Report: Water,
air, industry, wildlife all at risk if trends continue
May 31, 2007, By Sara Boyd
The issues of global warming are being brought to the state level with
research that points to perceived threats on Wisconsin's natural resources. The report titled,
"An Unfamiliar State: How Global Warming Could Change Natural
Wisconsin," aims to spread awareness of possible changes to Wisconsin's waterways, forests, outdoor recreation and
farming industry.
Wisconsin Environment
Research and Policy
Center, a statewide,
citizen-based advocacy organization, released the analysis Wednesday during a
news conference at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. Lauren Crane,
campaign coordinator of Wisconsin Environment, said the research shows the
severity of global warming on Wisconsin.
"Global warming threatens so many
things that make Wisconsin
great," she said at the news conference.
The 36-page report
also outlines the specifics of Wisconsin's
declining water levels, rising temperatures, depleting forests and fading
wildlife, according to the group. Laurie
Fischer, executive director of Wisconsin Dairy Business Association, said the
problems of global warming change everything for local farms. "(We're) being very proactive," she
said. "This is a very important issue for the dairy industry."
With these problems
also come updated approaches to solutions, said Wisconsin Environment State
Director Dan Kohler. "We're
releasing this report to try and help make this public but also to provide
up-to-date solutions," he said. "We need to reduce Wisconsin's emissions by 20 percent by 2020
and 80 percent by 2050."
UWGB Chancellor Bruce
Shepard brought the issue even closer to home with his efforts to include the
university in the fight against potential threats. "The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
has long been known for its commitment to environmental awareness and
leadership on issues of sustainability," he said in a news release.
"Consistent with that tradition, we intend to lead by example in
addressing global warming and are strongly committed to neutralizing greenhouse
gas emissions on our campus."
Shepard was unable to
attend the news conference because of a death in the family. Also included as possible
solutions are increases in renewable energy and an effort to make Wisconsin more energy efficient, according to the
report.
