People around the world — including governments — are doing impactful things in response to the climate crisis. The top motivation is a desire to lessen future damage for younger generations. We want to fix the mess we’ve made without asking our children to shoulder the burden.
Since most climate change news is negative, learning what others are doing can inspire us to act even when it’s not easy; as humans, we tend to resist change.
Yet change is both happening and necessary, and opportunities for innovation are available to an unprecedented degree thanks in part to the federal Inflation Reduction Act. Solutions across all sectors of our economy — agriculture, transportation, industry, waste management, and buildings — are vetting non-fossil fuel alternatives.
Some examples include the first electric
cargo ships in the marine logistics industry; emission-capturing devices mounted to existing trucking
fleets; and recycling programs that extract
minerals from existing materials like solar panels, thus lessening mining demands.
If that’s not enough, there are global highlights: South Korea recycles
98% of its food waste, and
Colombia, an oil-producing country, committed to quitting the fossil fuel industry, along with 12 other nations and 105 cities.
Some coal plants, with their existing connections to the grid, are transitioning into
solar farms. Many are even growing
pollinator gardens below the panels to increase honeybee populations. Great Britain
banned coal due to pollution coupled with higher costs than cleaner sources.
A lot of these changes are surprisingly easy, and mostly about managing resources “better and smarter,” says Steve Loken, a climate change instructor in Missoula.
Maybe the most inspiring changes come from regular people. Seniors are participating in rallies under the monikers of “rocking chair rebellion” or “fossils against fossil fuels.” And a group of
Swiss women, mostly in their 70s, won a government settlement urging the EU states to engage in climate action to protect
human rights.
Back in Montana,
Climate Smart Glacier Country, a non-profit working with 40 local organizations and led by Steve Thompson, says their goal is to “[normalize] the conversation based on solutions,” focusing on wildfires and health, zero-waste efforts, and building a strong communication network.
Montana Public Radio reporter
Ellis Juhlin highlights the city of
Missoula’s receipt of $130,000 in federal funding to meet energy efficiency standards and other climate goals.
Juhlin adds that schools are onboard.
Sweet Grass County High School is 25% powered by solar, saving $48,000 per year;
Havre implemented the first electric school buses and they’re performing well. And local
Fairfield School District (plus East Helena, Bigfork, Clinton and Billings) used IRA funds to purchase their own electric buses.
“We didn’t get the buses to save the planet,” says Paul Wilson, principal of Fairfield. Instead, the motivation was economic. The three buses, valued at $375,000 each, save on fuel, maintenance, and they last longer than diesel models. The school received them at no cost thanks to grant funds.
It hasn’t been perfect, Wilson reported, as the bumpy roads in Montana caused havoc at the beginning. Thankfully, however, the manufacturer resolved the issues. Wilson says they are the most reliable transport in cold temperatures now, with no fluids to freeze.
These are all positive changes, happening right here in our own backyards. When we are willing to try new things, and when we listen to the kids we love, possibilities open up. Jane Goodall, in her book
Hope, shares a fantastic example about an oil industry CEO who stepped down from his position after his grandchild expressed fear about her future.
Climate change is something for which none of us are prepared. It’s also an opportunity to strengthen community and to collectively act, following the well-established “think globally, act locally” principle.
“Hope comes from things we can control, helping us to know where to focus so that we can make a contribution,” says Nathaniel Rich, author of
Losing Earth: A Recent History.
We can control how we talk about climate change, engage with groups providing support, and share the stories of what’s being done better and smarter.
Twenty Questions is a series by Heidi Harting-Rex, a Choteau resident and avid climate change reader.
All images copyright John Moore.