Mitigation goes hand in hand with our resiliency work. Our mitigation efforts seek to decrease fossil fuel use and lower our overall emissions, to help avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
An easy way to remember it is: 
Mitigation avoids the unmanageable, and resiliency manages the unavoidable.

Missoula's Community Emissions

Where do Missoula's emissions comes from? According to 2019 data, the largest portion of our emissions comes from buildings (when both commercial and residential building energy use is combined), followed by transportation. You can read the full emissions report, and find previous data, at the links below.

Planning, Funding, and Measuring

All of this work has been the result of careful planning efforts. It will require the continued measurement of progress and development of innovative financing tools in order to be successful. We led the 2015 Climate Smart Community Action Plan, co-authored the 2017 Community Emissions Inventory, and have begun developing financing tools to assist this work. Our work is also informed by the 2019 Community Emissions Inventory conducted by the City of Missoula (this report was completed in 2022 using 2019 calendar-year data).
Our goal is that our community will create a framework for conducting a community wide carbon emissions inventory, establish the necessary infrastructure to complete successive inventory updates with replicable methodology, and work with each bucket to create appropriate metrics that will track the progress of mitigation and resiliency projects and initiatives.

Our Efforts

We lead and participate in several mitigation efforts in our community, which are best summarized into two categories:
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  1. Increasing clean electricity supply.
  2. Reducing demand for fossil fuels.

Visit the associated pages below to learn more about what we're up to in both categories.  And if you are looking for our carbon offset Footprint Fund head to: missoulafootprintfund.org

Increasing Clean Electricity Supply and Options

Increasing the amount of clean electricity on our grid and produced in our community is one component of our mitigation work. Efforts include:
  • Developing a road map to 100% clean electricity, with the City and County and community input
  • Helped to pass the 100% Clean Electricity Resolution 
  • Lead the 100% Clean Electricity Ad-Hoc Group 
  • Promote the installation of solar energy in our community 
  • Build community knowledge of and excitement for clean electricity through our annual Clean Energy Expo​

Reducing Demand for Fossil Fuels

In addition to increasing clean electricity supply, we also have to change the way we use energy and reduce our demand for fossil fuels. We have been leading many efforts to do so, touching on a diversity of sectors, such as:  
  • Buildings: Our Building(s) for the Future initiative aims to reduce lifecycle emissions from the community building stock.
  • Developing a new Footprint Fund to help our low income community members reduce energy and save money.
  • Transportation and Smart Growth: Changing the way we develop to promote sustainable transportation and meet our mode split goals. 
  • Energy Smart: Energy conservation efforts at home and work.
  • Electrify Missoula: Our effort to decrease fossil-fuel use in homes.
  • ​Zero Waste: We support the Zero by Fifty efforts and work closely with Home Resource, who leads these efforts.

Additional Mitigation Resources

ZERO WASTE

TRANSPORTATION

What's smart, accessible to all, and promotes health and environmental safety? Read about Sustainable Infrastructure after the Automobile Age.
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The key to fighting climate change and mortality? Walkable Cities.  ​Read more in this article from Grist. And in case you needed it, 50(!) more reasons to want more walkable streets.

How can a car-free life lead to a more experience based life? Read about a Minneapolis man's experience.