We can change the world (Oct. 2022 update)

Supporter update | 10/17/22

To our supporters, followers, members, and community: thank you! We’re so grateful for your support and engagement.

This year, we’ve met many of our supporters at virtual and in-person events, and it has been amazing to see our community grow. When Montanans speak for our families, our kids, and our communities, change happens. We're so excited to build momentum for the coming year.

Building community is key. When we're isolated with our climate guilt or fear, it's difficult to see how change could happen (See Sarah Lundquist's excellent piece on "Replacing Climate Guilt with Conversation.") Together, we can address this crisis.
As Katharine Hayhoe said at our book discussion event this fall: 

“Change didn’t begin with the King of England deciding to end slavery or the President of the United States giving women the vote or the National Party of South Africa opting to end apartheid. It began when ordinary people – people of no particular power, wealth, or fame – decided that the world could and should be different. Who were William Wilberforce, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, and all the countless others who shared and supported and fought for their visions of a better world? They were people who had the courage of their convictions, who used their voices to advocate for the systemic societal changes needed. We are the people who changed the world before: and we are the people who can change it again.”

Montana is warming faster than the global average, and many families and businesses, along with the places we love, are already being affected by prolonged drought, record flooding, wildfire and smoke. Plus, our monopoly energy company is raising rates, while doubling down on fossil fuels and ignoring more affordable and cleaner energy solutions. Montanans can’t afford to stay silent.

Our team has been turning up the volume on climate conversations across the state, offering climate communication skills events, and sharing climate stories on our Montana Climate Stories website, and in our print publication, The Changing Times. A huge highlight for us this year is that The Changing Times is now distributed in 18 communities in the region from Hamilton to Helena, and the Flathead to Butte. Anyone can submit to The Changing Times, or get involved with our climate stories project. Your story can make a difference!

In February we welcomed Dr. Cathy Whitlock, Dave Morris, and Associate Professor Nadia White for a Climate Conversations Across Differences panel discussion that was personal and relatable. In September we welcomed back climate scientist and expert climate communicator Katharine Hayhoe to discuss her book, Saving Us: A climate scientist’s case for hope and healing in a divided world. It was incredibly honest and very inspiring. We encourage everyone to watch the recorded discussion!

Over the summer, we met many of you when we canvassed for signatures on our NorthWestern Energy letter in Helena, Butte, and Missoula, and had incredible conversations with moms, dads, grandparents, energy workers, small business owners, and more. As a result, on September 23, we delivered a letter to NorthWestern Energy’s Board of Directors and leadership bearing over 1,000 signatures, asking the company to move to clean, affordable, and renewable energy. As NorthWestern Energy’s leadership begins its Integrated Resource Planning process and prepares to send lobbyists to Helena in January, we must build momentum for statewide pressure on the company to move away from fossil fuels and toward clean, renewable energy. 

To get involved with building this momentum:

  • Commit to writing a letter to the editor about this issue (it’s only 200 words!)--join our LTE campaign by sending an email to director@livableclimate.org with your name, community, and which week you plan to submit your letter. We will send you some talking points as well if you would like them.

  • SAVE THE DATE! Join the Climate Advocacy Day at the Montana State Legislature in Helena on Friday, January 20, 2023.

Speaking out together, we can address the climate crisis in Montana, and create a better tomorrow for our families.

We’ve been very grateful to receive support for our work from so many of you as individual donors and volunteers. Thank you for showing up for our shared future and supporting our work!

We are also incredibly grateful to the High Stakes Foundation, the Llewellyn Foundation, and Mike Kadas and Martha Newell at Tides Foundation, among others, for their grant support of our efforts.

Big thanks as well to our business sponsors: Bateman Building Co., Clearwater Credit Union, Keith Fitchner at Edward Jones, Good Food Store, Heritage Timber, Imagine Nation Brewing, Kantor Law PLLC, Mountain Sage Acupuncture, Onsite Energy, and Portico Real Estate.

We hope to see you this fall on one of our statewide Welcome Calls and Take Action Trainings, or the virtual Climate Conversation Skills Workshop on October 27 as we extend the conversational skills championed by Katharine Hayhoe into our everyday lives so we can build support for change.

“We are the people who changed the world before: and we are the people who can change it again.” 

Families for a Livable Climate is a network of parents, grandparents, and other caregivers working to ensure that our kids have a vibrant, secure, and healthy future. Thank you for being a part of our community to create change in Montana!

Take care,
Winona Bateman
Executive Director, Families for a Livable Climate

P.S.  SAVE THE DATE! Join us Thursday, December 15, for a FUNraiser with Revival Comedy at the ZAAC in Missoula! We're not sure how they are going to tackle climate comedy, but we know that laughter and joy are part of our livable future. We hope you will join us!

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