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A stuffed animal left behind after the 2019 bomb cyclone. Photo by James Wooldridge
About Climate Change Nebraska Look at Nebraska in the spring of 2019’s rear-view mirror and a stark, haunting picture emerges: • Entire communities devastated by flood waters and ice floes • Thousands of bloated cattle and hogs lying in stagnant piles • Scores of farmers with productive farmland under water or covered by sand • Dozens of roads and bridges out of service, still submerged or washed away • Ranchers and farmers with no insurance for storm-related disasters. All of which adds up to this: Climate Change Nebraska, an investigative depth reporting project, drilled deeply into the impact – economically, socially, culturally and politically – of climate change on Nebraska, the centuries-old agricultural base and what this means for the millions of people we help feed around the globe.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s College of Journalism and Mass Communications has a long tradition of depth reporting, a specialized branch on the journalism tree. These depth reporting projects examine blend a multitude of skills — reporting, data mining, interviewing, photography, videography, layout and design — to give readers a much deeper, 360-degree view of the topic than they could find anywhere else. The college’s many award-winning depth reporting projects have included examinations of Cuban life, conflicts between the United States and France, life in Sri Lanka a year after the tsunami, how Native women have been the foundation of Native culture, targeting beer stores in Whiteclay, Nebraska, investigating the downside of the Keystone XL Pipeline, taking a deep dive at the impact of climate change on Nebraska and unveiling what it’s like to be Black in Lincoln, Nebraska.
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Table of Contents Social Impacts 08
Nebraskans Agree Climate Change Is Real
38
The Politics of Climate Change
42
Climate Change Poses Significant Public Health Threat
78
Environmental Racism: How Climate Change Disproportionately Impacts Communities of Color
14
Eco-Anxiety: Taking Its Toll on Global Youth
30
Two of 21st Century’s Most Toxic Words
70
“Going Red” How The Winnebago Are Planting Ancient Corn To Regrow Their Culture
126
A Call for Change: Putting a Price on Carbon
136
Examining The Role of Education As A Solution To Climate Change Problems
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Enviromental Impacts 58
Rising Temperatures Put Heat on Nebraska’s $7 Billion Corn Industry
64
Scientists Say: Climate Change Is Here and Nebraska’s Not Immune
22
Colorado Construction Cranes May Harm Nebraska’s Sandhill Cranes
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The Impact of Climate Change on Nebraska’s Water: Too Much and Too Little
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Breezy Nebraska Could Also Be a Solar Powerhouse
52
Rising Temperatures Threaten Nebraska’s $14 Billion Cattle Industry
100
108
Efforts to Improve Nebraska’s Soil May Reduce the Risks of Climate Change
116
More Reliance on Renewables, Efficient Vehicles and Better Buildings Means Less Reliance on Heat-Trapping Fossil Fuels
Nebraska Races to Catch Its Windy Neighbors
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Climate Change Overview The Climate System
Atmosphere
Hydrosphere
Human Activity
Water Cycle Carbon Cycle
Cryosphere
Geosphere
Biosphere
Weather is the short-term changes in elements such as temperature, wind, precipitation, air pressure and humidity. Weather can be observed on a time scale of minutes, hours, days or weeks for a specific area. Climate is the long-term pattern of weather events observed on a time scale that is often several decades. Climate can be measured at both regional and global scales by calculating averages of the weather data collected.
There are five major components to Earth’s climate system, which are all interconnected to determine temperature, wind speed and direction, water current strength and direction and precipitation, among other things. The atmosphere is the layer of gases surrounding the Earth that is composed mostly of nitrogen and oxygen, but also contains greenhouse gases such as water vapor that interact with radiation from the sun. The geosphere (also sometimes called the lithosphere) consists of the rocks and minerals that make up the interior layers of the Earth and its crust. Volcanoes, soil moisture and the texture that the geosphere creates all play a role in the climate. The hydrosphere consists of all the liquid water on the planet, both on the surface and below. This includes the oceans, lakes and rivers, as well as aquifers, subsurface water and water runoff. The water cycle, or the process by which water is exchanged between the atmosphere and Earth’s surface and sub surface, is an important component of Earth’s climate. Since water covers most of the Earth’s surface, it also influences temperature changes. The cryosphere is the water in its solid phase as glaciers, sea ice, snow and permafrost. It helps drive ocean circulation and also reflects radiation from the sun. The melting of the cryosphere as a result of rising temperatures is the primary driver of the sea level rise associated with climate change. The biosphere includes all living things on land and in the ocean. It plays a significant role in the carbon cycle, the process by which carbon is exchanged between the atmosphere, living things and sediments, by being able to store carbon. One question to think about as you read this magazine is, what role do humans play in these spheres? 6 | CLIMATE CHANGE NEBRASKA
Greenhouse Gas Emission Sources
The Greenhouse Gases 10% Methane
7% Nitrous Oxide 29% Transportation
3% Fluorinated Gases
80% Carbon Dioxide
23% Industry
6% Residential
7% Commercial
25% Electricity Generation
10% Agriculture
Source: 2019 EPA Greenhouse Gas Inventory
What is Climate Change? The term “climate change” refers to the trend of increasing temperature and changing global climate conditions that scientific evidence suggests is happening at a faster rate than it has in the past. It has been linked to the increase of greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere emitted from transportation (28.4%), electricity generation (27.1%), industry (22.2%) and many other sources. These gases influence climate change by contributing to the greenhouse effect, causing the atmosphere to absorb more energy from the sun, therefore raising the overall temperature.
The Greenhouse Effect Atmosphere
The energy from the sun warms the Earth
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Nebraskans Agree: Climate Change is Real Overwhelming majority of Nebraskans conclude: climate change is real - and it’s a serious threat By: Libby Seline
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lightly more than seven in 10 Nebraskans believe climate change is real and happening now while about six in 10 favor replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy. The findings are from a comprehensive Bureau of Sociological Research survey measuring the opinions of Nebraskans on climate change issues in the wake of last year’s devastating floods. The November 2019 Nebraska survey showed that citizens in the overwhelmingly conservative, Republican state shared opinions about the impact of climate change on their communities that are similar to nationwide polls. A Pew Research Poll, also published in November 2019, showed that 62% of Americans believe climate change is impacting their neighborhoods and 77% want to invest in renewable energy instead of fossil fuels. Both polls also expressed concern about the potential damage from a changing climate. About nine in 10 Nebraskans are concerned to some degree that flooding and droughts will impact the state’s most important sector: agriculture.
