It may seem a small thing to hold a rally in Missoula, she said, but the reality is that every community has a part to play in climate change, no matter how small - and when all those communities work together, they can command change on a massive scale.
Missoula was one of more than 1,300 communities across the nation to participate in the Step It Up campaign, which aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 80 percent by 2050. A knot of about 100 people stayed through the two-hour lineup of songs, speeches and announcements, while many others just drifted through picking up literature from the Sierra Club Foundation and GlobalWarmingSolution.org.
“We have to make it happen ourselves,” said Dr. Paul Williamson of the University of Montana's Mansfield Center.
He encouraged the crowd to take the time to learn more about global warming - and to share that information with the people in power. He also advised those in attendance to make small changes in their lives that would not only reduce emissions, but also benefit themselves and their families. Eat less, he said. If less food is consumed it means less food has to be transported from place to place, reducing emissions. Exercise more, he said. Walk, bike and bus whenever you can.
Richard Opper of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality told the crowd that Montana is serious about facing the global warming challenge head-on, and reminded them that Montana has a climate change advisory council that is looking at the state's energy issues.
“This is not a partisan issue at all,” Opper said. “This is a moral issue.”
As the crowd boiled with dogs and children, Nathan Taylor and Christa Weathers claimed an unoccupied patch of lawn on which to corral their black-and-white border collie.
“We care about the issue and wanted to come out and show our support, and see what would be said,” Weathers explained.
“We plan on having children very, very soon, and it's going to be a massive issue for them,” Taylor added. “It already is now, whether people deny it or not.”
In fact, even a significant reduction in emissions by the year 2050 might be too late, Weathers said: “As American people we need to make some lifestyle changes.”
Reporter Tyler Christensen can be reached at 523-5215 or at tyler.christensen@lee.net
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