Amy Cilimburg

Amy Cilimburg writes, "Over the long haul we need to ensure all homes and buildings are weatherized to keep cool air in and the heat out. Planting and caring for trees and green space are priorities as our community grows."

As I started my own DearTomorrow letter to the future and my daughter, I know that some of what drives me to work doggedly on climate solutions is that most likely, in a decade or two, all our daughters and sons will be asking us why we didn’t do more.

On Thursday evening, we at Climate Smart Missoula hosted our Year 4 Celebration, bringing together a wonderful collection of Missoulians to reflect on 2019 climate successes, build momentum for 2020, and share a bit of holiday cheer.

What is necessary is to keep fossil fuels in the ground. What is necessary is a rapid transition to a clean energy economy around the world. What is necessary is systemic change at all levels of society, from the local to the international.

We’ve been digging into these recent studies with local climatologist Nick Silverman, and we find ourselves wondering: How can the top science journals across the world publish seemingly divergent articles about the role of trees in addressing the global climate crisis? Can trees be both part of the solution and part of the problem? It seems they can.

While climate change is a global challenge, its impacts are experienced at the local level, and local communities need to step up and address them. We’re already seeing climate impacts in our region.

What a week it’s been in Missoula: two momentous decisions where the emergency of climate change took center stage. Two local government actions, years in the making, that community advocacy helped drive forward.

We know Missoula’s winters — especially this one — have us pining for sun, and it can be hard to see solar as workable. But from May through October, work it does.  We can generate enough solar power during the sunny season to last the rest of the year.

There’s only so much we can do as individuals, and within Missoula, to achieve our 100 percent clean electricity goal. We also need better laws, policies and rules to enable more clean electricity options in Montana.

To kick off Sustainable Missoula 2019, we have identified simple, concrete and tangible paths our community can — and must — take to achieve a sustainability vision. Our two organizations, together with many of our collaborators, are embracing the 0-50-100 sustainability framework.