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However, the poll also revealed that Nebraskans still remained true to their conservative beliefs. Almost half — 48% — do not believe climate change is caused by human activity while 60% either don’t believe or are unsure if climate change is related to the state’s most recent flooding. But a majority agree that the weather is impacting the state. “The climate is changing whether people believe it or not,” John Hansen, president of Nebraska’s Farmers Union, said. “But the significant thing is that an overwhelming majority of Nebraskans — especially in agriculture who deal with nature on a much more intimate basis and in a year-round way — understand that the weather’s changing.” In response to the survey’s results, Gov. Pete Ricketts said through a spokesperson that the climate is always changing. “Right now, the Governor is focused on helping the state repair damage from last year’s flooding, and to make sure we are as prepared as possible for any future events,” Taylor Gage said in an email. State climatologist Martha Shulski, Ph.D., said climate change will continue to impact future events in Nebraska — specifically in rising flood insurance premiums and health problems, including a spike in asthma.
A 2021 Divest NU rally urged University of Nebraska administrators on the issue of divestment. Photo by: Caitlyn Thomas
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State climatologist Martha Shulski, Ph.D., said climate change will continue to impact future events in Nebraska — specifically in rising flood insurance premiums and health problems, including a spike in asthma. Several state senators, she said, have asked her whether climate change will produce winners and losers. “There’s a small percentage that will win temporarily in this,” Shulski said. “But on the whole, this is going to be costly, impact economics, health, all aspects of our lives are going to be impacted.” Last year, severe weather cost the state $3.4 billion in damages, and the governor’s proposed budget set aside $60 million to go toward federal disaster relief payment. In the wake of that damage, several Nebraska state senators have introduced bills related to flooding or the climate to help mitigate their effects. Lincoln Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks has a current bill before the legislature designed to create a climate change action plan. To appease her colleagues, Pansing Brooks said she has to choose her words carefully — relying on terms such as “weather preparedness” or “flood mitigation” — to help create support for her bills.
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“We believe in climate change,” Pansing Brooks said. “But what good does it do us to stand in the corner and stomp our feet and say, ‘You must believe the way they believe?’ “So I really hope that as this goes along, people can understand the need to change the discussion. And it doesn’t hurt to say, ‘Look at this: These weather patterns have been increasingly more frequent, and they have been more severe. What should we do about that?’” Venango Sen. Dan Hughes, chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, has introduced a bill related to flood protection bonds. The senator believes his experience as a farmer gives him insight on the weather’s devastating impacts, and he is concerned about future droughts and floods. That said, he does not believe storms, floods and droughts can be prevented. “We’ve always had catastrophic events because Mother Nature, that’s what the planet does, that’s the way it works,” he said. “And to think you can control that is having a pretty high opinion of yourself.” The views of Pansing Brooks, a liberal senator from Eastern Nebraska, and those of Hughes, a conservative senator from Western Nebraska, closely align with a number of the survey results.
Political party lines, for example, remain sharply divided on the issue of climate change. A state survey revealed that about 98% of Nebraska liberals believe in climate change, while 53% of conservatives and 31% very conservative.
Additionally, about 93% of Nebraska liberals said they believe humans cause climate change, and 32% of conservatives agreed — and 15% of the very conservative. However, 86% of moderate Nebraskans believe in climate change and 63% said they also believe it’s caused by human activity.
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Across the political spectrum, many Nebraskans said they are concerned — at least to some degree — about the potential impact of droughts and flooding on agriculture, including 98% of liberals, 84% of conservatives and 70% of the very conservative.
Although there is widespread concern about more floods, like last spring’s, there remains sharp disagreement over whether those floods are climate-related. Kim Morrow, who’s in charge of Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird’s environmental task force, said it’s often difficult to attribute specific weather events to climate change. But given the increasing amount of extreme weather, she said there’s no question in her mind that the two are related. “In the state, the temperatures have been increasing and overall precipitation levels have been increasing. And so you definitely see a trend that indicates more flooding events,” she said.
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“In the state, the temperatures have been increasing and overall precipitation levels have been increasing. And so you definitely see a trend that indicates more flooding events,” she said. Don Wilhite, Ph.D., emeritus state climatologist and drought management specialist, said it’s impossible to directly attribute wildfires and flooding to climate change. But climate change is increasing the severity of extreme weather. As droughts, floods and hurricanes become more frequent, he said, there’s more devastation associated with these events. Meanwhile, communities across the state — including Lincoln — are dedicated to combating climate change and exploring renewable sources of energy.
Norfolk Mayor Josh Moenning said his city is dedicated to wind energy research. Additionally, Norfolk is home to the state’s largest community solar project. Moenning said he would like Nebraska to be more invested in clean energy and regenerative agriculture. “If we’re really going to be a participant in the new economy and be a place where young people are proud to stay at home and we can attract youth, we need to be more innovative in public policy making,” Moenning said. As a way to help create a cleaner environment, Ricketts is promoting ethanol production. Gage, his spokesman, cited a 2012 study that found 30% of ethanol blends used in flexible fuel engines reduced particulate matter and black carbon emissions by 45%. Across the street from the governor’s mansion, Sen. Pansing Brooks said she hopes the data from this statewide survey will impact legislators and convince senators that climate change will affect future generations.
State Sen. Hughes, meanwhile, said he remains concerned about the cost and reliability of renewable energy and wants to listen to climate scientists who believe humans do not cause climate change. “In this job, we need to deal with facts,” said the chair of the Natural Resources Committee. “… I have to make my own decisions. I have to rely on my own experiences plus the facts that I gather.” To move the needle on climate change, the head of the Nebraska Farmers Union said he’d like to see the pace of both knowledge and effort pick up. “We need more hands on deck,” Hansen said. “We need more folks helping. We need more folks thinking. We need more young folks stepping up. The conventional wisdom is getting better, but it’s not moving forward as fast as it needs to be.”
