I am afraid gubernatorial candidate Greg Gianforte doesn’t know what he is talking about. He recently accused Gov. Bullock and his administration of “refusing” to issue a permit to Arch Coal for the proposed Otter Creek Mine.

I have been involved in the Otter Creek issue since it was first proposed back in 2008. When Arch Coal, through its subsidiary Otter Creek Coal, submitted its application for a permit to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality in 2012, it was deficient. While resolving some of the issues, Arch Coal has been unable to answer the most egregious problems for more than a year — the impacts the proposed mine would have on the water quality and water resources of Otter Creek and the Tongue River, which are considerable and significant.

That is why the permit stalled, not because the governor or DEQ “refused” to issue it. Our laws are designed to protect the land, air, and water of Montana. Projects that do, get permits; projects that don’t, like Arch Coal’s, don’t.

While coal mining has a place in Montana, coal is the energy of the past. Customers in this country and across the world are demanding cleaner energy. Coal companies — like Arch — are going bankrupt because the world has moved on (and they made bad business decisions). Whoever the next governor is, he will need to transition Montana’s energy future into the 21st century.

—Beth Kaeding, Bozeman