Jack Stucky enjoys hunting, fishing, horses and just about any activity you can do outside – short of climbing rocks – “and I would do that when I was younger,” he said.
He grew up on farms and ranches and has been involved in mechanics and other automotive jobs throughout his career. Stucky is now the Vehicle Maintenance Superintendent for the City of Missoula, and is responsible for the fleet of city vehicles from police cars to street sweepers.
He has a deep voice and a friendly demeanor.
Although fuel plays a large part of maintaining his city vehicle fleet, Stucky calls fossil fuels “archaic.” His work influences many of his decisions as fleet superintendent, and has made an impact on the city as a whole.
“Eventually we are going to run out of fossil fuel, and we are going to be forced to do something, so why not do it ahead of time?” Stucky asked.
This "man's man" has a soft spot for energy use.
Stucky helped reduce the amount of gallons of unleaded gas used by city vehicles by almost 12 percent in 2010. At one point he was also able to cut his fleet of vehicles from from 425 to about 320 vehicles by taking out poor mileage, poor performing vehicles.
“We tried to take the vehicles that were more efficient in their given role and use those more and take the less efficient out of the fleet,” Stucky said.
During the past five years, the vehicle superintendent has also played a major role in reducing energy use, including electricity and natural gas, in city buildings.
“In this building alone, we reduced the annual output by 18,000 kilowatt hours just by changing the lights,” Stucky said.
The payback for the retrofitting was originally estimated to take eight years, but turned out to be just four.
“There is no private or public sector business that shouldn't participate economically in that,” he said.
Missoula Public Works Director Steve King has worked with Stucky for close to two-decades. King said a lot of Stucky's work flies under the radar as far as the public is concerned, but his work is instrumental to the city as an organization.
“He will make the financial case and the energy case simultaneously - a two for one,” King said. “He looks for leveraging with limited city resources and the most benefit for the dollar.”
Part of what makes Stucky successful is that he has “built into him a community spirit, that is very suttle,” his boss said. “He's not a flag waving type of guy but he wants us to do the right thing with what we've got.”
Stucky's personal investment to reducing emissions comes from a belief in efficiency and clean energy.
“I think that fossil fuels are archaic. I think there are better fuels out there.”
The vehicle superintendent is a supporter of electric automobiles and has big hopes technical advances in hydrogen power.
“It would be wonderful to have a city full of vehicles that had no exhaust. Especially in Montana, where we like clear blue skies and fresh air.”
The native Montanan is afraid current trends are pointing in the wrong direction.
“I go to Los Angeles and I think, 'This is awful, how could people live like this?' But I see it the trends starting to come. I don't think we can continue to grow at the rate we are,” Stucky said.
The proud local would like future generations to grow up in the Montana he did.
“When I grew up it was a pristine state, and it still is compared to others, but I would like to keep it that way for my kids.”
And although he is proud of the legacy of the Big Sky Country, and all of the perks that come with it, Stucky also recognizes that some traditional “Montanan” ways of thinking have got to change.
Statistics echoe Stucky's woes. In 2007, the Montana Climate Change Advisory found that our state has 60 percent higher per capita greenhouse emissions than the rest of the country.
The train of thought needs to veer away from fossil fuels, and move toward the development of alternative energy, Stucky said. Another worry is the reliance on big, fuel-sucking vehicles.
“Montana is terribly pro-pickup truck - with one person driving,” he said.
Although it's slow, Stucky does see change happening.
“The next-generation is getting better. It's a challenge, but we are changing a train of thought that is an icon in Montana,” he said.
The city worker has frequently stood before the city council to make suggestions about how to improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
As he's matured, he's changed the way gets people to rally behind him.
“As a younger person, I used to try to make them do things. Now as a older person, I try to make them think it's their idea,” he said with a laugh.
Although he has the support of many council members and peers at the city, budget woes are a constant struggle in enacting change.
“Resources are a challenge in every site and every part of our fleet. Ironically, it costs money to save money. It costs money to reduce emissions - and that's a big challenge,” Stucky said.
No matter what amount of resources, Stucky said he will continue to make improvements to his fleet and to other parts of city operations.
“We've done a lot with the fleet but there is a lot more we could do, and a lot of our buildings are really old and not as efficient as they could be,” he said. “I think the city is an example. We certainly are the focus when we are not doing something. We are an entity that the public looks too, and if they see us doing something clean, I think it can be used as guidance.”
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