Letter: State should lead in climate change policy

State should lead in climate change

policy

Dear Editor,

Climate change is a global emergency on the scale of—and of greater consequence than—the Second World War. And, yet, this country’s environmental and regulatory policies barely acknowledge that climate change is even “a thing.” Climate science assumes change and attempts to quantify how it is changing; yet it wasn’t even brought up in recent “presidential” “debates.”

If the global average temperature increases any more than 2°C (3.4°F), crops will begin to fail around the world. We will see food shortages that our great grandparents barely remember and coastal flooding displacing millions. This is not a “third world” or “global south” issue—although they will feel the negative consequences long before we will. Inevitably, these changes will harm our agriculture and disturb activity, right here in the United States, and right here in Wyoming. And the worst news is that we are on course not for 2ºC, but rather a 6ºC increase.

Current efforts to address climate change are so inadequate that the de facto policy of world governments in the future will be policies of geo-engineering ­and likely famine. Even the federal government’s “Declaration of National Environmental Policy” (DNEP) fails to mention climate change directly.

If we want far-sighted governance, one ought to interpret the DNEP to read that, “State and local governments...use all practicable means and measures...to create and maintain conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony, and fulfill the social, economic, and other requirements of [all] present and future generations of Americans.” That little word “all” makes all the difference.

Judging by the rate that our current, spendthrift culture is burning through finite resources and expanding demand for those resources, it is clear that this statute has been interpreted not by folks who think about the next generation, but rather by capitalists, lawyers, corporations, and other cynics who think only about profits and shareholder value and who are completely oblivious to the latest news from our scientific advisors.

Let me bring the discussion closer to home: Wyoming’s opportunity to address climate change is substantial. Wyoming carbon powers American industry. If our elected officials were truly acting in the best interests of all “present and future generations”, they would be busily diversifying our economy and dramatically expanding Wyoming’s renewable energy portfolio and weening our revenue streams off of coal, oil, and natural gas severance taxes.

But Wyoming’s officials are more interested in “jobs” (mostly their own) and “tradition”, than abstractions like “the future”. In a breathtaking example of far-sighted and wise governance, Wyoming filed a Federal lawsuit against the new BLM Methane Waste Prevention Rule. This law puts limits on the flaring of methane during oil and gas production. Energy companies flare (burn off) huge volumes of natural gas from oil wells, without capturing any of the energy. Federal officials have said that between 2009 and 2014, enough natural gas was lost through venting, flaring and leaks to power more than 5 million homes for a year. Capturing the gas instead of flaring it, would generate tens of millions a year in additional tax revenue and reduce unnecessary release of greenhouse gases.

Are officials actually worried about jobs? With less than five percent of Wyoming workers in the energy industry, the answer is obvious. In fact, because renewables have a lower energy-density than carbon, they employ far more people than coal, oil, and natural gas ever could. Simply put, a renewables-based economy would employ many more people than our current carbon-based economy.

What energy source will our children’s children use to transport their goods, heat their homes, and plow their fields?

What quality of air will they breathe? Can we not sensibly manage these finite resources in ways that ensure civilization into the future? Government is nothing but a low branch of the economy if its bureaucrats and officials fail to think past election cycles and quarterly-earnings reports.

By not taking bold action today, policy makers are forcing the hands of future generations into desperate action and a very bleak future. We are poised to overshoot that 2°C mark by a substantial margin. If humanity is to overcome the challenges, we will have to address them ahead of time, at all levels of local community and government. Wyoming can and should take the lead on US climate change policy. All present and future generations deserve to live in an abundant and healthy world.

Andrew Boheler

Laramie

 

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