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The following article has been sent to you by [EMAIL PROTECTED] The sender writes: Minnesota cares, Wisconsin doesn't. ------------------------------------------------------------ Minnesota Lawmakers to Vote on Climate Legislation; Wisconsin Lawmakers Remaining Complacent About Global Warming ------------------------------------------------------------ Monday, 08 March 2004 by Michael Neuman Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Summary: Minnesota lawmakers appear to be more concerned about the potential for devastating climate warming than Wisconsin's lawmakers. While Minnesota's lawmakers are taking on what scientists now commonly refer to as the greatest environmental problem for humanity, ever - the warming climate - Wisconsin's state Legislature is debating the issue of same sex marriage. Oh how things have changed in Wisconsin since the glory years of the 1970s and 1980s. The State of Wisconsin use to be viewed as an innovative state that drafted top notch environmental protection policies and programs first. Other states would then model their environmental laws after Wisconsin's. Not so anymore. While Minnesota is taking up greenhouse gas reduction legislation this week, Wisconsin is spending its last week of lawmaking time debating a same-sex marriage prohibition that reportedly is redundant with what Wisconsin already has on the books. Meanwhile, Minnesota lawmakers have drafted and will be voting on a climate protection bill (S.F. 2580), which requires the State of Minnesota to develop a Plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions from the state's electric generation facilities, and the state's transportation, industrial, commercial and residential sectors. The bill requires that the Minnesota Commissioner of Commerce, with input from other Minnesota state agencies, must develop and propose a "climate action plan" (CAP) which does the following: * proposes greenhouse gas reduction goals, a list of alternative cost-effective ways to achieve those goals, and recommend specific actions necessary to meet the goals, for each of the energy, transportation, industrial, commercial, institutional, and residential sectors; * allows for a regional cap and trade program involving emissions from sources in neighboring states; and * allows sustainably managed forestry, agricultural, and other natural resource activities to be used to sequester greenhouse gas emissions. The Commissioner of Commerce is required to submit the plan to Minnesota's Environmental Quality Board, and to the state Legislature, by December 1, 2004. The bill cites a report published by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and The Ecological Society of America (ESA) in 2003, called "Confronting Climate Change in the Great Lakes Region, Impacts on Our Communities and Ecosystems", which predicts Minnesota's air temperatures will rise 7-16 degrees Fahrenheit (F) in summer, 6-10 degrees (F) in the winter -- on top of already recorded increases in temperatures of slightly over 1 degree F. that occurred during the last century. The report addresses Wisconsin's climate as well; the Union of Concerned Scientists released the report at the State Capital back in April 2003. However, as Wisconsin's legislative session draws to a close this week, no legislation is up for debate or enactment in Wisconsin despite Wisconsin's risks from climate change caused by global warming and rising greenhouse gases being comparable to Minnesota's overall risks. The UCS and ESA predict the following temperature and climatic changes will affect living in Wisconsin before the end of the current century if major mitigating actions to reduce greenhouse gas accumulations in the atmosphere are not instituted soon (very soon): * Average temperatures will rise 5-20 degrees F in summer, 5-12 degrees F in winter above present average temperature levels. * The number of days and nights of extreme heat and humidity will continue to increase in number each year, causing more days of dangerous health conditions for the population and increased likelihood of damages to roads and buildings, which might be sensitive to extremely high temperatures. * There is likely to be an increasing number of "hot" days (30 or more days above 90 degrees temperature), which will reduce the number of days during which outdoor recreational activities can be safely performed. This could adversely impact resident population living and recreational tourism during those days. * There is likely to be an increasing number of "extreme heat days" (exceeding 97 degrees F). By 2080, Wisconsin may experience up to 20 such days, annually, which will require improved warming systems and preparation to avoid heat stroke and death. * Higher temperatures and more electricity generation for air conditioning increase the formation of ground-level ozone, which is likely to exacerbate asthma and other respiratory diseases in the population. * There will be an increased risk of vector-borne diseases which thrive under higher heat conditions and which currently die off in winter. * Warmer conditions and lower water levels on most Wisconsin lakes and streams will result in increases in risk from toxic algae blooms and other aquatic organisms, which will adversely affect the