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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%;margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">On Earth Day, this Friday, April 22, 350 Montana is calling climate
and clean energy activists to Helena for a noon rally<b> </b>in Hill Park, </span><span class="gmail-d2edcug0"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">on
the corner of North Park and Neill Avenues, </span></span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">to demand an end to federal fossil
fuel financing. <br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%;margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%;margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">We will march to the Helena branch of the Federal Reserve Bank at 100 Neill Avenue.<br><span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%;margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span> </span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%;margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">“Greenhouse gas emissions were the highest on record in
2021, and, not surprisingly, so were global temperatures,” said Jeff Smith,
co-chair of 350 Montana. “The world’s scientists are imploring us to
substantially reduce emissions if we want to limit rising temperatures to 1.5
C. We have a rapidly closing window of only 10 years. It’s time to transition
to clean energy.”<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%;margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%;margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Energy from wind and solar backed by modern storage
technologies is </span><a href="https://www.350montana.org/2021/05/27/the-cleanest-energy-is-also-the-cheapest-energy/" style="color:blue;text-decoration:underline"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">cleaner and cheaper than fossil
fuels</span></a><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">. Developing
Montana’s vast wind and solar resources promises to revitalize rural Montana
towns, with some </span><a href="https://rmi.org/insight/seeds-of-opportunity/" style="color:blue;text-decoration:underline"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">economists predicting a new “cash
crop” that could exceed a $60 billion</span></a><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> investment by 2030.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%;margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%;margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">At the same time, Montanans are standing up in every public
meeting involving the future of our energy system and demanding clean energy,
whether it’s in front of the Public Service Commission in Helena or at a Yellowstone
County Commissioners’ meeting to permit a high-pressure methane pipeline. <span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%;margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%;margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Yet, in the past two years, the Federal Reserve Bank has
pumped $2 trillion into the U.S. fossil fuel industry. The Fed, in other words,
is funding the climate crisis.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%;margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%;margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Meanwhile, </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/15/business/economy/senate-republicans-vote-fed-nominees.html" style="color:blue;text-decoration:underline"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Montana Senator Steve Daines and his
Republican colleagues refuse to even show up to do their job</span></a><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> in the Senate Banking Committee where
a whole slate of new bank directors would adjust the direction of federal
financing and add climate costs to the Bank's decision-making. <span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%;margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%;margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The Helena rally is part of a nationwide Earth Day
initiative at the 24 branches of the Federal Reserve Bank. <br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%;margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%;margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Call 406-880-8320 to reserve a seat in the carpool leaving at 9am from Sacajawea Park in Missoula. We'll return by 4pm.<br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%;margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span></span></span></p>
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