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Nearly two feet of Elkhorn River water flooded Winslow, Neb. in 2019, a town of 100 residents. Photo by: Lindsey Woods
Eco-Anxiety: Taking Its Toll on Global Youth A chronic fear of environmental doom has many worried about the impact of climate change on their future By: Aila Ganić and Kayla Vondracek 14 | CLIMATE CHANGE NEBRASKA
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winter hurricane rips across a sleepy family ranch in western Nebraska. Ten calves die that night. Three more arrive half-frozen. The next morning, the phone rings in a darkened apartment about 300 miles away, rousing a 19-year-old college student in Lincoln. Madison Imig listens in silence to the news: The horrific storm, called a bomb cyclone, has buried her family’s ranch in 14 inches of snow. In a bad year, they might lose 12 to 15 calves. Soon, it will be 100. She can feel the dread, the panic setting in. “In agriculture,” Imig said, “it’s not just watching your workplace flood – it’s watching your entire life flood. And that’s been really hard.” The bomb cyclone, however, is not the only thing triggering her anxiety these days. Environmental disasters, rising sea levels and chronic water shortages have all become a part of her mental screensaver. “It’s so sad. It’s just so brutally sad,” said the University of Nebraska-Lincoln junior English major. “It’s really sad to hear about people who are already disenfranchised by a systemic imbalance of power becoming more disenfranchised by climate change.” Day after day, week after week, the steady drum-beat of climate change issues – from melting ice caps to Australian infernos – is exacting a global mental health toll. And no one feels the heat more than young people. Fanning their fears and anxieties of an increasingly inhospitable environment is a vast sea of media – online videos, magazine photos, cable TV, lurid newspaper headlines and waves of social media – that wash over young news consumers 24/7. In fact, psychologists have coined a phrase for these feelings of anxiety that Imig and many of her generation regularly face. They call it: “eco-anxiety.” The American Psychological Association defines this phenomenon affecting
more and more of the world’s youth as “a chronic fear of environmental doom.” Eco-anxiety can develop in two major ways, according to Beth Doll, Ph.D., UNL educational psychology professor and interim dean. One way, she said, is through the acts of reading and hearing about climate change. The other way eco-anxiety presents itself is from firsthand experience with climate change impacts. “There’s those frightening thoughts about the future, and I think that’s one piece to worry about,” Doll said. “But then we have the anxiety because we’re already experiencing events that are climate related, so our flooding in Nebraska is an example that literally wiped out homes and livelihoods for some kids.” Both types of eco-anxiety can express themselves in a variety of ways, one of which involves a critical decision: whether or not to have children. “My whole thing is, I can’t guarantee that in 20 years, there will be a world left for my kids,” Imig said. “And that is something that really freaks me out.” Mary Pipher, Ph.D., understands what the college junior is saying. No generation of young people has ever had to deal with this question so intensely, said Pipher, a Lincoln clinical psychologist and New York Times bestselling author. More specifically, the ardent environmentalist also understands where those feelings come from. The sadness triggered by eco-anxiety, Pipher believes, starts at a very early age when children first become aware of the crisis. “They have a deep sense of understanding that the world I’m inheriting is not the world the way it’s been since almost the beginning of time,” she said. Liam Downes is one of those young adults acutely aware of a changing world. He cites the climatechangenebraska.com | 15
loss of native species as a chronic source of anxiety. “If you’re losing these plants, species that nobody knows anything about them, now nobody will. You have lost a piece of history,” said the UNL natural resource economics major. And there are a host of other issues both compounding and feeding into the ecoanxieties of today’s youth, according to a number of psychologists. For one thing, they note, younger generations already are experiencing higher stress levels brought on by an increasingly competitive society. And when you add climate change to the mix, it can have a debilitating effect on those 16 | CLIMATE CHANGE NEBRASKA
already stressed-out for a variety of other reasons, according to Ananta Khatri, Psy.D., a psychology professor at Peru State College. Adolescents already experiencing higher levels of competition and pressure around test scores and college admission feel the additional weight of an uncertain future, Khatri said. The whirlwind combination of these stressors creates an intense environment for young people to have to navigate. “I view it (climate change) more as an additional stressor that can affect your mental health overall, simply because of the fact that we might be able to cope with a certain amount, but then you have more and more added to it,” Khatri said. “That’s when it becomes a problem.” The reaction to those stressors, according to a number of psychologists, is deeply grounded in human nature.
Eco-anxiety as a response to climate change is on par with normal psychological functioning, according to Azar Abadi, Ph.D., a University of Nebraska Medical Center research assistant professor. When individuals think that something is threatening them or their loved ones’ lives, she said, the natural reaction is to be worried, especially with increased media coverage. As for the steady drum-beat of global climate change disasters, Abadi is concerned that “we don’t hear from solutions as much as we hear about the problem. So that will cause more stress and more distress because it probably (makes us) feel more helpless in those situations.” However, human nature or not, there remains an anxiety threshold that can be worrisome if breached. “Excessive anxiety that stops you from moving forward,” said psychology professor Doll, “that doesn’t allow you to set it aside and still have moments of happiness in your life, that’s unusual and that’s problematic.” That kind of excessive anxiety often has a common starting point: As media coverage of natural disasters and the impact of climate change expands, so too does the imprint it leaves behind on the viewer’s mind. And that increased media coverage can have a very specific – and often detrimental – impact on younger people. Children, for example, may see a natural disaster covered on the
news and think it’s occurring right in their own neighborhood because their brains are still developing. They can understand what the media are saying, but they do not have the life experience to form an accurate perception of the scope and timeline of an event. “They don’t understand distance the way that we do. So, if something’s happening in California or New York, they don’t necessarily understand that it’s not in their area or not affecting them right away,” said Amy Napoli, Ph.D., a UNL childhood education extension specialist and professor of child, youth and family studies. Khatri expands on this belief by noting that our frontal lobes, the part of the brain known for logical reasoning, develop up through our mid 20s, especially in males. “If those (frontal lobes) are still developing, I can see how a younger person might see something in the media and then just take it, not really have that insight or not have as good of a judgment in terms of how it directly impacts them in the here and now,” Khatri said. The inherent downside of a lot of media coverage, said UNMC’s Abadi, is that the problems noted are many while the solutions are few, making individuals feel helpless. And those media-induced feelings of helplessness feed into the more worrisome issue of ecoanxiety. Despite the negative role media often play, a responsible intake of information can prove the media to be beneficial. It all depends on the kind of information individuals absorb.
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Climate activists in front of the Nebraska State Capitol in September 2019 for a global climate strike. Photo by: Jordan Opp
Lincoln psychologist Pipher, for example, talks about a common strategy utilized in her environmental group, which is absorbing only “actionable information” – defined as information that is useful for solving a problem. “We don’t have people come in and make reports about polar bears going extinct because there’s nothing in Nebraska we could do about that,” Pipher said. There’s no doubt that responsible media use can be a positive experience, according to Holly Hatton-Bowers, Ph.D., a UNL childhood education extension specialist and professor of child, youth and family studies. “I think you have to use social media responsibly,” said Hatton-Bowers. “It’s constantly bombarding with negative messages that adds to that hopelessness versus, ‘Look at what we’re doing,’ and promoting hope, along with awareness I think is important.” Haley Nolde, a UNL senior environmental studies major, agreed. 18 | CLIMATE CHANGE NEBRASKA
“Initially, I let social media scare tactics get to me. But now I choose to follow inspiration accounts full of hope and sustainability tactics,” Nolde said. Additionally, media can be used to uphold social networks that are vital for psychological wellbeing. Doll, the UNL psychologist, said that these social networks are especially crucial during times of crises, such as when climate change consequences are felt. Besides using media responsibly and strategically, professionals agree there also are various coping mechanisms to deal with feelings of eco-anxiety. Many individuals, for example, alter their lifestyles to address climate change concerns. They recycle, drive less and reduce meat consumption. But lifestyle changes aren’t always attainable for young individuals subject to their guardians’ lifestyle. In that case, psychologists suggest, reaching out to school mental health resources is beneficial.