state's recreation and tourism industry and the recreational use of water bodies by residents. * Increasing surface water temperatures on many Wisconsin lakes and streams, in combination with increased algae blooms, may lead to oxygen depleted "dead zones" and changes in aquatic food webs, species, and productivity, adversely impacting recreation and commercial fisheries. Cold-water species such as lake trout, brook trout, and whitefish may decline in numbers or be eliminated entirely from Wisconsin waters. * There will be increasing evaporation, fewer periods of rain, and loss of soil moisture, all three of which will adversely impact farming and cropland productivity, potentially devastating Wisconsin agricultural economy. * Increasing heat and evaporation will cause lake and stream levels to drop, less rain infiltration and reduced groundwater recharge. * Lower lake levels will affect recreation boating, hydropower generation, and shipping, requiring more dredging and the need to reconstruct shore facilities and water intake structures. * Increased evaporation will shrink wetland habitat and many wetlands could dry up permanently. * Downpours will become more extreme when it does rain, and they will cause more severe and intense flooding, likely to cause increased financial damage and the risk of loss of life. * Warmer winters will inflict more losses on Wisconsin's winter tourism industry, which has already seen economic losses due to shorter winters, shorter periods of ice coverage on lakes and streams, and reductions in snowmobile popularity and use. Festivals centered around the existence of solid lake ice and sufficient snow cover in winter, such as Madison's "Kites on Ice" Festival and the American Birkebeiner may eventually become victims to a warmer and more humid Wisconsin climate. * The threat of wildfires is likely to increase with the warmer and dryer Wisconsin climate in the spring, summer and fall of the year, changing the forest composition, affecting bird and mammal species alike and further jeopardizing the recreation and timber industries. Despite the Union of Concerned Scientists having news released their Great Lakes report under the dome of the Wisconsin state capital building last spring, the Wisconsin Legislature has not produced any form of policy statement or direction to the state's leading environmental and other state agencies having an influence over the amount of greenhouse gases emitted from Wisconsin (such as the Department's of Transpiration, Commerce and the Public Service Commission). Minnesota legislatures have used the report, authored by 10 experts from major universities in the Great Lakes region (including two from Wisconsin), and appear to be ready to take some action using it. The bill proposes a regional cap and trade program that the UCS says "could potentially initiate a much needed conversation among states in the Great Lakes region on climate change". Such a coordinated multi-state effort would also stand in stark contrast to the lack of a mandatory policy at the federal level to reduce emissions of heat-trapping gases from the U.S., UCS said in a recent e-mail message to its Minnesota membership. The Minnesota bill finds the increasing accumulations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to be "a significant risk to Minnesota's natural resources and natural resource-based industries", and it warns that Minnesota is "especially vulnerable" to a warming climate, which it expects would cause the following: (1) harm to forests, forestry, and woodland species, including potential loss of Minnesota's northern boreal forest; (2) harm to lake water quality, fisheries, water recreation, and water supply, including potential loss of habitat for cold-water species of fish in southern and central Minnesota; (3) new problems associated with floodplain management and flood control as severe storms become more frequent; (4) diminishment of recreational resources, including winter season recreation, hunting, and birding; (5) reduction in tourism; (6) harm to agriculture, particularly with potential migration of additional pest species and crop diseases into Minnesota, and with potential for less water being available during growing seasons; and (7) increased pollution, leading to public health problems, including problems for people with asthma and other respiratory diseases. <http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/cgi-bin/getbill.pl?version=latest&session=ls83&number=S258> The legislation calls on the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to: "promptly report any actions they take or permit which would reasonably be expected to increase the emission of greenhouse gases from sources in the state". "Greenhouse gases" are defined to include: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride (same as U.S. EPA's listed greenhouse gases). The Union of Concerned Scientists has issued reports on confronting climate change in other regions of the U.S. as well, including the gulf coast (Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas) and in the State of California. Their Great Lakes report is available through their Internet web site. http://www.ucsusa.org/greatlakes Madison IMC: http://madison.indymedia.org/ _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies
