NCAT releases new climate change publication

Addressing climate change can reduce energy costs, create green jobs in Montana

BUTTE, Mont. — The National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) is releasing a new climate change publication that highlights ways Montana consumers can address climate change while reducing energy costs and creating green jobs.

The publication, titled Changing climate, Changing future, is a guide to climate change in Montana and smart ways we all can act now to preserve our state for tomorrow’s generation.

Changing climate, Changing future details the work of the Montana Climate Change Advisory Committee, a group established by Gov. Brian Schweitzer in 2005 to study the effects of climate change in Montana and develop recommendations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the state. Greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide, are a major cause of climate change.

Changing climate, Changing future features dozens of resources to help Montanans reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. From ways to slash home heating bills to ideas for squeezing the most out of a gallon of gas, the resources will also help Montanans save money by using less energy.

In 2007, the Climate Change Advisory Committee produced a 450-page report with 54 recommendations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Montana. Changing climate, Changing future provides a sampling of these recommendations, along with several success stories of Montanans already acting to reduce their own emissions. Download the Publication [PDF/6.3MB]

 

2009 may be good year for Montana wind power
Helena Independent Record, 1/5/09
GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) — The nation's credit crunch could slow the planning of brand new wind farms in Montana this year but shouldn't stop facilities that are further along in the planning process, developers and state regulators said.

Enough wind energy to power up to 37,800 homes hit the electrical grid in Montana in 2008, and planned expansions and new projects already under way could double that over the next year.

Helena city slashes its energy use
By Larry Kline, Of the Independent Record, 12/27/08
HELENA - A report compiled by Helena officials and the city's Climate Change Task Force shows that the Capital City's government reduced its energy usage between 2001 and 2007 by 22.1 percent and its carbon dioxide emissions by 18.1 percent.

City officials knew the energy-saving changes they'd made - everything from using more efficient light bulbs to installing smarter temperature controls - would make a dent in Helena's energy usage, but they were surprised to learn they'd outpaced the Kyoto Protocol's 20-year goals in less than a third of the time.

Proposal would help city use clean energy
By Keila Szpaller, Missoulian, 12/15/08
Greenies in Missoula could help the city launch a municipal conservation project.

Members of the Greenhouse Gas and Energy Conservation Team want the city to profit from the clean energy economy and sell “green tags,” or “renewable energy certificates.”

“It's really low risk. There's no investment involved. There's minimal expense. And there's a potential for some revenues to be generated,” said Brian Kerns, a member of the Conservation Team.

Companies that produce green energy sell green tags. Green tags help subsidize the cost of clean energy, which is more expensive to produce than “brown” energy in the short term. A plan from the Conservation Team proposes the city of Missoula partner with a longstanding environmental nonprofit to sell the renewable energy certificates. The city would keep 10 percent of the revenue to invest in its own green energy projects.

Driving continues to decline as gas prices drop
By Joan Lowy, Associated Press, 12/12/08
WASHINGTON (AP) — Drivers clocked 9 billion fewer miles on the nation's roads in October even while gas prices were dropping, suggesting a downturn in driving that began a year ago is attributable to more than just energy costs.

Federal Highway Administration data released Friday show the number of miles driven dropped 3.5 percent in October compared with the same month a year ago. Between November 2007, when the driving decline began, and October, Americans drove 100 billion fewer miles. That's the largest continuous decline in driving the nation has experienced.

Montana's 8.4 percent driving decline was the largest of any state, followed by Utah with 7.4 percent, and South Carolina with 6.7 percent.

Group: Give Western tree protection on endangered list
By Karl Puckett, Great Falls Tribune Staff Writer, 12/11/08
A common Western tree that is being killed by bugs, disease and possibly climate change could end up on the federal list of threatened and endangered species if the Natural Resources Defense Council has its way.

On Tuesday, the national environmental group, which has an office in Montana, petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the whitebark pine as endangered.

BLM OKs plan for new gas wells in NE Montana
By The Associated Press, 12/9/08
GREAT FALLS - The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has approved a plan that will allow 1,255 new natural gas wells in northeastern Montana - despite the concerns of conservation groups that the development would disrupt sage grouse populations.

The BLM concluded Friday that the new rigs would not have a significant effect on the environment.

"We felt, through appropriate mitigation measures, that a lot of those impacts could be avoided," said Barney Whiteman, a BLM petroleum engineer.