By PAUL HAMMEL
Nebraska Examiner
LINCOLN — It’s been eight years since the state last produced a report on climate change, a report that predicted adverse effects ahead for the state’s largest industry, agriculture.
Several environmental groups, as well as the state climatologist and one farm group, are now calling on state legislators to update the 2014 “Understanding and Assessing Climate Change” study produced by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Legislative Bill 1255 seeks $150,000 in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to update the climate study, which proponents maintain would better prepare the state for the wilder swings in weather and precipitation experienced in recent years.
'Extreme weather events’
“The number of annual extreme weather events facing our nation is increasing, and it’s costing us billions of dollars every year,” State Sen. Eliot Bostar of Lincoln told the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee on March 3.
According to the National Centers for Environmental Information, the damages caused by extreme weather events have more than doubled in recent years, from about $7.4 billion a year to $17.2 billion a year since 2017.
Martha Shulski, the state climatologist, said that just like tracking drought and spring flooding, the state needs a “science-based, trusted voice” to look at what’s ahead in terms of changing climate and how to plan for it.
“At this point, tracking weather trends is not a choice, it’s a must,” said Shulski, who emphasized that she was testifying as an individual, not on behalf of UNL.
LB 1255 would require a report from UNL’s Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources by December 2024.
The bill would also allow the hiring of a “science-based” consultant to recommend how the state should respond to the coming changes. The measure makes no mention of studying whether climate changes are human-caused or not.
Helps other ARPA projects
Bostar said the bill would also provide necessary climate-impact information for the state to use ARPA for water projects.
Several environmental groups testified in favor of the bill, including Audubon Nebraska, the Sierra Club of Nebraska, the Nature Conservancy and Nebraska Interfaith Power & Light.
Kristal Stoner of Audubon Nebraska told members of the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee that this state was falling behind.
Stoner said 34 other states have a climate action plan or are in the process of developing one, citing the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions.
Cost is ‘cheap’
Stoner said that “$150,000 is cheap compared to the implications of inaction.”
John Hansen of Nebraska Farmers Union also spoke in favor of the bill. He said the state’s farmers and ranchers have a vested interest in preparing “for a changing future that has already arrived.”
No one testified against the bill. The funding is included in the ARPA budget developed by the Appropriations Committee.