Panel discusses climate change, threats and opportunities in Western Nevada
Submitted by Carson Now Reader on Mon, 07/01/2019 - 2:51pm
CARSON CITY — Getting a handle on the threats and opportunities that climate change is bringing to Western Nevada is vital to our community. Citizens’ Climate Education, GreenACT NV, Sierra Nevada Forums and Western Nevada College joined to bring together climate change experts and the public on June 27 to discuss climate change.
Information on climate change and how it is impacting the environment came from Dr. Charles R. Goldman, Dr. Sudeep Chandra, and a video by Dr. Robert Davies. They reviewed evidence that has convinced 97 percent of scientists that climate change is real, is caused by human activity, has already impacted the environment, and is likely to lead to major threats to the world.
A video of the event at Western Nevada College is available on YouTube here.
One of the major points repeated is that the window of opportunity to lessen the severity of the impacts, especially to modern society, is less than 20 years. And the key to lessening the problems is to take steps to keep the carbon-based fuels in the ground and the waste products, primarily CO2, out of the atmosphere.
Nevada is working to lessen the negative effects of climate change and create opportunities for economic growth. State Senator Ben Kieckhefer reviewed some of the recently passed state legislation that provide examples of how the state is moving to handle climate change issues. Dr. Solis (President of Western Nevada College) shared how the College is working to train people for the types of jobs that are likely to arise as Nevada copes with climate change.
One of the national proposals brought up at the event was the recently introduced bill in Congress, HR 763, the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act of 2019. The key point of this legislation is to levy a fee on fossil fuels in a manner that is fair to U.S. companies.
The benefit to the environment comes from research that shows that the usage of fossil fuels will drop significantly due to the fees. Knowing that the increases in fees are likely to be passed onto consumers, a unique feature of this proposal is that the collected fees will be rebated back to all Americans.
The event ended with a chance for audience members to ask questions about climate change and what it means to members of the panel.
A video here by Dr. Davies is called “Climate Change in 15 Minutes."
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