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All righty. I'm here with Angie Winter and Robin Payan of the, Flathead Valley chapter of the Citizens Climate Lobby. They are the co-leaders. and they're here today to tell me about their Earth Day expo coming up. so. Yeah, thanks for being here. Oh, thanks for having us, Taylor. Yeah. So I guess maybe we could start off with, for those who aren't familiar, what is the Citizens climate lobby?

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What do you guys do? Sure. Yeah. We are a grassroots, nonprofit national organization, and we pretty much just push Congress to work on climate …

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All righty. I'm here with Angie Winter and Robin Payan of the, Flathead Valley chapter of the Citizens Climate Lobby. They are the co-leaders. and they're here today to tell me about their Earth Day expo coming up. so. Yeah, thanks for being here. Oh, thanks for having us, Taylor. Yeah. So I guess maybe we could start off with, for those who aren't familiar, what is the Citizens climate lobby?

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What do you guys do? Sure. Yeah. We are a grassroots, nonprofit national organization, and we pretty much just push Congress to work on climate solutions, especially bipartisan climate solutions. Gotcha. Could you tell me a little bit about what some of those are, some recent ones have been for sure. Yeah. Right now we're talking about the big wires act.

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So the big Wires act will enable more affordable, clean and reliable energy on our grid. So we're talking to Congress about that in Montana or actually here in the Flathead Valley. We talk to congressmen and senators Tester and Daines. So what did you guys want to do with the event this year? That's different. It seems like it's grown a lot.

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Yeah I'll start off Angie on this one. yeah. We had our first, foray into Earth Day last year. And so it really whetted our appetite to want to do more. so, yeah, we've, it was tiny, but, now we've really expanded it quite a bit, and we just couldn't have done it without our sponsors and all of the volunteers and all of the experts and organizations that have stepped up to participate.

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Yeah, yeah. So we want to give a shout out to free the seeds because they have for years had a model event at the Valley Community College. So we took that as our template. And the first thing we started with was seeking sponsorships. And we've been thrilled to get not only three platinum sponsors, which are Northstar Solar Carbon Recall and Pioneer Heating and Cooling, but also a number of other sponsors that have really made it possible to have a massive four day event.

00;02;05;02 - 00;02;29;18
It's going to be at Flathead Valley Community College in the Arts and Technology Building from 9 to 4, and we figured we need to go big or go home. So we have, 12 workshops that are planned. We have six panel discussions. We have the electric vehicle showcase that Robin's going to touch on. We have a variety of kids activities.

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So there really is something for absolutely everyone at this event. Yeah. Robin, can you tell me a little bit about the EV showcase for sure. Yes. we're pretty excited about it. So the main event is going to be in the arts and technology building, but outside on the parking lot, west of that building we're having where we've got the whole parking lot for EVs.

00;02;51;00 - 00;03;19;11
So we're going to have, both, owners of EVs and also car dealers there to, talk about going electric. but in addition to that, we're going to have, e-bikes and you can try an e-bike. there's going to be an electric boat. And the biggest, news is we're going to have the big, the big fork electric school bus, and you'll be able to tour the bus.

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And I heard they may even give a few short trips around the parking lot. Oh, cool. So that'll be a lot of fun. Can you tell me the purpose of really showcasing live? It kind of feels like where we're headed, you know. Oh, yeah. Well, we're. Yeah, we're. EVs are not the only climate solution, but that is one area that we know we can make a difference.

00;03;39;25 - 00;04;02;03
So, the technology has just changed so fast, and there's so many options now that, Yeah, we just thought we should showcase that. Yeah. It's so exciting. We have an EV bus in our area to showcase, too. That's really cool. so, yeah, let's talk a little bit about the panels you guys will have, who's going to be, doing those?

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Well, like I said, we've got six panels and and 12 workshops, so there's quite a variety. I couldn't possibly in the time that we have, highlight all of them. But I'll, I'll give you a couple of examples. And I should say that one of our goals was in keeping with our theme, we really want to focus on uniting nature and technology.

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We believe honestly that all the solutions that are going to move us forward really need both of those things to happen. And so, we're very honored that Tom McDonald, who's the vice chairman of CSC, is actually going to kick us off first thing in the morning as our keynote speaker. So we're very, very honored about that. But to give you a couple examples of, the panels in the workshop.

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So, there's one entitled Preserving Montana's Natural Beauty, Conservation and Climate. And so we have panelists from organizations such as citizens for a Better Flathead, Whitefish Lake Institute, the Yak Valley Forest Council, Glacier National Park, Whitefish Mountain Resort, and Arendt's Outdoors. And that's just one panel discussion. So if you consider that there are six of those and we've got that kind of representation, it gives you an idea of the overwhelmingly positive support we're getting from the community for this event, which is really, really exciting.