Doll also said that coping mechanisms used for general anxiety should not be ignored. She recommended practicing relaxation and mindfulness, creating moments of joy, expressing gratitude and performing acts of kindness as effective ways to try to control eco-anxiety. And Pipher offered another suggestion: organizing anxiety into something better – such as action, loving and collective sharing with others. One has to let themselves feel the pain, she said, in order to turn anxiety into action by being an informed citizen. “Let (your heart) crack open and let the whole world rush in,” said Pipher. “Stop fighting that cracking open of your heart.” Madison Imig doesn’t disagree with any of these suggestions, these thoughtful coping mechanisms.
When the junior English major feels stressed out, when she feels the walls closing in, when she feels the tightness in her throat and chest, she knows exactly what to do: grab her phone and get lost in its lock screen. Back on that horrible day when the bomb cyclone ripped through her ranch, her father found a half-frozen little calf buried in 14 inches of snow. He gently picked up the baby cow and put it in his heated pick-up truck. When he came back hours later, unsure that it could have survived, he found it curled up in the front seat as though it was ready to go for a ride. Michael Imig took a photo of that moment and sent it to his daughter. Madison knew exactly what to do with it.
It’s just that she’s developed a specialized one of her own, unique perhaps to the Nebraska cattle ranch 300 miles west of her college dorm room.
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The annual crane migration offers some of the best views available in Nebraska. Photos by: Lindsey Woods
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Protecting the sandhill cranes is good for both ecological and economic purposes due to the ecotourism revenue that the cranes bring in every year.
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Sandhill cranes are the most populous of the 15 species — with estimates of 600,000 to 800,000. Photo by: Carlee Koehler
Colorado Construction May Harm Nebraska’s Sandhill Cranes
Denver’s booming population poses potential problems for farmers and wildlife dependent on South Platte River Basin By: Brittni McGuire 22 | CLIMATE CHANGE NEBRASKA
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he sun peeks over the horizon. Construction workers in white hard hats and neon vests already are on the job. A steady spray of 10-penny nails fashions a geometric forest of white pine two-by-fours. A convoy of black-and-yellow cement trucks rumbles along a temporary road. Saws buzz and hammers crash, drowning out the chorus of birds singing softly in the dawn. Soon, yet another suburb will mushroom along Colorado’s Front Range. Not far away, an alarm goes off.
Four hundred miles downstream, a vast constellation of ancient birds hunkers down in the river’s moist sand bars. The volume of their calls slowly increase as more and more awaken from their slumber. Soon, the sun slips above the horizon, painting the sky in a glowing array of orange and pink. In that instant, hundreds of thousands of sandhill cranes explode from the sand bars in all directions, drowning out all other sound, as they head to nearby cornfields and wetlands to fuel up for their long journey north.
A middle-aged account executive rolls out of bed, downs a glass of water, flushes the toilet, brushes her teeth, hops in the shower, makes a pot of coffee and turns off the sprinklers before heading to the office.
Later, as the sunlight fades and the moon rises, as hundreds of tourists ready their cameras, the cranes gracefully flutter back down to the safety of the sand bars, ready to do it all over again come morning.
“People love the lifestyle and it’s an economic hub. So, I think the Front Range is going to continue to grow,” says Colorado State Sen. Chris Hansen. “It’s going to cause a huge amount of additional pressure on water resources.”
“I could hardly wait,” 88-year-old Paul Johnsgard said in early March as the cranes began arriving in Nebraska. “I (spent) 11 months waiting for it.”
The 440-mile South Platte River is the lifeline for the explosive growth of suburban Denver. A hundred miles downstream, a farmer sits quietly on his front porch. Hot cup of coffee in hand, he gazes out at his livelihood: 2,200 acres of cultivated land laid out neatly in row after row, broken only by the long metal arms of a vast center pivot irrigation system. The only sounds are the wind sweeping across the pipes, the water misting the fields. “We enjoy a surface water right out of the South Platte River. And I also sit on top of a groundwater aquifer,” explains Marc Arnusch, a third-generation Colorado farmer with Austrian roots. “Those two water rights drive the production on our farm.” The South Platte River is the lifeline for Arnusch and hundreds of other farmers who cultivate the soil of Eastern Colorado.
