MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin is approaching the start of a new legislative session in the new year, and along with relief for the coronavirus legislators could tackle proposals for combatting climate change.
The Governor’s Task Force on Climate Change spent the year looking for solutions to the crisis, tapping experts across fields such as energy, agriculture, insurance, public health and climate science dug deep to look at how climate change is affecting Wisconsin and what government can do about it.
The task force outlined dozens of vetted proposals that cross over nine sectors, and they highlighted the need that comes with it, citing one study from the journal GeoHealth that showed how just 10 climate-sensitive events in the U.S. in 2012 led to $10 billion in health costs. Another study from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association showed in the last 20 years, 19 severe-weather disasters in the Badger State cost $100 billion.
Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes is passionate about the work he and the rest of the task force did, and he’s hopeful about what comes next.
“People are still out of work, and we need to provide opportunities for those people,” he told News 3 Now. “Communities have been dealt devastating blows before the pandemic and a lot of it was climate related.”
To prevent negative impacts from climate change in the future, members suggested increasing education around the topic, creating green energy jobs and paying farmers to increase soil carbon storage, among 52 other things.
Farmers and agriculture groups part of the discussion have been supportive of the measures.
“We need bold efforts to address the effects of climate change, and these recommendations issued by the task force are an important step forward in promoting practices that enable farmers to be climate champions,” said Bill Hogseth, the Watershed and Organizing Coordinator for the Wisconsin Farmers Union.
The success of these proposals depends heavily on support from the Republican-controlled legislature, especially in leadership and on the budget-writing committee.
None of the Republican lawmakers News 3 Now reached out to returned a request for an interview, but Barnes is hopeful with the bipartisan, cross-sector makeup of the task force and with the support this has gotten the legislature will listen and take action.
“Not just members of the task force, members of the general public are hoping that, or counting on (them) I should say, to hear their requests and think about the future,” Barnes said.
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