What a year so far! Among so many headlines from around the world broadcasting the impacts of climate change, our team wanted to take a moment to reflect on all of the successes this year; because we actually do have a lot to celebrate! We can and are making progress in the right direction.

Thank you for supporting our work this year and helping to make these 23 moments for celebration in 2023 possible. 

And please join us to celebrate another year of climate action at our annual Year End Celebration & famous Smarty Pants Awards, Thursday, Dec. 14. RSVP via our calendar.

23. Our inaugural Electrify Homes tour brought out 30 people, plus many more for our post-event happy hour and self-guided version.
22. We’ve responded to dozens and dozens of community inquires from those wanting to go electric, and our Electrify Missoula campaign serves as inspiration & resource locally and across Montana.

21. 110 community members turned out for our 3rd-annual Running Up for Air event, running or hiking up Mt. Sentinel to help raise over $30,000 for our Clean Air efforts. 
20. We’ve added 6 new stories of Missoulians going electric to our library on ElectrifyMissoula.org, helping share local examples to inspire others to make a positive change!
19. We participated in Missoula Climate Ride which brought together over 100 Missoulians to raise awareness and funds for local climate organizations

18. Our team attended the Held v. Montana trial in June to support the 16 youth plaintiffs fighting for the climate. We've continued to celebrate & amplify this HUGE win.
16. We Electrified our "Little House" office!  Thanks to generous donations of a used solar array + mini-split heat pump by a Missoulian and her contractor, Kevin Depuy, we're mostly off gas. Orion, with OnSite Energy, volunteered his crew to install the solar, and Pete's Electric and Anderson's Heating & Cooling discounted their services. Thanks all!
17. We're delivering a letter signed by over 175 Missoulians asking our new mayor, Andrea Davis, to prioritize and increase capacity for local climate efforts. This came after we, as a member with Common Good Missoula, ensured climate leadership was one of the commitments agreed to by both mayoral candidates. 

15. We mentored 3 University students who worked on projects that: analyzed pathways to 100% clean electricity, surveyed low-income neighbors about wildfire smoke preparedness, and used art to creatively communicate & brand our Electrify Missoula campaign.
14. We piloted five (!) clean-energy career pathway awareness workshops and are continuing to grow our dedicated Community Clean Energy Workforce Coalition!
13. We continued to prioritize equity in our work, centering equity and inclusion in our wildfire smoke, workforce coalition programming and Common Good Missoula. All of our staff have also or are now attending Common Good Missoula’s Wrestling with the Truth of Colonization training.

12. We reached 750+ Missoulians through 10 events (hosted with 9 partners) during our inaugural Climate Solutions Week in September.
11. We launched our induction stove lending program with MUD (Missoula Urban Demonstration Project) and Missoula Public Library.  You can try a single burner induction hot plate to see just how great induction works!

10. Our 5th annual Climate and Clean Energy Expo brought together 100s of community members and over 30 local organizations and businesses to build local climate momentum & engagement.
9. We added our credible voices, over and over again! We penned over 25 letters of support in support of climate action or local funding for climate smart transportation and development - to help local, state and federal government, to support UM research, to support Mountain Line, Missoula Electric Co, and so many more. And we testified at at least seven climate and energy events.
8. Wildfire Smoke Ready Week reached hundreds and our website, MontanaWildfireSmoke.org, garnered 33,000 hits this summer, continuing to serve as a vital resource for folks across our region to stay healthy during smoke season. Relatedly, via our EPA Environmental Justice grant, we worked with partner organizations on wildfire smoke education and outreach in Missoula’s most vulnerable neighborhoods.

7. We distributed over 100 HEPA air purifiers and fan/filter combinations to residents most in need of air filtration systems in their homes.
6. Abby won Missoula in Motion's competitive Commuter of the Year award! An amazing moment of leading by example.

5. We convened Climate Table Talks that brought together 80 Missoulians to share how climate impacts their lived experience in our community, and to learn about how Missoula’s current land use update process is connected to climate issues.
4. Along with Missoula County, we began the initial phases of creating an extreme Heat Action Plan for our community.

3. ​We’re officially onboarding Trees for Missoula this fall to become a program of Climate Smart Missoula and are excited about new opportunities to bolster climate resiliency efforts through a robust, healthy urban forest.
2. We relaunched our carbon offset Footprint Fund by pooling individual donations to facilitate key efficiency measures in low-income homes. Recently our funds enabled much needed insulation in three homes, via the Human Resource Council. We just sent the HRC $3,000 to help the next round of energy saving measures - from windows, to ceiling insulation, to appliance upgrades. And we have some bigger projects - like solar - in the works!

1. We welcomed 2 new team members, Shanti Devins in January and Susan Teitelman in May!
(And notice the solar on our office!)

Bonus 24, for 2024: We built climate momentum, grew hope and led with our team’s core values: resolve, curiosity, sense of humor, connection, and equity…. And we couldn’t be more excited for 2024!