The Platte River has been the lifeline for the sandhill cranes for millennia. This is a story about a river basin stretching more than 1,000 miles across two states, a 15,000-year-old river dating back to the end of the last ice age. It’s about all the mountainseeking suburbanites who need it to keep themselves clean and their yards lush, the farmers whose thirsty crops demand it and the ancient sandhill cranes who can’t survive without it. It’s a story about a daunting prediction in the most recent update to the Colorado Water Plan: By 2050, Colorado’s South Platte Basin, home to 70% of the state’s population, could experience a water shortage of 540,000 acrefeet — enough water to fill Lincoln’s 600-acre Pioneer Park to a depth of 1,000 feet, every year. A story about all of the studies suggesting various plans to close that stark water gap, plans to capture an additional 400,000 acrefeet of water, and what it means for Nebraska when that water doesn’t cross the border. climatechangenebraska.com | 23
It’s also a story about the dedicated Front Range farmers whose fields increasingly rely on the South Platte River and how their needs will be met if cities buy their water rights and water is prioritized for urban areas, hanging rural communities out to dry. A story about the beautiful, gray-feathered birds with their graceful mating dance and what happens to them if — while en route from Mexico and the Southwest US to Canada, Alaska and Siberia — they arrive in Nebraska only to find the river but a trickle, the sand bars dried up, the visitors but a trickle, the ecotourism dollars dried up. A story about the challenges to balance urban, agricultural and ecological demands for one river’s water — challenges that will only accelerate in the coming years as climate change carves out a new playing field and population growth overwhelms it. In one sense, it’s a complex story that may come down to something very simple, something people cherish and mourn. For the thriving, modern city, the resolute, adaptive farmer and the ancient, migratory birds — life may be at stake. A door covered by a mosaic of native Nebraska birds, prairie reflections and book covers opens to a small, crowded room. Amid shelf after shelf of books and stuffed birds in glass display cases, a soft voice calls out: “I’m over here!” At a desk in an even smaller, more crowded room awash with books and keepsakes gathered over the years, sits an elderly man with wispy white hair, big glasses and a warm smile. He’s wearing a weathered gray crew neck adorned with two dancing sandhill cranes. Johnsgard, author of A Chorus of Cranes: The Cranes of North America and the World and nearly 100 other books, first began migrating to the Platte River to see the cranes when John F. Kennedy occupied the White House. “Back in 1962, I was the only one bird 24 | CLIMATE CHANGE NEBRASKA
The Platte River crested at four feet above flood stage, an alltime record, in 2019. Photo by: Madison Zumpfe
watching out there,” remembers Johnsgard, Ph.D., professor emeritus at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he taught for nearly 40 years. His favorite time to crane-watch is in the evening. “I like it much better than the morning because it tends to build up slowly, like a symphony kind of thing, developing complexities and so on. It’s just pure magic,” he said. Every spring, about 600,000 sandhill cranes leave their wintering grounds as far south as Mexico to migrate to their northern breeding grounds, flying up to 500 miles in a single day. The Platte River, surrounding wetlands and most recently, vast cornfields, provide exactly what the cranes need as a pit stop midway through their journey. The cranes are omnivores — eating roots of aquatic plants, insects, frogs, snails and as agriculture began to alter the landscape they
Among the best places to see the spectacle unfold is at Rowe Sanctuary near Kearney, Nebraska. Bill Taddicken, sanctuary director, says Rowe has been around for almost 50 years “giving a voice to the river and a voice to the cranes,” while also providing educational and some would say life-changing experiences for nearly 15,000 visitors annually, the bulk of which visit between late February and mid-April. What draws people? What keeps tourists coming back to see the cranes year after year? Taddicken thinks it has something to do with how people can relate to them. “Cranes dance, people dance,” he said. “Cranes are great parents, and people try to be great parents. Cranes mate for life and people attempt to do that, too.”
added waste grain, leftover corn after harvest, to their diet, too. Today, there are 15 crane species in the world — 12 of them endangered. Sandhill cranes are the most populous of the 15 — with estimates of 600,000 to 800,000, including all subspecies. “We’ve got more sandhills than there’s probably ever been in history. But, they’re an important, I suppose, bellwether of the condition of the river,” Johnsgard noted. Any decline in crane populations, he says, may signal that the river is quickly deteriorating. Although Johnsgard was among the few observing cranes back in the ’60s, he’s now joined by thousands of bird watchers — from New Zealand, Australia, Germany — from all over the world who congregate annually in central Nebraska to experience the sandhill crane migration. They come by the thousands and they spend millions year after year.
But for most people, it’s the sound — that rattling kar-r-r-r-o-o-o amplified by hundreds of thousands of voices — that keeps them coming back. “That sound,” Taddicken said, “has been on this Earth for millions of years, and people, for some reason, it just soaks right into their soul.” The ecotourism that follows the migration each spring from late February to mid-April contributes more than $10 million to the local economies as tourists flock to hotels, restaurants and museums during their stay in central Nebraska.
“I like it much better than the morning because it tends to build up slowly, like a symphony kind of thing, developing complexities and so on. It’s just pure magic.” - Paul Johnsgard, Ph.D., University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor emeritus climatechangenebraska.com | 25
Tourist spending also makes up about a third of the Rowe Sanctuary’s annual budget, which helps fund its conservation work to protect sandhill cranes and their habitat. Rowe Sanctuary and the Audubon Society, in partnership with organizations like the Crane Trust and The Nature Conservancy, also does a lot of boots-on-the-ground conservation work directly with the land. While it is important to maintain the crane habitat, Taddicken said the ecotourism side of things — engaging the public in conservation efforts — is just as important. “It raises awareness to the public,” he said. “Without the tourism piece, people wouldn’t support protecting the river. I really don’t think we would have the kind of political protections we already see on the Platte without it.” Back in the ’60s, Johnsgard thought the Platte River might well be a lost cause. “There was no protection really,” he said. “I thought the Platte in my lifetime would be gone.” However, a great deal of progress has been made, he said, in protecting one of the last
ecologically-rich rivers in Nebraska. Although if the Platte ever goes dry, he said, the cranes will be in tough shape. “But the people in Colorado don’t think much about that, I guess,” said Johnsgard. Denver is among America’s fastest-growing metropolitan areas. As of July 1, 2019, the population of Greater Denver was 2.97 million — making it the 19th-largest metropolitan area in the country. If you slim down to just Denver County, with a population of 727,211, you’ll find this: It grew by 21% during the past decade with 127,386 newcomers now calling it home. “I remember looking out of my 10th-grade geometry classroom and seeing cows. This was 2004 or 2005,” said Lindsay Johnson, who grew up in Centennial, Colorado. “All this area is now completely engulfed in houses, miles and miles of suburbs.” Denver and its surrounding suburbs get water from nearby snowmelt-fed rivers and streams, including the South Platte. A 2011 study by The Water Research Foundation found that 50% of water used by the average singlefamily household is for exterior purposes like
Farmers harvest the season’s wheat crop at Arnusch Farms in Prospect Valley, Colo. Photo by: Marc Arnusch
watering gardens and lawns. The other 50% was used indoors, including 12% to flush the toilet, 11% for showers and 8% for the faucet. And according to Denver Water, households are using 50 gallons of water per person each day inside their home, not including water used outside. So where will the water come from to support Denver’s explosive growth? A recent Denver Post article revealed a plan cobbled together by Colorado officials to construct three new reservoirs northeast of Denver to capture an additional 150,000 acre-feet of Nebraskabound water — enough to fill 240,000 Olympicsize swimming pools — and pump it back to the booming metro suburbs. “It’ll be, you know, 20 to 30 years before the first spade of dirt is turned over,” said Dave Aiken, J.D., a UNL professor of environmental and water law. Another recent plan, a feasibility study by the South Platte Regional Opportunities Water Group (SPROWG) aims to provide some potential solutions to bridge that watershortage gap and meet both the municipal and agricultural water needs of the future. The recommended plans could capture up to 400,000 acre-feet of water from the South Platte River annually, according to the study. Colorado State Sen. Hansen remains optimistic despite the predicted water shortages. “We can figure it out, but it’s gonna entail some big investments, some tough choices and some shared sacrifice,” he said.
