The Rocky Mountain Climate Organization

Our mission is spreading the word about what climate disruption can do to us here and what we can do about it. Climate disruption is not an ordinary environmental issue, and the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization is not an ordinary environmental group. Because addressing climate change will take awareness and commitment by all parts of our society, RMCO is organized to have the credibility and ability to reach out and be persuasive to people across all political, economic, and geographic spectrums in the Rocky Mountain region. First, our still-growing coalition includes unusual allies and messengers, not just usual suspects. In little over a year, our coalition has grown to include 20 partners, including seven local governments; Colorado's largest water utility; seven businesses, from a ski-resort company to a pharmaceutical company, from a supermarket chain featuring natural and organic foods to a brewery, and from a water engineering firm to a publishing company; and five non-profits, including a community hospital; Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, an association of independent farmers and ranchers in Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming; and three of the region's largest and most important conservation organizations, The Nature Conservancy of Colorado, Colorado Mountain Club, and Western Resource Advocates. This broad range of diverse interests gives us credibility that other, more conventional groups may lack. Second, we focus on the specific, local impacts that climate disruption will have in this region. RMCO was founded because our way of life in the West already is being affected by less snow, less available water, and more drought. Yet no other effort was underway to connect the dots between those developments and the future of this region. This is a special place to live, and we want to keep it that way. We are confident that others who share our love of the West will join us in working to protect our home. Third, RMCO also is unique because of the experience and savvy of our leaders. They have been elected to Congress and local office, directed federal and state agencies, and managed political campaigns in state and congressional races. We know how to broaden a base, not just preach to a choir. We operate in a non-confrontational manner, the better to build a broad consensus and bring about widespread action. We began working primarily in Colorado, and now increasingly are reaching out to work throughout the Rocky Mountain region.