Let’s lift our collective voices and stand together to protect our Montana home! Montanans are ready and the time is now for a just transition to clean energy. Join Montanans for a Livable Climate for Protect Our Home: Climate Advocacy Day in Helena, MT, on January 20th, 2023, from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. at the Montana Capitol Building rotunda — a day of climate advocacy and action, skill building, and connecting around the common cause of nurturing a resilient and healthy Montana for all. Please RSVP in the form below.
The day will include family friendly activities, a rally with speeches, information sessions, potential lobbying opportunities and time to meet with legislators. Activities will begin at 11 a.m. and we will gather for a rally in the rotunda from 12 - 1 p.m. See the schedule for more details.
Featured speakers from 12-1 p.m. include the following:
Termaine Edmo, Climate Change Coordinator, Blackfeet Tribe
Joshua Rosenau, Program Coordinator, Center for Tribal Research and Education in Ecosystem Sciences at Salish Kootenai College
Claire Charlo, Indigenous Feminisms Organizer, Indigenous Environmental Network
Anne Hedges, Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs for MEIC
Amber Shaffer, Community Organizer, All Nations Health Center
Kyle McIntyre, RepublicEN Leadership Council member
The Rt. Rev. Marty Stebbins, Bishop of Montana for the The Episcopal Diocese of Montana
Lance Four Star, Ward 4 Representative on the Wolf Point City Council, and the Director of the American Indian Caucus for the Montana State Legislature
Gwen Lankford, President/Owner of Sapphire Strategies, Inc., Climate Smart Missoula board member, and a member of the Steering Committee for the CSKT Climate Change Advisory Committee
Along with four youth speakers.
schedule of the day’s events
Our goals for the day are to foster connection and build community, support democratic engagement, influence legislators to actively support urgent climate action, and empower and inspire Montanans of all ages and backgrounds to join the movement for a livable climate for all. This day is an opportunity to tell the story of what is possible—that there are real alternatives, that we can put social and ecological well being over the accumulation of wealth and power, and that all people have dignity and worth. Through our collective imagination and participation in government, we can create a future that works for all Montanans.
We are working to arrange transportation from Missoula and Bozeman and help facilitate carpooling from other parts of the state. We will do our best to connect folks needing overnight accommodations with places to stay. A limited number of lunches will also be provided for participants.
If you’d like to carpool with others going, we have set up a carpool app for the event:
http://www.groupcarpool.com/t/c64qen - just sign in and add yourself as a driver or rider.
Sign up for transportation, accommodations, and lunch on our RSVP form below.
About Montanans for a Livable Climate:
We are a statewide coalition of organizations, individuals, and families convening under the shared goal of building a healthy, safe, equitable, and resilient home for all Montanans. We envision a future with healthy and connected communities, safe from extreme weather and pollution, with good jobs and localized, clean energy systems that work for all.
We recognize that the home we are protecting is stolen Native land, traditionally occupied and stewarded by the Sélish, Ql̓ispé, Ksanka, Niitsitapi, Annishinabe, Ne-i-yah-wahk, A’aninin, Nokado, Nakona, Lakota, Tsetsêhesêstâhase, So'taa'eo'o, Apsáalooke, Annishinabe and Métis, among others erased and unacknowledged by Western history books. Climate change and colonialism are inextricably linked. The systems and structures that fuel colonialism, extractivism, and the genocide and attempted erasure of Indigenous cultures and peoples are the same systems that created and fuel the climate crisis. We know that climate justice cannot exist without Indigenous sovereignty.
We recognize that Indigenous people have been on the frontlines of the climate crisis and are and will be disproportionately affected by climate impacts. However, they are also at the forefront in leadership and have been speaking up about protecting Earth for generations, courageously leading water protection efforts across the world, and other climate actions. We deeply respect and look to their leadership as much as possible, seek to build and maintain authentic partnerships, center their voices and narratives, and support Indigenous sovereignty and land back efforts.
Participating organizations include:
350 Montana, All Nations Health Center, Citizens’ Climate Lobby, Ecology Project International, Faith and Climate Action Montana, Families for a Livable Climate, Forward Montana, Gallatin Valley Sunrise, Indigenous Environmental Network, Montana Interfaith Power and Light, Moms Clean Air Force, Montana Sierra Club, Montana Environmental Information Center, Mountain Mamas, Park County Environmental Council, People's Food Sovereignty Program, & Red Medicine LLC