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Climate Awareness Project

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The Trump administration has slashed subsidies for renewable energy and added incentives for fossil fuel development. Perhaps less well known is the administration’s move to end federal government support for climate information and research. Through executive branch
action, the administration has:

  • Dismantled Leading Research Programs – plans to shut down the National Center for Atmospheric Research Center in Boulder, Colorado and end the collection of greenhouse gas emission data at the Maua Lau Observatory
  • Deleted and Restricted Data Access – e.g. “Billions Dollar Disaster” data set of climate change induced disasters is no longer available
  • Censored and engaged in "Language Policing” – terms like “climate change” and “human caused” have been deleted from government websites
  • Cut Scientific Staff – Hundreds of scientists working on climate at Dept of Energy (DOE), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin., NASA and the EPA have been fired
  • Targeted the National Climate Assessment – ended work and dismissed staff working on the 6th National Climate Assessment
  • Replaced Science with Contradictory Reports – DOE released a report by climate skeptics challenging key facts about climate change
  • Canceled Research Grants – 100 National Science Foundation grants on climate change have been eliminated
  • Ended International Cooperation – pulled out of the Paris Climate Accords

It’s apparent that we can no longer count on the federal government to provide the public with truthful information on climate change, at least with the current administration.

In December of 2025, BCAG started a project to highlight important climate information to local government. Board member, John Schneeberger, sent information to the Hamilton City Council, the Ravalli County Commission, and the Darby Town Council on the climate induced lengthening of the fire season.  He gave a top line summary of the findings from a Forest Service scientific paper during the public comment period of each meeting. BCAG plans to do this on a regular basis.

The goal of this project is to provide critical human-caused climate change research to opinion leaders in our community. Key features of this project are to:

  • Provide a brief summary of the research at public meetings so as not to rely on office holders reading the information
  •  Regularly expose office holders and key opinion leaders to climate change facts and update them on new information on the crisis
  • Provide authoritative information to counter the silence from federal government and counteract misinformation.

The notion that you can’t change minds through facts and figures has become conventional wisdom in climate activist circles. In the Bitterroot Valley, assuming that accurate climate information is widely available is misguided. Our community is predominantly conservative and relies on media sources that are at best skeptical about human caused climate change. Trying to convince residents of the need for action on climate in a community with a dearth of accurate information is not possible. This project is BCAG’s attempt to address this problem.

If you would like to help with this project, please contact John Schneeberger.