Last Best Voice

10/20/2026

What started as a four-candidate forum became something a little different, but no less meaningful. And what a fantastic night for Montana!

Despite the changes to Sunday's event, Montanans still showed up, filled seats, and came ready to hear from the candidates seeking to represent them in the U.S. Senate. Kyle Austin and Alani Bankhead showed up, too. And they gave us plenty to talk about.

Kyle came ready to challenge his fellow candidates, including those who weren't in the room. Alani offered her own perspectives and, more than once, found herself agreeing with Kyle. Throughout the evening, the two discovered common ground on several issues while making it equally clear where their policy positions differ.

That's exactly the kind of conversation we hoped to create. Not agreement on everything, but an opportunity to listen, challenge ideas, find common ground, and give Montana voters a better understanding of the people asking for their votes.

We also want to recognize something that matters beyond a single event: accessibility, transparency, and a willingness to engage directly with voters. Throughout this campaign, Kyle and Alani have made themselves available, remained responsive, and demonstrated a commitment to conversations with everyday Montanans.

Campaigns require resources, but voters deserve more than fundraising appeals and carefully crafted talking points. They deserve candidates willing to show up, answer questions, and engage with people who may not agree with them.

Those are qualities worth recognizing in anyone seeking public office.

Thank you to Kyle Austin and Alani Bankhead, the Billings Climate Coalition, the media, our volunteers, and everyone who joined us Sunday evening. We appreciate the opportunity to bring Montanans together and keep these important conversations going.

Different perspectives. Shared concerns. A willingness to show up and talk. That's a great night for Montana.

10/19/2026

Candidates for Montana Senate have the opportunity to meet the largest voting block in the state. Even though the questions are open-ended and candidates can speak to many of the issues, this forum is focusing on the environment with special attention to clean air and water, as guaranteed by the Montana constitution.

10/17/2026

Montana U.S. Senate Candidate Forum Change

Last Best Voice and the Billings Climate Coalition will not have a full forum with the Montana U.S. Senate Candidates scheduled for 6:30pm Sunday, October 18. Instead candidates who show up will be interviewed by the media and those interviews will be distributed broadly.

With two of the four invited candidates now unable to attend, we have made the difficult decision to alter the event. All of the candidates operatives are still welcome to bring lit to be distributed to folks looking for information.

Our goal was to bring all four candidates together to share their perspectives, discuss issues important to Montana, and give voters an opportunity to hear directly from those seeking to represent them in Washington.

We sincerely thank the candidates who committed to participating, along with the community partners, volunteers, organizations, and Montanans who supported this effort and planned to attend.

While we’re disappointed, our commitment to fostering meaningful conversations, encouraging civic engagement, and bringing Montanans together remains unchanged.

Take care of the land. Take care of each other.

Last Best Voice & Billings Climate Coalition

10/05/2026

There’s a lot for Yellowstone County voters to consider this election. Make sure you’re educated, challenge your assumptions, and most importantly, SHOW UP to vote!

Yellowstone County has tried to keep people out of jail. The jail keeps getting fuller. With YCDF regularly housing more than 600 people in a facility rated for 434, voters will soon face a significant decision about what comes next. But this conversation is about much more than adding beds. It’s ...

10/04/2026

Rikki, Seamus and I spent seven hours hiking up into the Crazy Mountains this week, eventually popping out above Blue Lake. Long day, tired legs, and absolutely worth every step.

The Crazies have been getting a lot of attention lately, especially since the book The Crazies came out. Different people, different time, but in a lot of ways, the fight feels familiar: ordinary people trying to hold onto access and a connection to places that increasingly feel like playgrounds for the mega-wealthy.

Standing up there looking across those mountains, that debate feels a lot less theoretical. These places are part of our inheritance as Montanans. Private property rights matter, and so does protecting the public’s access to public lands. Those two things don’t have to be enemies, but they do require us to pay attention when the balance starts shifting.

Seven hours in the Crazies gives you plenty of time to think about that. It also gives you plenty of time to remember why these places are worth fighting over in the first place.

And getting to do it with my daughter Rikki and her boyfriend Seamus made for a pretty damn good day.

Take care of the land. Take care of each other.

10/04/2026

Six hugs in the lobby before we even made it into the room. That might have been my favorite measure of the night.

The Climate Aid: Black Ram Guitar Festival packed Bozeman’s Willson Auditorium Friday night, bringing together people from all over Montana and all walks of life around something we have in common: caring deeply about this place and what happens to it. Old friends, new friends, ranchers, conservationists, conservatives, progressives, musicians, writers and people who may disagree on plenty of things but understand that taking care of Montana belongs to all of us.

The evening was emceed by author and environmental advocate Bill McKibben, alongside Montana author Rick Bass and an incredible collection of artists including Ruth Moody, Jack Barksdale, Rob Quist, Jack Gladstone, Eric Funk and many more. At the center of it all was the Black Ram Guitar, crafted from a fallen 315-year-old Engelmann spruce from the Yaak Valley and commissioned by longtime Montanan Jeff Bridges as part of his sustainability work. Throughout the night, that guitar passed from musician to musician, giving an old Montana tree a pretty remarkable second voice.

And maybe that packed room says something worth paying attention to. Caring about our land, water, forests and future doesn’t have to belong to a political party. We don’t have to agree about every solution to recognize what is worth protecting.

There were a whole lot of different Montanans in that room Friday night. We showed up anyway. More of that, please.

Take care of the land. Take care of each other.

09/23/2026

What the hell is with data centers?

We kept hearing the warnings. Water. Power bills. Farmland. Massive energy demands. Then we started checking the numbers, talking to people on different sides and asking harder questions.

Some concerns got stronger. Some got weaker. And some of our own assumptions changed. That’s exactly the point.

We did the homework on what’s being proposed near Broadview, what we actually know, what we don’t, and what Montanans should be asking next.

Read the full piece. Then decide what you think.

09/18/2026

I appreciated the opportunity to close out Billings Climate Week with Dr. Cathy Whitlock and a conversation about how climate change is reshaping the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

Yellowstone is part of who we are, but protecting it requires us to understand how its snowpack, streams, forests, and fires are changing. Thank you to the Billings Climate Coalition for bringing this important science to our community.

Take care of the land. Take care of each other.

09/18/2026

Steve joined the Billings Climate Week 2026 kickoff at MSU Billings on Sunday, featuring Arizona State University scientist Dr. Martin J. “Mike” Pasqualetti.

His keynote, “Some Like It Hot, But Not This Hot,” explored the coming energy transition and the choices ahead as communities respond to a changing climate.

Thank you to the Billings Climate Coalition for bringing this important conversation to our community.

Take care of the land. Take care of each other.