Have A Voice

The Bridger Pipeline Expansion is a proposed 645-mile oil pipeline through Montana. Why does this matter?

• According to Montana.gov, Montana has been in a severe and historic multi-year stretch since 2020, and the proposed pipeline route passes directly over shallow groundwater aquifers and shallow bedrock aquifers that most Montanas use for irrigation and rural domestic supply.
• All pipelines threaten human health as they commonly leak, and give off toxic emissions.
• Investing in energy harmful to human health prevents Montana from investing in energy safe for human health.

Become a Climate Health Steward

Three quarters of Americans rate nurses as high or very high in honesty and ethics. For comparison, only a quarter of respondents rated journalists that high. (Gallup) Our patients trust us because they know we care about their health. That makes us powerful advocates for climate stewardship!

We’ve seen how successful our advocacy can be when we work together. From talking to patients about their unique climate health risks, to flying the EPA’s Air Quality Index flags or hosting our climate floor banners in your clinic, to sharing your expertise with legislators, there’s so many different ways to help protect our climate and health. Signing up for our Climate Health Stewards program gives you access to a monthly no-pressure action opportunity email, as well as a community of supportive likeminded health professionals.

Want to feel confident speaking about the climate? We have a free online course that gets into all the specifics of Montana’s particular climate challenges. You may even be able to earn CE credits!

Ways to get involved

We’ve spent years refining our threefold strategy for a healthier climate in Montana. In addition to our monthly stewards email, here are some actions that are always needed.

Climate Smarts: Because you can’t act on what you don’t know!

• Fly the EPA’s Air Quality Flags at your clinic or with a community partner, such as a school or library.
• Host our floor banner display in your waiting room. This is a great way to spark conversations with patients about what they can do to protect their health during periods of high temperatures, wildfire smoke, and other climate challenges.
• Bring our Climate Health in a Box program to your local daycare or Boys and Girls Club to teach kids about environmental health.
• We are sometimes able to provide HEPA filters to populations most affected by climate change. If you know someone who could really use a HEPA filtration unit, get in touch.

Climate Defenders: Giving generations of confident healthcare leaders the tools to fight for a healthy climate.

• Take our Moodle course to level up your understanding of Montana’s particular climate and health challenges.
• Attend (or even present at!) our conference to make connections with other healthy climate advocates from across the state.
• Teach a class, webinar, or course about climate and health to students in your field! We have plenty of experience doing this and we’d love to support you.

Climate Influencers: Making climate health front-and-center in our local decisionmaking processes.

• Tell your personal story — what was the moment that sparked your passion for a healthy climate? Montana Climate Stories is collecting moments like this in a beautiful archive and interactive map, and they need yours!
• Our annual Ride for Their Lives event in May is part of an international effort to shed light on the health challenges climate change presents. If you like to cycle, keep an eye out for sign-ups!
• We produce the show Our Planet, Our Health on the Community 7 channel in Billings. If you are a climate or health professional, we would love to have you on the show!
• Keep an eye out for opportunities to testify whenever bills affecting Montana’s climate appear. The health consequences of these issues are often under-appreciated. Our newsletter will alert you to any policymaking that could use your input!