12 | City of Missoula solutions,” says Mayor Engen. “The Clark Fork River is a good example of how we’ve reformed. The Clark Fork River today is a place where people gather to have picnics with their families, or to go fish, or just to enjoy being outdoors... it has been a great success.” SUSTAINING SUCCESS There is much more that speaks to successful sustainability practices in Missoula. Investment in municipal infrastructure now helps the city ensure its sewer and storm water discharge is as temperate as possible. Mayor Engen’s office has also built upon work underway before he was elected, helping to advance the goals of community coalitions striving to find solutions to mitigate the impact of climate change. As he explains, “We had to acknowledge climate change was real ... and we assembled a group of concerned citizens to help us determine what we could do today to make a difference tomorrow.” Those deliberations have since resulted in beneficial differences for a number of lives, says City of Missoula Energy Conservation Coordinator Chase Jones. For example, through the auspices of the federal Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program, Missoula created a program called “Green Blocks.” The program prospered through a part-
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