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so then to give you an example of one of the workshops, back to EVs and solutions for the future, a lot of people have questions about, well, if I want to invest in solar panels, what are some of the things that I should consider when doing that? so we're very fortunate to have a couple of our, flagship sponsors that are actually me present for that workshop, and they're going to talk about buying solar panels, heat pumps, tips on buying electric vehicles, charging in your home, all those sorts of things.

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And then a separate workshop on okay, great, I love it. I know how to do it and how I pay for it. Yeah. So there's a separate workshop on financing, which will include organizations like Flathead Electric and the Department of Environmental Quality. So lots of exciting stuff going on. So with the, workshops, is there do people need to sign up for those in advance, or is it just you walk up and join the workshop?

00;06;35;06 - 00;07;08;23
The news is it's completely free and you show up. so, one of the things that Robin's been working on very diligently is recruiting our fabulous group of CCL volunteers that are going to be there that day. And one of the first things will happen when you come through the doors of the Arts and Technology Building is you'll be greeted by someone and there'll be a general information table where we'll have the full schedule so people will know, okay, these are the things that I have to choose from and where to go to show up for whatever topic they happen to be interested in.

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So tell me what's in store for the kids? Yeah. there's a full day of activities for kids, so families bring the kids. it all kicks off with a storytime that's going to be given by. Imagine a library at 930, right after a keynote speaker with Tom McDonald. And from there, kids can go out to see the school bus and electric bikes and electric boat, or they can go up to the kids makerspace and they can work on a mural or, there's going to be a high tech sandbox there.

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Oh, cool. So I'm not sure what that all involves, but it sounds really fun. and then of course, fun projects for the kids to work on all day long. Oh, that sounds so fun. You might want to mention the passport. I do want to mention the passport. Especially because we have a fabulous surprise for everyone in the audience.

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Yeah. Oh, this is our wonderful stuff. Too far. So the way the passport will work is the kids will get it when they come into the building. And it'll have a listing of all the stations where there are kids activities. And so if the kids get at least seven stamps on their passport, they'll bring that back to the information table and be able to fill out a raffle ticket.

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And this is the grand prize that you and we'll also have, ten, $10 gifts, certificates for Sweet pigs ice cream because you get some ice cream. So that's the passport activity. It's going to be a lot of fun. Oh that's great. Who doesn't want him looking at? I.

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Hope you guys. Well, is there anything else going on at the expo you want to mention that we haven't talked about yet? yeah. I do want to mention one thing that's pretty neat. so last week, Flathead Electric, mentioned a new project that they're going to be working on. And by the way, Flathead Electric is providing us tremendous support.

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They are sponsors. Their staff is participating in workshops and panel discussions and a booth for education. So they're really participating a lot. But what I want to mention is this amazing project, it's called the Community Solar three project. It's in partnership with the City of Whitefish. And this is our future. What it is, it's a solar project, but it combines with utility scale battery storage.

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So it just enables us to have, for them to add clean, affordable and reliable energy. And that's our future. That's so awesome. Yeah, because that's some pretty new technology, right? Of the battery storage. Yeah. And it's available now. So we're already in, you know, a transition to clean energy. Yeah. Well, I find it brings me to my next question.

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There's a lot of really great educational opportunities here. What are you guys hoping that the community takes from this event? I can name a few things, and I'm sure you can submit. Yeah. yeah. I would like to say, you know, we're going to have, you're going to learn about native plants and gardening tips and, you're going to learn about it.

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Outdoor adventures, you know, hikes and river tours. you'll learn about, saving money by going electric. there's just so many things. but mostly what I hope people, take back are the many solutions that all of our organizations, that are involved are providing. so one thing we're going to do is have a couple opportunities to learn about that.

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We're having a, a workshop and poster session with the youth, and also we're having an NGO Lightning round. So if you attend those two things, you'll see what the youth projects are. Plus, you'll also get to hear, lightning fast. What all of the different the various organizations are, working on and promoting in the Valley. So you too can join, an organization.

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Yeah. That's so neat. What about you, Angie? I think for me, the response that we've had from the community gives me tremendous hope that we have a path forward. And so I'm hoping that part of what people take away from this session is exactly that hope. I think we have over 30 organizations that are tabling. We have over 50 individual people that are participating, either as a workshop presenter or as a panelist.

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And I think this is sending a message that Earth Day and the climate and this beautiful place that we live in, we all have a vested interest in this. And so we really are uniting nature, uniting technology. We're getting behind this really important issue. And so I think come on out to the event and you'll see for yourself that there's a reason to be helpful.

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Yeah. So where can people learn more. Well we do have a website. If you go to tiny url.com/earth Day Expo 2024 that goes to our website. Well ladies, thanks so much for being here today. And tell me about this. The Earth Day Expo is coming up on April 20th at the Arts and Technology Building on the Flathead Valley Community College campus, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m..

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Thanks for joining me, you guys. Thank you so much, Taylor. Thanks, Taylor. Great to see you.