MISSOULA — Missoula's climate and energy program continues to pursue several goals written into a number of city plans, even as the flow of federal funding becomes questionable under the new administration.
The City of Missoula over the last decade has adopted a number of goals aimed at curbing carbon emissions and waste. Among them, it seeks carbon neutrality within city operations by 2025 and citywide by 2050.
It also has established a goal of 100% clean electricity by 2030 and a plan to make the community more resilient to the impacts of climate change.
“The big picture, these are all commitments to ensure our community is livable and allows our residents to thrive,” said Anne Geiger, the city's strategic initiatives manager. “These plans are all about trying to create a way we interact with our region and our different energy, water and food systems, in a way that's sustainable.”
Leigh Ratterman, a climate and sustainability specialist with the city, said the effects of climate change are growing more pronounced each year. Extreme weather patterns, periods of drought and a reduced snowpack — combined with an earlier spring runoff – pose threats to a growing population.
“More and more we're seeing those effects here in the City of Missoula,” said Ratterman. “We're working on a number of projects and goals to help ensure our infrastructure, our people and natural systems are resilient to those effects of climate change."
Last year, the climate team released a “Stay Cool Missoula” plan for extreme heat while providing input to the city's new land use plan. Moving forward, they're now working with the county on a climate vulnerability study.
A study on the aquifer below the Missoula Valley is also moving forward, Ratterman said.
“We're looking at the health of the aquifer,” said Ratterman. “We'll continue looking at that and the future considering increases in population and how our aquifer could be impacted in the future.”
The city completed a baseline study of carbon emissions in 2019, and the climate team is working to compile a comparable study based on figures from 2024.
In 2019, city operations emitted roughly 18,500 metric tons of carbon dioxide while the city as a whole emitted more than 1.1 million tons of CO2. New energy management software will help drill down to more specific figures.
“With the new software, our utility bills will go into a portal, so manually collecting those bills will no longer need to be done,” said Evora Glenn, a climate and sustainability specialist. “They'll be able to access accurate and up-to-date data on usage and costs.”
The city recently replaced several gas-powered vehicles with electric vehicles and it's currently working to develop a plan for a wider charging infrastructure. Efforts to complete the state's first green tariff in partnership with Bozeman, Missoula County and NorthWestern Energy will also continue.
Last year, the effort culminated with a term-sheet agreement between participants. Now, Glenn said the program is pinning down the subscription and enrollment forms with the tariff program.
“All those documents are related to each other, so we're moving forward together, to make sure they continue to be well connected,” she said.
While the city marks progress toward its goals, changes at the federal level have caused concern. Funding for some programs has been frozen and the future of established grants may be in jeopardy.
But Geiger said that while some funding remains frozen, some programs remain active.
“We'll continue to watch that and see how that plays out. But it's encouraging to see several programs that have already made awards and distributed funds for these larger entities. Those efforts do continue to move forward. There are still opportunities on the horizon.”