“Cranes dance, people dance. Cranes are great parents, and people try to be great parents. Cranes mate for life and people attempt to do that, too.”
While the SPROWG study aimed to meet the guidelines to protect Nebraska’s endangered species set by the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program, Jesse Bradley, interim director of Nebraska’s Department of Natural Resources, expects more. “I don’t think they’ve yet analyzed all the potential impacts on Nebraska,” Bradley said. “So, that would be something we would expect, future communication with Colorado, if this were to move forward.” But Colorado doesn’t have an unlimited open tap to the river. The 1923 South Platte River Compact between Colorado and Nebraska requires Colorado to maintain a flow of at least 120 cubic feet per second into Nebraska. Legally, Colorado can capture and use any excess water as long as it maintains the required flow rate. That legalism, however, doesn’t sit well with some on the Nebraska side. Ecologically, there is no such thing as excess flow “because even massive flows like we saw last spring provide habitat, they allow the river to move in different directions, create new channels,” said George Cunningham, conservation chair of the Nebraska Sierra Club chapter. In addition to the 1923 compact, other measures in place to protect the river as an ecosystem include the Endangered Species Act and the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program. But for now, until a plan is devised and implemented to bridge the water supply gap for urban areas in the basin, cities have relied on a practice called urban buy and dry. This practice involves cities buying out agricultural water rights, giving farmers no choice but to switch over to cultivating less water-reliant crops — or sometimes even leave their land.
- Paul Johnsgard, Ph.D., University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor emeritus climatechangenebraska.com | 27
The family of Marc Arnusch immigrated to the United States from Austria in the 1950s, planting their roots in Prospect Valley, Colorado, where the family farm is now located. Like most farmers along the Colorado Front Range, Arnusch relies on an irrigation system fed by the South Platte River and underground aquifers to provide his crops with the water they need. The Arnusch farm produces seed for cereal grain, wheat and barley for local breweries and corn and alfalfa for nearby dairies on 2,200 acres of irrigated and dry land. As someone active in Colorado politics, Arnusch says, “the buy up and dry up of agriculture is the lowest hanging fruit.” Many times, he notes, it’s the easiest and least expensive way for cities to get access to more water — but at a high cost for farmers. “We basically hollow out our rural communities by moving the water from those areas to the benefit of the urban corridor” is the way Arnusch puts it. To keep the state’s rural communities from disappearing, Arnusch said Colorado needs to balance water use and the economic benefits that come with water rights. As the Colorado South 28 | CLIMATE CHANGE NEBRASKA
Marc Arnusch, a third-generation farmer, works on the Arnusch farm near Keenesburg, Colo. Photo by: Marc Arnusch
Platte River Basin, where Arnusch’s farm lies, faces unprecedented water shortages in the coming decades, he said the rural areas will be hit the hardest. “It’s a reality we live with continually,” says Arnusch. “We may not see the concrete, asphalt and
rooftops encroaching on our land, but we will feel the effects of development elsewhere when the demand becomes too great to maintain the ownership and control of our water resources.”
Each spring, the snowpack of the Rocky Mountains melts and replenishes the South Platte River. As the climate continues to change, the Rockies are expected to accumulate less and less snowpack and that snowpack is expected to melt quicker, resulting in unpredictable river flows. “With lower summer flows, it gets harder and harder for Colorado to meet the 120 cubic feet per second requirement that they have at the state line coming into Nebraska,” said UNL professor Aiken.
If the Platte River’s flows are depleted to meet Colorado’s water demand and from the effects of climate change, Taddicken isn’t sure what would happen to the sandhill cranes. “They have to migrate to be successful in their life cycles,” said Taddicken of the Rowe Sanctuary. “The river is a crucial piece of protection for the birds and a place to rest at night. Without (the river), it’s really hard to say what would happen to their migration path or whether the species itself would survive.”
Taddicken hopes the cranes will continue to thrive so future generations can bear witness to this natural wonder. “Too often we have to say, ‘You should have seen the bison migration or you should have seen the passenger pigeon,’” Taddicken said. “And the last thing I want my kids or grandkids to ever have to say is, ‘You should have seen the great migration of cranes on the Platte River.’”
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Two of 21st Century’s Most Toxic Words Why climate change has become political By: Lauren Dietrich
T
hirteen letters. Two simple words. Yet when uttered, these words can explode, ignite, create bitter divisions. Alienate. Infuriate. Castigate. State Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks can’t use these two words on the floor of the Nebraska State Legislature. “It doesn’t do me any good in the Legislature to help promote this most important idea, if I demand those words to be used,” said Pansing Brooks, who is from Lincoln. So how did these two simple words – Climate Change – become so toxic, so controversial? So weaponized? So capable of pitting friend against friend? Father against son? Senator against senator? How did one person’s climate change become another person’s extreme weather? And what do the differences say about the relationship between language and culture and the ability of one to influence the other? In other words, how did these two words become so politicized so quickly? The answer is simple, according to Chelsea Witt, Ph.D., a University of Nebraska-Lincoln psychology professor. It’s because “climate change” is being used as a political weapon. It’s because if people think their political party
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doesn’t believe in climate change, then neither should they. “I see a lot of social identity theory playing into it,” Witt said. “It’s sort of like, almost without thinking, you’re supposed to accept your group’s side.” Although about 97% of climate scientists believe the Earth is warming due to human activity, facts are not always what people use to reach their conclusions, to reinforce their belief systems. That’s because some people simply don’t believe in science, Witt said. Since science often seems to be changing and adapting, the evolving theories can often end up confusing people. “Sometimes people are very wary of what science says,” Witt said. “Because they hear, well, you know, ‘If you eat chocolate, then you’re more likely to have cancer or if you eat chocolate you’re less likely to have cancer.’ And science says all of those things, right?” Nebraska State Sen. Dan Hughes is among the science skeptics. “The predictions that I have witnessed from the climatologists have been from A to Z and back again. So I tend to discount from that
Students protest at 2021 rally calling for removal of UNL investments in fossil fuels. Photo by Caitlin Thomas
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Hundreds of students, faculty and members of the community march to the Capitol building in 2019 as part of a Global Climate Strike. Photo by: Kelli Mashino
perspective,” said Hughes, who is from Venango and chairs the Natural Resources Committee. Polarizing opinions, of course, don’t materialize from thin air. Viewpoints on controversial issues are heavily influenced by the way someone was raised, said psychologist Witt. For example, if children are raised in households that favor gun rights, it is likely they will, too. The same goes for climate change. People think they need to side with their group, Witt said, whether that’s their political party or their family. And that often just adds fuel to the fire. Why? 32 | CLIMATE CHANGE NEBRASKA
Because no one wants to be exiled by their own group for not believing in the same things. And this, according to experts, can become a dangerous mentality because it often leads to a closed mind. Your upbringing and the social circles you inhabit largely shape who you believe to be a trustworthy source, said Ursala Kreitmair, Ph.D., a University of Nebraska-Lincoln political science professor. “That will mean you will believe certain statements and you will discard others,” Kreitmair said. “And that will fundamentally change what you actually considered to be true about a topic.”
