The following fact sheet on Climate Change as it relates to our region was prepared this past spring by seven University of Nebraska-Lincoln climatologists, including the directors of the National Drought Mitigation Center and the High Plains Regional Climate Center. This unprecedented statement provides the first comprehensive overview in popular form on the dangers Climate Change poses to Nebraska’s ecosystem, economy and way of life.
compiled by: Clint Rowe, Don Wilhite, Bob Oglesby, Mike Hayes, Martha Shulski, Adam Houston and Deborah Bathke -- Climate Scientists, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Q: Who says climate change is real?
A: The basic findings of human-induced climate change have been reviewed and confirmed by the leading professional scientific societies (1) and national academies of science (2), both in the United States and around the world. Surveys and reviews of the scientific literature have repeatedly found that approximately 97% of actively publishing climate scientists adhere to the basic premise that human activities are responsible for most of the observed global warming since the middle of the 20th century.
[Oreskes 2004; Doran and Zimmerman 2009; Anderegg et al 2010]
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The first Nebraska legislative bill addressing the issue of climate change — LB 583 introduced by Senator Ken Haar — won first round approval in the Unicameral April 23. But not without an attempt by climate change deniers to kill the bill.
Unable to defeat LB 583 outright, Senators Beau McCoy and Tyson Larson did succeed in adding two amendments to weaken the legislation's intent. As the bill now reads, the state’s “Climate Assessment and Response Committee” still authorizes the group to report on the impact of climate change on Nebraska and make legislative recommendations for action.
But we don’t dare risk allowing any more amendments to LB 583 if the bill is to retain its teeth.
Read morePosted In: Environment
For the first time in Nebraska legislative history, a bill dealing with Climate Change will be discussed on the floor of the Unicameral.
TODAY the Legislature will take up debate on LB 583—Sen. Ken Haar’s priority bill to expand the powers of the state’s “Climate Assessment and Response Committee.”
The Climate Assessment and Response Committee (or CARC) was originally established in 1991, but currently has a fairly limited charge.
Read morePosted In: Environment
April 07, 2013
By James Hansen
Lincoln Journal Star
In March, the State Department gave the president cover to open a big spigot that will hitch our country to one of the dirtiest fuels on Earth for 40 years or more. The draft environmental review of the Keystone XL pipeline acknowledges tar sands are nasty stuff for the environment, but concludes that the project is OK because this oil will get to market anyway -- with or without a pipeline.
A public comment period is underway through April 22, after which the department will prepare a final statement to help the administration decide whether the pipeline is in the “national interest.” If the conclusion is yes, a Canadian company, TransCanada, gets a permit to build a pipeline to transport toxic tar sands through our heartland, connecting to refineries in the Gulf of Mexico, for likely export to China.
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The 2013 Unicameral Session will go down as the ‘Year of Clean Energy.’ A dozen substantive bills dealing with renewable energy, energy efficiency and climate change have been introduced—making this year’s legislative agenda easily the ‘greenest’ on record. For those of us seeking action on climate change, this is the opportunity we’ve been hoping for. For the first time ever at the Statehouse, we’ll get to publicly make the case for reducing our carbon footprint by building a green economy. Instead of sending our utility dollars out of state to buy dirty Wyoming coal, we can be investing in our own clean wind and solar resources, creating local wealth and jobs, and protecting the health of both ourselves and the ecosystem.
Much of the credit for this uptick of legislative interest in green energy, though, can be traced back to the reelection last November of the Legislature’s leading environmentalist: State Senator Ken Haar. During his first term, Sen. Haar led the effort to reroute the Keystone XL pipeline away from the Sandhills, championed the legislation promoting large wind farm development in the state, and engineered the passage of a ‘net-metering’ bill to encourage residential-scale renewable energy generation. Step by deliberate step, he was laying the groundwork for a comprehensive green energy agenda.
His bid for reelection though (against a well-financed right-wing opponent) was to become the fight of his political life. Over the course of a costly and physically grueling year-long campaign, Sen. Haar raised and spent more than $232,000—smashing the previous spending record for a legislative race as he tried to match his opponent’s deep pockets. (Counting the expenditures of independent political committees, upwards to $1 million may have been spent on this race for an office that pays $12,000 a year.) Despite these hitherto-unheard-of spending figures, his victory margin Election Night was so slim he had to wait a week for the provisional ballots to be counted before he knew for certain he’d won. By 85 votes. Out of a total 13,653 cast.
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