Document outlines changes moving forward for transition to clean energy, mitigation

The Whitefish Climate Action Plan looks at where the community is now and suggests where it should be headed in terms of mitigating for the future regarding climate change.

As the plan says, it “establishes the foundation for Whitefish to make the transition to a clean energy economy and improve local resilience to climate change impacts.”

Steve Thompson, coordinator of the plan, says climate change is more evident than ever before as the last four years have recorded a higher global temperature and the impacts of that are playing out in ways that are becoming more obvious.

“Maybe 20 years ago we could have done something to stop this, but now it’s already happening,” he said. “We need to do our part as individuals, as a city, as a nation and globally. If everybody does our part we can avoid the worst impacts before it’s too late.”

City Council in late 2016 established the Climate Action Plan Committee. The volunteer committee worked with nonprofit Climate Smart Glacier Country to develop the Climate Action Plan, which was released to the public last month. The plan and committee recommendations were presented to the Whitefish City Council during a work session last week, and Council is set hold a public hearing on April 16 to consider a resolution for approval of the plan.

The Montana Climate Assessment released last year found an increase in annual average temperate of 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit and a 3.77 inches decrease in annual precipitation for the state from 1950 to 2015.

In the executive summary of the Whitefish plan, it notes that here “residents will experience impacts to our health, our infrastructure, and our favorite recreational activities, such as skiing, hiking, and fishing” but Whitefish can minimize negative effects and create new opportunities by looking ahead and taking action.

The plan focuses mainly on city municipal operations and Whitefish School District operations, though it does encourage partnerships and personal action by residents and visitors to support the community’s transition to a clean energy economy.

Thompson said that while some climate action plans look at creating goals for individuals and the larger community, the committee, made up entirely of volunteers, chose to keep its focus on the city and school district largely to keep the scope of work manageable.

“The city is saying we need to do our part in terms of emissions and here’s what we can do,” he said. “That’s a small piece in the larger global climate, but it’s what affects us locally and we can deal with preparation and adaptation for that.”

Thompson said that it’s unusual to have a school district be part of a climate action plan, but for Whitefish’s plan having an entire chapter focus on the schools is an important piece. He points to the school district’s Center for Sustainability and Entrepreneurship as a prime example of why the school district plays a key role in the plan, and notes that the center when completed is planned to become a center of learning for K-12 students, but also the community.

“The school district is part of the increasing theme of showing or resilience and our capacity as a community to roll with unexpected change,” he said. “The center will provide the skill sets necessary for students to know about energy systems and local food. It will help us all be more self sufficient.”

The two fundamental goals of the plan include reducing emissions, and learn and prepare.

“This is about the energy equation, but it’s also about preparing for climate change,” Thompson said.

The city of Whitefish committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 26 percent by 2025. To contribute to this goal, the plan says Whitefish should become carbon neutral by 2050 by ending reliance on fossil fuels and increasing carbon storage.

Councilor Richard Hildner, who served on the committee, said the plan has to be active.

“This is a call to action,” he said. “This is exactly what we’re going to have to do to meet our goals.”

According to the city’s 2016 inventory of energy use and emissions, the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions is the city’s water and wastewater treatment plants, followed by buildings, transportation and streetlights. The climate action plan committee has identified four energy-savings actions as top priorities — change all streetlights to LED bulbs, upgrade energy efficiency at the Emergency Services Center, improve gas mileage of the city’s vehicle fleet and transition to electric vehicles and construct a solar farm at the new wastewater treatment plant.

Hildner noted that the plan “has started to pay off” as the city has already begun switching its street lights to LED and is looking into improvements to the ESC building.

The city’s new mechanical wastewater plant, planned for completion in 2021 as required to meet stricter state water quality standards, will require 2.5 times more energy than the current system thus increasing the city’s greenhouse emissions significantly. So generating new solar power at the wastewater plant is an especially important strategy, the plan notes, as that single action will determine whether the city’s emissions increase or decrease from 2016 levels. The committee identified no scenario without the solar farm where the city can reduce its emissions enough to meet its 2025 goal.

According to a feasibility study, the solar farm would save the city money in the long run, but the initial cost is estimated at up to $4.5 million. The plan suggests that the city may need to work with Flathead Electric Cooperative through a power purchase agreement or partner with a private business to finance the solar farm.

“That’s really our biggest bang for our buck,” Thompson said. “We can save money and also reduce emissions.”

The committee suggests the city complete a master plan for its 88 acres at the wastewater treatment investigating a number of options for the site in addition to the solar farm, including a tree nursery, compost and affordable housing.

Hildner says the property may be able to accommodate a lot of ideas for it.

“Hopefully Council can make that a primary goal to create a site plan,” he said.

To reduce its carbon footprint, the school district plans to improve energy efficiency in buildings, implement water-conserving irrigation, reduce consumption and waste, and cut emissions related to school transportation, according to the plan.

On the goal of learning and preparing, the plan notes at the city seeks to prepare and adapt to the likely effects of climate change, such as longer and more severe wildfire seasons, and to strengthen community resilience to respond to unexpected disruptions.

It presents key priorities to prepare for change, such as becoming a fire-adapted community, maximizing cost savings by conserving water and reducing capacity demands on the wastewater treatment plan, increasing local food production to respond to the fact that food may become harder to obtain from areas that could see even greater impacts from climate change, supporting more public transit options and strengthening partnerships between businesses, local groups and other government entities.

Thompson said the top recommendation that Whitefish become a fire-adapted community came out of the need to protect the city against the potential for more severe wildfire seasons as a result of hotter, drier summers. He notes that homes inside the city limits could be vulnerable to fire as well.

“This is a place where the city can play a role,” he said. “The city can work to create a system of shaded fuel breaks around Whitefish — we can have a whole system with the city and county working together to make the best place where we could make a stand if there is a wildfire. Neighborhoods and homeowners can work to create defensible space around homes.”

The second priority is to conserve water. He noted that the city has done work already to repair leaks in watermains, but doing more to conserve water will be important. The city currently draws most of its water from Haskill Basin, but during high demand periods it draws water from Whitefish Lake, which it has noted is more expensive to treat.

“We can’t take our water for granted,” Thompson said. “Water is more valuable than we think.”

The plan is organized into six chapters that outline 94 specific actions to implement 26 strategies.

To keep work going on issues related to climate change, the plan recommends creating a city standing Sustainability Committee and creation of a city staff position focused on energy efficiency and risk management.

The goal is to celebrate the final plan at the April 21 Earth Day celebration, which is set to be held at the Whitefish School District’s new Center for Sustainability and Entrepreneurship adjacent to Whitefish High School. Several events are planned from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.