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Article: Scientists issue climate warning
Some 138 scientists at 27 Iowa colleges and universities called on Monday for the state to fight climate change before another drought or flood arrives, but it appears unlikely to gain immediate traction among state lawmakers.
Sen. Rob Hogg, a Cedar Rapids Democrat, said utilities have fought many of the 54 suggestions made in 2008 by a state climate change panel, many of which would pay for themselves after a few years. He has authored dozens of climate-related bills, most of which have gone nowhere.
“The utilities are resisting this and that barrier is front and center,” said Hogg, a member of the panel. Among the ideas that encountered resistance were better energy efficiency programs and a move away from coal, Hogg added.
Alliant Energy spokesman Justin Foss said utilities aren’t opposed to climate-change initiatives in general. But they are opposed to spending large sums to meet regulatory demands if the rules are subject to change a short time later. That affects what customers pay for electricity, he said.
“We aren’t against it,” Foss said. “We just want a concrete plan we can follow to manage customer costs.”
The state could start by doubling the share of wind-generated electricity from 20 percent to 40 percent; making biofuels from grasses and other nonfood crops; and improving energy efficiency programs, said Jerald Schnoor, co-director of the Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research at the University of Iowa.
The university scientists said at a Monday news conference that this year’s severe drought is consistent with climate change theory predicting harsher weather as the atmosphere warms. So was Hurricane Sandy.
“In a warmer climate, wet years get wetter and dry years get dryer,” said Chris Anderson, a research assistant professor at Iowa State University’s climate science program. “And dry years get hotter. That is precisely what happened this year.”
David Courard-Hauri, who leads Drake University’s environmental science and policy program, said the evidence that climate change is real and costly is more clear than ever. That is one reason the Iowa scientists signed a statement similar to one a year ago that drew just 44 signatures.
“The climate science suggests this type of weather is going to become much more frequent,” Courard-Hauri said.
“Iowans are living with climate change now and it is already costing us money,” particularly in storm damage and erosion, he added.
ISU’s Anderson noted that Iowa has more rain than it did 30 years ago, and it tends to come in bigger dumps. That increases the odds of severe erosion and floods.
Hogg said 14 natural disasters caused $52 billion in damage last year, and hurricanes Irene and Sandy and the wide-ranging drought together will exceed that this year.
It would be cheaper for Iowa to fight climate change now than react to a disaster later, Hogg said. And with the state’s savings account sitting at $1 billion, now is the time.
“The Legislature can’t say we don’t have the money because we do,” Hogg said.
Hogg said the state has made some progress, including passing legislation that increased the wind energy production credit.
Courard-Hauri said the state needs to look past the false contention that doing something about climate change would cost jobs. “We don’t face a choice between our economy and the planet,” he said. “The choice is doing something now or paying later.”
Source: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012311200042&nclick_check=1
2012-11-21 07:24:32
Source: http://blog.pitguru.com/futures-trading/markets/grains/1026
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