A rose by any other name … in this case, is still dangerous

Amy Cilimburg and Shanti Devins

If you looked up at Mt. Sentinel the night of February 6, chances are high you saw lights scurrying up and down the summit from sundown to sunup. The next day, the laps continued - on a mountain that should have been filled with snow, but was instead a mud bath.

Almost 200 individuals were Running Up for Air - voluntarily taking on a seemingly crazy endurance challenge to protect our valley’s air quality, community health, and climate. RUFA athletes are not crazy at all, just dedicated.

What is actually crazy is that the Trump administration moved to revoke the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2009 Endangerment Finding just a few days later.

The Endangerment Finding is a central part of the federal government’s legal authority to regulate climate-warming emissions that threaten public health and welfare. By revoking this scientifically backed determination, the administration blocked the EPA’s ability to regulate pollution from vehicles and power plants, effectively signaling that the profits of fossil fuel companies are more important than the health of Americans.

The administration ignored decades of sound science and three previous Supreme Court rulings that found this Endangerment Finding defensible. Stunningly, they also declared that the costs of moving to clean energy were just too much, without factoring in the far greater social, health and economic costs of continuing to burn fossil fuels. This rescission effectively removed any value given to human life.

We find this unconscionable.

Air pollution from burning fossil fuels is linked to serious health consequences and economic costs. “In the U.S., air pollution kills around 100,000 people every year. It’s the cause of 3% of all U.S. deaths, which is more deaths than traffic accidents and homicides combined, and air pollution costs the American economy up to $1 trillion per year,” writes Yale Climate Connection’s reporter Karen Kirk.

This matters here in western Montana where air pollution is a significant concern, from winter inversions trapping exhaust and other emissions, to summer wildfire smoke carrying harmful PM2.5 particles.

Another huge health threat this administration now ignores is catastrophic extreme-weather events caused by climate change. From floods and more extreme wildfires to tropical storms and drought, the health of our ecosystems directly impacts our personal health; we are part of and dependent on the natural world for literally everything in our lives.

This fact that these serious health impacts endanger all life on earth doesn’t stop being a fact simply because a few officials deny it. A rose by any other name … in this case is still extremely dangerous.

We’re seeing similar denials of science and economics at play locally in NorthWestern Energy’s latest Integrated Resource Plan (IRP). The IRP ignores the costs of climate change and the economic boons of clean energy in its modeling, claiming it must expand fossil fuel generation to stay reliable and affordable.

This is false. And Montanans are mobilizing to tell NorthWestern Energy that we’re done with the gaslighting (and gas heating!). We’re done polluting our air and water, and we’re done with being given the disingenuous runaround.

Montanans and the American people are far smarter and savvier than either the Trump administration or the leadership at NorthWestern Energy give us credit for. We cannot and will not let them threaten our health, wellbeing, and livable future so millionaires and billionaires can get richer.

While numerous health, climate, and environmental groups are taking legal action on both the EPA Endangerment rejection and the IRP, the power of collective action by each of us cannot be overestimated. This is a moment where adding your voice to the conversation could be the grain that tips the scale. Even Missoula’s Mayor Davis is weighing in.

We at Climate Smart Missoula are not bowing to the anti-science craziness. Join us in action:

• Join the national Stand Up For Science rally on March 7 (Missoula County Courthouse at 1:00pm).
• Submit a comment on the IRP by March 12 to demand NorthWestern Energy factor in costs associated with climate change and invest in affordable clean energy.
• Call our representatives this election year. Let them know that 2026 polling shows 71% of Montanans believe climate change is a serious threat, solar is hugely popular, and we demand the prioritization of our health over the profits of polluters.
• Go solar if you can and electrify your home.

Learn more at missoulaclimate.org and get involved. We all have a role in deciding what our future will be. Let’s embrace our power to make it a healthy, livable one. For ourselves, our kids, and the beautiful, wild places we all love.

Amy Cilimburg is the Executive Director and Shanti Devins is the Program 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.