Some 450 communities across the country are rising up with demonstrations aimed at lethargic policy-makers. The idea is to show support for a fossil-free future. As usual, Missoula is in the lead, with two!
A rally and march, THE MISSOULA PEOPLE’S CLIMATE MARCH, gets underway on Sunday, September 9, beginning at 11 a.m. Please meet at Anderson Park, 220 Blaine Street, across from Rockin’ Rudy’s. Jack Gladstone will provide the music.
Speakers include:
- JOSH SLOTNICK, newly elected Missoula County Commissioner
- MIKE DURGLO, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes
- JOHN WOODLAND, co-chair, 350 Montana
- JULIE SIRRS, Montanans for National Security
- D’SHANE BARNETT, Univ.of MT Sociology Dept., Mandan and Arikara Tribes
You can learn more about the event and RSVP here: https://actionnetwork.org/
Please pay attention to the date and time — SUNDAY, September 9, 11 a.m. — because 350.org has been sending outdated information. This event changed as eight different Missoula groups came together with suggestions for the rally and the march. It’s Sunday!
Another, more feisty gathering, HOWL FOR A FOSSIL FREE FUTURE!, is a “pop up” demonstration tomorrow, Friday, September 7, at Noon, location to be announced early in the morning. If you’re as committed to a fossil fuel free future as 350 Montana is, and you’re as pissed at the Trump reversals and our elected officials fiddling while our planet and our beautiful state burn, I hope you’ll join us for the surprise demonstration on Friday.
Bring drums, whistles, a loud voice, and as many friends as you can. You can RSVP here: https://actionnetwork.org/
And be ready to howl! It will feel good. More than 90 percent of Montanans support building more solar infrastructure, with more than 87 percent favoring more wind energy. With the Colstrip plants closing, with a huge backbone of hydro-power, and with some of the best solar and wind resources in the world, Montanans have an opportunity to be the first state in the U.S. to move from coal-fired, carbon-polluting Colstrip to a new generation of clean energy resources.
But there are some bad actors out there, spending millions of dollars lobbying to stay with the fossil fuels. We need to confront, reject, and shame them, describe what they’re doing, and make sure the people of Montana make the decision about what kinds of energy replace Colstrip.