cities" initiative. One of the first projects will be the restoration of the Pacoima wash, which will make nature more accessible and help in the fight against climate change.

Amanda Pantoja, a sustainable communities advocate with GreenLatinos, has received $4.75-million to oversee many of the projects.

"There will also be projects to plant trees in Los Angeles. And that will help to sequester carbon and provide shade for the city," she explained.

Some of the funds will go to a community garden project near public housing, run by the East L.A. Community Corporation. The $400-million dollar "Greening America's Cities" program will also fund equitable and sustainable greening efforts in Albuquerque, Atlanta, Chicago, and Wilmington, Delaware.

Pantoja noted communities of color in L.A. bear the greatest burden of climate impacts linked to extreme heat and pollution.

"It's also tied to the lack of green spaces in these communities. In Los Angeles County, for example, there is a median of only three acres of park space for every 1,000 residents," she explained. "And that is half of the median for the entire nation."

A 2021 investigation by the L.A. Times found that wealthier, tree-covered neighborhoods can be as much as ten degrees cooler than low-income communities that have few trees but a lot of pavement and large buildings that absorb heat.

People's wallets continue to feel the impact of high food prices, and local environmental groups say sustainable food systems and regenerative farming are solutions that deserve support in the next Farm Bill. Lawmakers are currently at work shaping the legislation to replace the current Farm Bill, enacted in 2018 and set to expire this fall.

Hank Grady, a member of the Sierra Club Kentucky Chapter, explained relative to many other states, Kentucky is home to a large number of farmers working on more than 75,000 farms across the state, and said many producers are looking to transition away from the industrial farming model.

"We believe that in the short run and the long run, this will provide a better alternative and a healthier product than the industrial alternative," he continued.

According to the Sierra Club, certain soils also are effective at capturing carbon, but excessive tillage, overgrazing, erosion and overuse use of fertilizers in industrial farming have depleted their ability to reduce greenhouse gases and lessen the impact of climate change.

Grady said efforts to improve water quality have largely been left out of industrial agriculture, and added while the state's Agriculture Water Quality Authority is an innovative program, it has not gone far enough to help implement sustainable practices that keep local waterways pollution-free and provide healthy food.

"We would like to see it amended, so it not only attempts to protect water quality in Kentucky from agricultural pollution, but also protects soil and helps farmers build a healthier soil system - one that is not heavily reliant on chemicals and monoculture," he said.

According to the CDC, concentrated animal feeding operations or CAFOS, poorly managed application of pesticides, irrigation water, fertilizer, overgrazing and overworking the land can all result in contaminated waterways.