County Presents ‘Stay Cool Missoula’ Campaign

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - There’s still plenty of hot summer weather to come, and Missoula County has a brand new website to help beat the heat.

I spoke with Alli Kane, Missoula County’s Climate Action Coordinator about a new program appropriately called ‘Stay Cool Missoula’.

“We recently developed Stay Cool Missoula,” began Kane. “This is our campaign around extreme heat born out of what we're seeing as an urgent need to deal with this extreme weather hazard in our community, and so as part of that campaign, we've put together a tool kit for our institutional level partners; including government agencies, nonprofit organizations, businesses, and healthcare facilities.”

A New Website to Help You 'Stay Cool Missoula'

Kane described what you’ll find at the Stay Cool Missoula website.

“We've got a whole suite of tools,” she said. “We have our story map, where we're looking at how we have historically experienced heat, and what those trends are looking like in the future, and then what does that look like for our human health and our ecosystem health and our homes, our buildings, and our neighborhoods. With all that, we get a pretty clear picture of what that impact looks like for us all, and then we've provided some ways to beat the heat.”

Kane acknowledged the fact that not everyone has the economic wherewithal to afford air conditioning.

“We're trying to communicate to community members ways that you can both find cool and clean indoor air,” she said. “I know that can be tricky, and not everyone has that same level of access to air conditioning or a space of their own that they can go when it's super hot out, and so we're trying to reach as many people in the community, as we can with some good information.”

READ MORE: Stay Cool and Safe: Expert Tips for Beating the Summer Heat

Missoula County has a Climate Action Coordinator

Being the county’s Climate Action Coordinator, Kane emphasized the dynamic tension between the use of fossil fuels and renewable energy sources to stay cool.

“Finding an energy-efficient model of an air conditioner, looking at heat pumps and different electric options can help to reduce your energy use. “Then, of course, the more clean renewable energy sources we can get on our grid as part of energy that we pay for to heat and cool our homes that can help us solve this problem.”

Click here for access to Stay Cool Missoula.