Thumbs down to GOP climate bill

It’s pleasing to see a pair of nonprofits, one on each side of the border, work together to protect land around Glacier National Park. The Nature Conservancy of the U.S. and its counterpart, Nature Conservancy Canada, this week announced plans to split $9.4 million owed to two mining companies as part of a deal to prevent coal and gold development on land in the Flathead River Basin that straddles the international border. A pair of Canadian firms agreed to give up their mineral claims to land in the basin north of the border, if they could recoup the money they’d already spent on exploration in the area, which amounted to $9.4 million. The payout represents a victory for conservationists, and at no cost to public coffers.