Climate Solutions Group to plan Climate Week

If you’ve been looking for a way to get involved with climate change solutions on campus, consider the Climate Solutions Group (CSG), managed by a class in the political science department. 

PSCI 492 is a three-credit independent study class that facilitates the opportunity for faculty, staff and students to discuss sustainability and climate change. They do all of this while brainstorming possible improvements to MSU’s campus.

“We created this group because we felt that MSU was simply not doing enough to engage on this critical issue of climate change,” political science professor and one of the professors that teaches the class Paul Lachapelle said. Across campus, there are no departments or faculty positions with the word “climate” in them, and few classes specific to climate change are taught, he said.

“As a faculty member, I feel it’s a disservice to our students to not engage on the most critical issue facing humanity,” Lachapelle said. “It’s incumbent on us as faculty, who are tenured members of the academy, to insist that we apply the best available science not just in the classroom but also in the day-to-day operations of our campus.”

The CSG would specifically like to see MSU decarbonize its heating system and upgrade university vehicles that currently run on fossil fuels to more sustainable options, Lachapelle said.

Currently, the CSG is planning Climate Week, which will take place from Oct. 30 - Nov. 3. The week presents a variety of events, from informative panels and lectures to a concert dedicated to climate change. That Thursday, Nov. 2, will also feature the premier of the student-filmed movie “Time is Now to Save the Pow,” by MSU political science student and CSG member Kaelyn Kroeger.

The film focuses on climate change’s effect on Bozeman and the state of Montana through a skier’s lens, involving skiers and environmental patrons alike, Kroeger said. “Because the existence of powder days at Bridger Bowl is incumbent on the climate, in other words climate change is happening, it’s affecting our snowpack,” Kroeger said.

The CSG meets every Wednesday from 5:30-7:00 p.m. in Norm Asbjornson Hall 329 and is open to all students even if they’re not enrolled in the class. 

After Climate Week wraps up, the group will be focusing on drafting and eventually presenting a resolution to be brought before ASMSU and the faculty senate demanding climate-related improvements to campus, Lachapelle said. “We want to provide students with an opportunity to use our campus as a learning lab,” he said. “We have so much potential here to learn.”

To learn more about the CSG, visit https://www.montana.edu/communitydevelopment/climatesolutionsgroup/. For a complete list of Climate Week’s events, visit https://www.montana.edu/communitydevelopment/climateweek.html.