MISSOULA, Mont. – A recent report on Montana carbon emissions from an environmentalist group laments the fact that Montana emits as much carbon dioxide as the country of Mongolia, a country where one-third of its residents did not have access to electricity as of 2009.

The report was published last month by the left-wing think tank Environment Montana’s Policy and Research Center. It places the blame for Montana’s emissions squarely on coal-fired power generation, specifically PPL’s Colstrip Power Plant. It has also been touted by another liberal group, the Montana Environmental Information Center (MEIC), and was featured in a report by Montana Public Radio (MTPR).

“Montana’s coal-fired power plants emit as much carbon dioxide as Mongolia, a country of almost 3 million people. That’s according to a new study from Environment Montana’s Research and Policy Center,” reads the opening line of the MPR report.

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The report breaks down the overall carbon emissions for each state — about 30.7 metric tons for Montana– and compares holds that number in comparison to a country with similar emissions. However, the only attempt that the report makes to put the comparison into context is to give the population of each state and its comparative country. The report notes that Mongolia’s population is just under 3 million people. Montana’s is just over 1 million, making it appear that Montana is less efficient in its carbon emissions.

However, any comparison of carbon emissions must be placed in an economic and human development context, as the production of energy is vital to economic prosperity and human development. Here is a comparison of Montana and Mongolia on economic terms:

Montana:

Population: 1,015,165 (2013 U.S. Census Bureau estimate)

Gross Domestic Product (GDP): $44,040,000,000 (2013 Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis estimate)

GDP Per Capita: $25,002 (2013 U.S. Census Bureau estimate)

Mongolia:

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Population: 2,953,190 (CIA World Factbook)

GDP: $11,140,000,000 (CIA World Factbook)

GDP per capita: $4,087 (2013 The World Bank)

Not only does Mongolia have 1/4th the GDP and 1/6th the GDP per capita of Montana with three times the population, it also lags far behind the U.S. state in terms of human development.

According to the United Nations Human Development Index — which takes into account a number of factors contributing to “human wellness,” from economics, to education, to healthcare — ranks 103rd in the world with a score of .698 on a scale of 0 to 1. While data for individual U.S. states is not measured, the U.S. overall score is .914, which is 5th.

On a more basic level, while access to electricity is essentially universal in Montana, according to data from the International Energy Agency (IEA), 33% of Mongolians had no access to electricity in 2009.

A USAID report from earlier this year discussed efforts to expand electrical access to Mongolia, but also noted that its capital, Ulaanbatar, was suffering from “rolling blackouts,” because the country’s current electrical production infrastructure had reached capacity. According to USAID, this problem is a major barrier to economic growth and prosperity.

MEIC and Environment Montana have used the report to slam the Colstrip Power Plant and call for more investment in “alternative” — and more expensive — forms of energy, such as wind and solar.

“So a little state like Montana has this enormous pollution source. This report just puts the impacts of Colstrip in a broader perspective so we can understand here in Montana that not only can we do better but that we should do better, because Colstrip, its emissions and its pollution are much greater than they need to be and they are very large any way you calculate them,” MEIC Director Anne Hedges told MTPR.

Hedges also called on Montanans to accept controversial new EPA regulations that target coal-fired power plants — which the EPA has admitted will not have any impact on global warming by 2022 — and warned that failure to reduce emissions would result in “more floods, more wildfires, and more adverse impacts on wildlife.”

The Colstrip Power Plant contains four coal-fired generating units. It is the second largest coal-fired power plant west of the Mississippi River and and has a generating capacity of about 2,000 megawatts according to its website. The plant directly employs 360 people, and a 2010 study from the University of Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research found that the plant supports 3,740 jobs and is the by far the largest employer and taxpayer in Colstrip and Rosebud County.

Authored by Ron Catlett

Published with permission