Climate Change

Amy Cilimburg and Abby Huseth write, "Five years ago at our first Expo, our community was just beginning to explore options for reaching a goal that seemed audacious at the time: 100% clean electricity for Missoula."

Invoking a recent Montana climate court case, many western Montana residents are calling for NorthWestern Energy to redo its energy management proposal for the next 20 years.

Over the past decade, the City of Missoula has taken the lead in Montana with local plans to address the climate crisis, including clean electricity, zero waste and eliminating tailpipe emissions from the city's fleet of vehicles.

With persistent heat and little moisture, Gov. Greg Gianforte on Wednesday asked the federal government to declare a drought disaster for 11 parched Montana counties, including Missoula and Ravalli.

While the bulk of the region's fire resources are working the Colt fire northwest of Seeley Lake, several new fires were reported Tuesday morning north of Missoula.

The option agreement approved on Tuesday sets the purchase price for the 160-acre Izzy Dog parcel at $1.8 million.

The record low lake level this year is part of a pattern of anomalies in runoff and water supply that is hardly new, according to Energy Keepers, Inc., which manages the Salish Kootenai Dam in Polson, on the south end of the lake.

An effort to go green and reduce its carbon footprint has earned Missoula County a top designation from SolSmart for encouraging solar energy at the local level.

One attorney says the state had not shown any compelling interest as to why it should be allowed to continue ignoring greenhouse gas emissions from energy projects.

With funding available, the city and county of Missoula are joining forces to create a new rebate program aimed at energy efficiency as they pursue their climate action goals.