Climate Connections: From outer space, back to earth and neighborhoods
Amy Cilimburg
As the balsamroots begin to unfurl and the days lengthen, I’ve a spring in my step. I love to take this spring energy and run up Mt Jumbo, though admittedly my pace is rather slow. My legs just do not zoom. But my mind, it’s been zooming.
Zooming out. Who among us is not missing the hourly reports from Artemis 2 and their trek around the moon? Though not a space nerd, I was enamored with both their words and images. I wish they were still up there, helping us to pause and consider this oasis that is our earth.
Astronaut Christina Koch reflected: “I found myself noticing not only the beauty of the Earth, but how much blackness there was around it, and how it just made it even more special. It truly emphasized how alike we are, how the same thing keeps every single person on planet Earth alive.”
A stable climate and clean air are what keep every one of us alive. And I can’t keep my focus on the moon and space for long, avoiding our current earthly mess. I zoom way back in and focus on Missoula and all the creative Earth Month events our organization and partners are offering. There’s joy to find right here, in community.
And as I’m still making my way up that mountain (literally Jumbo, figuratively toward a climate-safe future) my mind zooms back out —another horrific war where fossil fuels feature all too prominently.
The uncertainty we feel — about the implications of the Iran war and what are current president might do, and what all this means for our willingness to address climate warming with the urgency it demands—it’s hard to shake. What does a horrific war that is so significantly connected to fossil fuel use and increased costs mean for the climate crisis and a clean energy transition?
I listen to stories of Americans who cannot make a livelihood with gas or diesel prices soaring, of farmers that may not plant this season without the fertilizers that come through the Strait of Hormuz, of famine on a planet of plenty.
Wherever I “zoom”, it’s all too obvious. The more rapidly we replace fossil fuels with clean energy— solar, wind, geothermal and batteries—the safer we will be.
It’s clear today that the countries powered by solar and wind plus batteries are faring much better, and those with dirty energy dependencies are using this crisis as an urgent opportunity to accelerate their transition to clean electricity. This didn’t happen with previous Middle Eastern conflicts because clean energy options were then still expensive alternatives, and it was simply cheaper and easier to stay the course. And the fossil fuel companies, with their money and lobbyists, made sure that the world remained addicted to their planet-wrecking pollution.
Today, solar and wind energy are simply cheaper, even before this war pushed oil prices up. In 2025, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency, solar PV was ~ 41% cheaper and onshore wind ~53% cheaper than the lowest-cost fossil fuel alternatives.
Author Bill McKibben’s April 7 headline says it all: Oil and Gas=Peril and Poverty/ Solar and Wind=Prosperity and Protection - 2026 has changed the psychological meaning of energy forever. A snippet from Bill:
I think we can assess one outcome of this stupid war already: both the emotional valence and the structural understanding of different energy sources has shifted, and for good. Meaning takes a very long time to erode, but when it does the switch can come quickly; we’re living at a hinge moment, and on the other side of the door is a different world. We tend to think about energy in hard terms—kilowatts, dollars—but in the end our visceral sense of the path forward is what matters most, because attitude informs decision without us even quite realizing it. The world between our ears has changed, decisively, in the direction of renewable power from the sun and wind.
This is true for much of Europe. France recently announced accelerating plans to support electric vehicles and setting a goal of one million new heat pumps installed by 2030. The U.K’s largest-to-date solar farm was just approved. And Reuters recently reported a new European Commission plan is in the works. To be released on Earth Day, the EU proposal will speed up efforts to wean Europe off fossil fuels, noting that "The benefits of this transition clearly outweigh its costs. Europe cannot afford to remain exposed to increasingly frequent energy shocks. Every delayed investment in the energy transition risks greater cost for society at a later stage."
Zooming in to Montana. One thing we know is there are not viable non-carbon fuels for long-distance flights. So, airline tickets are skyrocketing, and jet fuel is becoming scarce. Might this is the summer to skip traveling the world, and instead explore our local rivers and mountains?
Zooming to Missoula. Efforts locally to get off fossil fuels are being paired with efforts to make our homes and community as healthy and affordable as possible. We are all about multi-solving at Climate Smart Missoula. For example, just this past week, our Team was part of the University of Montana’s Democracy Summit, offering a session entitled From Belonging to Action: Social Connection, Climate, and Democracy in Practice. Wherever you look, climate action is best paired with connection and small-d democratic ideals. Want to engage with us? Join our April 28 Ambassador Training! Information on this event and others is here.
My slow zoom up the mountains allows me to look—at the shooting stars and the connected neighborhoods below—and listen —for the ruby-crowned kinglets and sounds of spring. Our collective effort to build a more just, climate-safe world really is like heading up a mountain. We look and listen for inspiration, and the path may turn steep, yet because there's no option to just give up, we go together. Together, we can even shape this mountain of possibilities.
Amy Cilimburg is the Executive Director at Climate Smart Missoula, which brings this Climate Connections column to you several times per month. Learn more about our work and sign up for our e-newsletter at missoulaclimate.org.