Climate Change

Friends of Two Rivers - Bonner, Milltown, Montana

Colstrip 4Outgoing NorthWestern CEO Bob Rowe gave farewell comments in his December 28, 2022, Missoulian opinion column. Rowe lauded the company’s success in building a company culture focused on providing safe and reliable service. We couldn’t agree more. NorthWestern’s people deliver high quality services. Rowe also points out that the utility’s generation resources are 60% carbon free. This is understood to be due largely to its hydropower resources and is better than the national average for utilities of 40% carbon free, as stated by Rowe. That’s all good. Unfortunately, the utility’s plan for acquiring new generation resources depends upon building new methane gas plants, such as the one now being constructed at Laurel, Montana (see below). These new plants will emit millions of tons of climate warming CO2 far into the future. Moreover, the utility seeks means of continuing to generate electricity from its coal-fired Colstrip Unit 4.

Fifth National Climate Assessment (globalchange.gov) climate change withered earth is authored by the scientists of 15 federal agencies including Commerce, Defense, Agriculture, NOAA, NASA, DHS, NSF, and 8 others. It is the US Government’s preeminent report on climate change impacts, risks, and responses. It is a congressionally mandated interagency effort that provides the scientific foundation to support informed decision-making across the United States. The Full report is available online at: https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/

The report, released in November, 2023, includes this warning:

Future climate change impacts depend on choices made today

The more the planet warms, the greater the impacts. Without rapid and deep reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions from human activities, the risks of accelerating sea level rise, intensifying extreme weather, and other harmful climate impacts will continue to grow. Each additional increment of warming is expected to lead to more damage and greater economic losses compared to previous increments of warming, while the risk of catastrophic or unforeseen consequences also increases.

Do you ever want resources to refute the climate science doubters? Here are some of the best:

NASA – Excellent reviews of the fundamental causes of climate change and the sources that comprise the “97% consensus” among the world’s climate scientists that man’s activities are the cause. http://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus/
Scientific paper by Goddard Institute for Space Studies scientists stating 350ppm CO2 as the concentration above which catastrophic climate change is likely. http://pubs.giss.nasa.gov/abs/ha00410c.html

Where are we going? Atmospheric CO2 measured at Muana Loa Observatory, Hawaii, is not only increasing but doing so at a faster rate.
March, 1958 – 315.7ppm
December, 1975 – 330.8
December, 1995 – 360.7 (29.9ppm increase in 20 yr)

December, 2015 – 401.9 (41.2ppm increase in 20 yr)

November, 2022: (44.6ppm increase in 20 yr)

November, 2023 – 422.36 (46.4ppm increase in 20 yr)

wind and solar picture Idaho Utility Spurns Coal, Pledges 100 Percent 'Clean' Energy By 2045
Bill Chappell, Montana Public Radio, March 27, 2019

Idaho Power plans to stop using coal energy and rely instead on hydroelectric, solar and wind resources, the utility says. The utility vows that 100 percent of energy will come from "clean" sources by 2045.

Here’s the link to the full story
Idaho Utility Spurns Coal, Pledges 100 Percent 'Clean' Energy By 2045 : NPR