In the end, your worldviews are the product of the community you’re a part of, said Andy Hoffman, a University of Michigan political science professor. “So if you identify as conservative, you’re going to adopt a conservative mindset,” Hoffman said. “If you live in a conservative community, you’re going to get worldviews that reflect that community.”
“We have to meet people part way and then walk together, because if we just stand in our corners and stomp our feet, nothing is going to get done.” - Patty Pansing Brooks, Nebraska State Senator
Tyler Williams has seen this happen over and over. The UNL cropping systems educator understands the differing opinions on climate change. Just look at the news, he notes. climatechangenebraska.com | 33
Thirty years ago, everyone got their news from the same place, he said. But now people can choose to watch stations that are echochambers, stations that simply reinforce their pre-existing opinions. So it makes sense that the first thing Williams asks people when he gives climate change presentations is, “Do you watch Fox News and CNN?” No one, he said, ever answers both. It’s become obvious to Williams why people are split: Each station gives entirely different messages, entirely different viewpoints. “If all you ever watched was Fox News, I can totally see why you think (climate change) is a sham, right? Because that’s all you see,” Williams said. “And if you only watch CNN, I can totally understand how people might think, ‘Oh my god, how in the world are we not doing anything about this?’” Neither station, he noted, says anything incorrect, but neither station provides the whole story either. Instead, they both cherrypick pieces from the bigger picture to support their viewpoint, Williams said. And this makes the job of some Nebraska senators that much more difficult. “There are conservatives that think when we say ‘climate change,’ we mean that we are blaming businesses, blaming individuals and blaming farmers for climate change,” Sen. Pansing Brooks said. State Sen. John McCollister, of Omaha, understands this narrative. Government action is necessary for any significant changes to be made for climate change. And climate action, he said, will cause people to change their lifestyle. Some will see that as a personal infringement. Politicians also have a constituency they represent. So if state senators want to be 34 | CLIMATE CHANGE NEBRASKA
Nebraska State Sen. Dan Hughes courtesy photo
well-liked, if they want to get re-elected, they can’t afford to swing too far from what their constituents want. “If you know that you have a number of constituents who are not on board with climate change,” extension educator Williams said, “you don’t want to propose a bill or support a bill that deals with climate change.” And that makes it difficult to get state senators to agree to allocate both money and time to fix something their constituents don’t see as broken. “If you don’t see climate change as an existential threat, the solutions you’ll offer are pretty, pretty limited,” Sen. McCollister said. “Whereas if you do see climate change as an existential threat, you’re more likely to embrace some of the more difficult solutions.” Consequently, Pansing Brooks has had to tread carefully when using “climate change” on the legislative floor. She has had to change her language, she said, to avoid upsetting some senators who are offended by the words. Such words can create barriers, Pansing Brooks said. But changing the wording from
climate change to ones that people can agree with and understand – like flood mitigation and drought preparedness – can make a world of a difference. How so? Because language helps constitute reality, according to Loukia Sarroub, Ph.D., a University of Nebraska-Lincoln linguistics professor. People like Pansing Brooks understand that the words “climate change” reflect a political perspective, Sarroub said. She knows that if she wants to do something important for the state, she must understand there are some phrases people don’t see eye-to-eye on. In the end, experts agree, people tend to pick and choose the language that fits their political views. “When I say that culture is constituted by language or language is constituted by culture, what I’m trying to say is if you listen really carefully, you can have a sense of people’s political perspectives through the language that they use,” Sarroub said. Therefore, it is no coincidence that people use different words to describe climate change. So one person’s “climate change” becomes another person’s “extreme weather” or “global warming.” “Extreme weather, I think, is probably a more accurate definition today because we are seeing a more intense weather event than we have experienced in the past,” said state Sen. Hughes. “But, you know, I think this is just something that is happening to our climate. This too will pass.” Meanwhile, Sen. McCollister said he refuses to change his wording regardless of who he is speaking to. When McCollister talks about climate change, he uses the words “climate change.”
change the narrative just based on who I’m talking to.” Like his colleague Pansing Brooks, McCollister has faced obstacles when trying to talk about climate change to certain Nebraskan senators. The conservative side, he said, thinks climate change is a conspiracy created by liberals. Although it’s unlikely a political consensus will emerge, it’s not impossible for some compromise to occur on both sides. “Whether or not they’re caused by man, we can at least be talking about what do we do to stop the next floods from happening in Nebraska,” Pansing Brooks said. But for this to happen, both sides need to communicate, need to avoid a screaming match, need to let differing opinions be thoughtfully heard. “If somebody that doesn’t believe in climate change is demanding that I not believe it or that I agree with their opinion,” she said, “I can’t get there with them.” Instead, Pansing Brooks recommends talking about things they can agree with, like extreme weather or continuous floods. Neither side, she said, can hold out for perfection. “The thing I keep saying is perfection is the enemy of good.” For her, that means both sides must listen carefully to the other and make compromises for the common good. “We have to meet people part way and then walk together,” Pansing Brooks said. “Because if we just stand in our corners and stomp our feet, nothing is going to get done.”
“I use the words that I use,” he said. “I don’t climatechangenebraska.com | 35
A Conversation with Gage Cruz Cruz is a University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduate who founded the sustainable fashion brand, Greenstain.
What changes have you made in your life to reduce your carbon footprint and why?
Where did your concern for climate change issues start?
“One thing that’s been super helpful is like comprehensively reviewing my carbon footprint, there’s tons of calculators online, one of them is the carbon footprint calculator at conservation.org. And so using these to really identify like what daily habits or things you do that emit the most carbon and from there, you can start diving in deeper, creating sort of like a game plan to start reducing those emissions.”
“When I started working with the Environmental Leadership Program I saw the amount of positive impact you can have and all the problem solving that happened with working on sustainability initiatives, and that’s just kind of how my brain works is that sort of problem solving mindset. So from there, I switched my major to environmental studies from mechanical engineering during my sophomore year of college and really just started deep diving into the problems and figuring out any sort of solution I can when it came to sustainability and climate change.”
