EQC Climate Change Survey Review

At a meeting March 10, the Environmental Quality Council (EQC) of the Montana Legislature will look at results of a public survey on climate change that has garnered more than a thousand responses.

The meeting will begin at 2 p.m. in Room 102 of the State Capitol.

The bipartisan council is reviewing recommendations outlined in the "Montana Climate Change Action Plan: Final Report of the Governor's Climate Change Advisory Committee." Some of the recommendations cannot be implemented without passage of new legislation.

The council conducted the survey in February to learn what the public thinks of the recommendations. It asked people to rank the relative importance of the recommendations and invited them to share their comments.

"The EQC thought it was important to provide a forum for the public to share its thoughts on the topic of climate change and the comprehensive set of recommendations offered by the Governor's Climate Change Advisory Committee," said Sen. Dave Wanzenried (D-Missoula), who chairs the council. "I want to thank the public for taking the time to fill out this lengthy survey and for providing us with extensive public comment."

The council received close to 400 pages of public comment, according to Sonja Nowakowski, a research analyst who staffs the council. She said the comments will eventually be published on the EQC Web site at http://leg.mt.gov/css/lepo/2007_2008/default.asp

The council will take the survey results into consideration as it decides whether to move forward with legislative efforts related to climate change.