Global warming comes to the capitol
Explorer Will Steger, Dr. David Tilman, Dr. Lee Frelich, and Dr. Lucinda Johnson made a joint presentation at the Minnesota State Capitol today, in what was billed as an “historic presentation on Global Warming.”
Speaker of the House Margaret Kelliher began the joint sesion of four House committees (Environment and Natural Resources Finance Division, Environment and Natural Resources Policy Division, Energy Finance and Policy Division, Transportation Finance Division) and four Senate committees (Energy, Utilities, Technology and Communications; Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Budget Division; Environment and Natural Resources Committee; Transportation Budget and Policy Division) by stating that “global warming is a major concern that deserves our attention.” The gathering was the largest joint hearing in legislative history, and the first to be held in the capitol’s main chambers.
Polar explorer and “home-grown hero,” Will Steger, who will be launching an expedition to Baffin Island on February 14th, was the first presenter, and set the stage by emphasizing the global implications of environmental change, and delivering his first-hand observations and experience of the effects of global warming while traversing the arctic.
Dr. David Tilman, Regents’ Professor of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior at the University of Minnesota, who’s work we have discussed at length here, urged immediate action by utilizing multiple “existing technologies that can stabilize the climate,” including conservation, biomass, wind energy, solar energy, nuclear energy, and reforestation.
Stating that multiple approaches will be needed, Tillman declared that “in Minnesota, renewable energy and carbon sequestration is the most we can do right now.” His final words to the legislature were direct and to the point: “delay is unwise, and unethical.”
Dr. Lucinda Johnson of the University of Minnesota Natural Resources Research Institute in Duluth, spoke about the impact on Minnesota lakes and fish. Predicting a 6-10 degree increase in winter temperature, and 10-16 degree summer increase by the end of the century, Dr. Johnson noted that “these changes will not occur in a vacuum and will be superimposed upon existing problems.” For example, warmer summer temperatures could result in 75% loss of cold-water habitat and a decimation of trout populations, while walleye populations could increase because they breed in warm-water habitats. She stated the ecological impact could be devastating and cautioned that the complexities of climate change should not deter action.
Dr. Lee Frelich, University of Minnesota Forest Ecologist, warned that Minnesota’s forests are changing and are threatened by warming temperatures. Predicting that a warmer climate means that balsam fir, black spruce, white spruce, red pine and jack pine are endangered, while new species, priorly unknown in Minnesota’s climate, could take their place. “A borreal forest could possibly become an “oak savanna,” and the forests now found in Minnesota’s Arrowhead region may only be found on the northern tip of Lake Winnipeg.
Dr. Frelich discussed at length the impact warmer temperatures, including multiple varieties of insect infestations, high deer populations and increased wind storms, which would all compound the effects of global warming. He also noted that current tempuratures are in line with predictions of environmental scientists of the 1980′s and early twentieth century.
In a question-and-answer session after the presentations, Dr. Tilman was asked about the top three things to be done immediately. His response was to try to make ethanol green-house neutral by using biomass to fuel ethanol plants, energy conservation, and better land management to sequester carbon.
Dr. Johnson echoed his sentiments about conservation, acknowledging it as the cheapest and easiest measure to implement. She also mentioned increasing gas mileage standards, and setting real time-lines for cutting greenhouse emissions.