What do you think are the best actions an individual can take to combat climate change? “The biggest thing is just getting informed on your day to day actions and how those are impacting the environment and then really making these small changes each day towards lowering your carbon footprint. Some people give up here, because they can’t see the impact they’re making, or they think that they’re doing too little, it’s not significant. But the thing to understand is that nobody’s perfect, especially when it comes to living a sustainable lifestyle and as long as you’re doing a little bit better than you were yesterday, that’s what’s important.”
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Where did your concern for climate change issues start? “I know it seems overwhelming, there’s a ton of greenwashing out there people that are claiming to be eco friendly, but have nothing to back it up, and they really aren’t. So that’s where education comes in. Like we really need to be educated consumers. And I’m confident that in the future, this will just be integrated into culture in schools already. And so we just have to kind of front load that work and provide a great example for this next generation that comes after us.”
Gage Cruz courtesy photo
What do you think Nebraska is doing right to combat climate change? “I think one thing Nebraska is doing right, is just starting the conversation. And you know, having various resource conservation groups, different departments. I know specifically at UNL, like the Ag department at UNL, is working on more sustainable agriculture. Even the amount of RSO’s on campus is super encouraging. The fact that we have an environmental studies program is awesome. And even just having a sustainability office at UNL is a fantastic start. And the university really is a leader in a lot of ways for what the city does, because those kind of work together pretty closely.
Having a specific office, like the Office of Sustainability at UNL, was huge for just redefining the systems and operations to be more sustainable, you know, creating these reports to start measuring the impact and start identifying places where we can do a little bit better. That’s all awesome stuff. But you know, I think there’s still a lot of room to go within Nebraska specifically. But we’ve got a good solid foundation here.”
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Brittni McGuire, a junior fisheries and wildlife major from Omaha, leads the 2019 Climate Strike. Courtesy photo
The Politics of Climate Change How we can have more productive conversations By: Dylan Patrick
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“
You and all your climate terrorists can go to hell. You don’t have any idea what you’re talking about. You haven’t lived long enough!”
“Oh, really? Well, thanks to your generation – and all the people who have ‘lived long enough’ – my generation won’t be able to!” “You seriously think that after millions of years, some no-name kids can do anything about it?” “What makes me think I can do anything about it? What choice do I have?” That conversation on a warm fall evening wasn’t supposed to happen. With a steaming casserole spread out on their mahogany dining room table, the Rivenbarks expected it would be another pleasant family dinner in their Austin, Texas, household. It was always a time for everyone to slow down and enjoy one another’s company.
But that didn’t happen on this night – all because of the last hour of Alyssa Rivenbark’s day at school.
go?” quickly turned into an ugly screaming match between the climate change-believing daughter and her climate-denier father.
That particular day ended with a debate course. The topic was climate change, an explosive one that students weren’t used to dealing with.
And, in the end, it wasted her mother’s delicious casserole.
Alyssa, a high school junior in Austin, was assigned to argue that the scientific research of climate experts was misconstrued. That there really wasn’t any actual proof of human impact on the environment – an idea that disgusted her.
The back-and-forth fireworks between father and daughter at the family kitchen table is hardly unique these days. In fact, it’s becoming an increasingly common occurrence at kitchen tables, classrooms, churches, sporting events, city council meetings, barrooms, grocery checkout lines and virtually every other place capable of holding two people close enough to talk.
Throughout her attempt to quickly unearth existing evidence to support that claim, she was frustrated because she couldn’t find any credible sources. And now she was expected to defend that awkward position in a few minutes.
“What makes me think I can do anything about it? What choice do I have?”
A self-described believer, but not an expert on the extent to which humans cause climate change, Alyssa left the classroom with her eyes opened to what an overwhelming majority of global scientists had concluded. But how, she wondered, would she ever be able to effectively counter the consensus of the scientific community: the planet’s surface temperature rising a degree Celsius since the Industrial Revolution, the five warmest recorded years all within the last decade, the loss of Antarctic ice tripling in the last 10 years, global sea levels rising eight inches in the past century.
- Alyssa Rivenbark, high school junior in Austin, Texas Every day, more and more conversations are drowned out by the noise, the anger, the selfrighteousness and the mounting inability to listen to opposing viewpoints. Every day, more and more facts, figures and science are giving credence to thoughts, feelings and intractable opinions. Every day, it inches closer and closer to becoming one of the most toxic and polarizing phrases in America’s lexicon: “Climate Change.”
How could she dance around the scientific data Or is it, “Climate Crisis”? to convincingly defend the argument she’d been assigned? Or is it, “Extreme Weather”? She couldn’t. In the end, the facts, realities, truths and data she found would not only lose her spot as a top debater but would also lose her spot at the dinner table a few hours later.
Or is it, “Global Warming”? Or is it, “Climate Variability”? Or is it…
So, her father’s simple question: “How’d debate climatechangenebraska.com | 39
Today’s climate change debate is volatile and political in nature. With all sides increasingly retreating to their ideological silos, unable to escape their own echo chambers, some serious questions have emerged:
viewpoints different from theirs?
Why is it that our nation, and our world, have become so focused on the language and syntax of what people want to label as facts?
These are baffling questions for many.
Why are people worried about what to generally call the fact that the 20 warmest years on record have all occurred in the past 22 years? Why are people concerned about whether to call it “climate fluctuations” or just “weather changes?” Why is it that what is arguably the most advanced civilization in history – capable of moon landings, polio vaccines and the internet – is so stuck on vernacular? Why are all sorts of people averse to hearing
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How did we get here? And what can we do about it?
Count Austin Hutchinson among them. The 20-year-old Abilene Christian University communications major struggles to figure out how to convey the rapid pace of climate change to his boomer-generation grandparents, whom he loves. “I just don’t understand the blinders they have on,” said Hutchinson, a red-blooded Republican. “I’m not sure if it’s they don’t understand what’s happening, or if they don’t want to understand what’s happening.” And grandparents, like 73-year-old Barbara Allison, an Oklahoma City native, are wondering how they can get through to their millennialage children and grandchildren that the earth is so expansive and old, it will find a way.
“The entire time humans have walked earth, it has experienced some sort of environmental and ecological evolution. That won’t stop because some young people find the natural cycle distressing,” said Allison, who loves her grandsons but doesn’t understand them. So, what can be done to bridge these generational gaps and political divisions, to get to a place where we can more deeply understand each other?
“Nobody doubts the climate changes. It always has changed. The question is, is man causing it and can we stop it?” - Austin Hutchinson, Abilene Christian University student
Conversations are often the obvious starting point. But given the sensitive nature of the issue, is there a way to ensure an exchange of civil discourse? Dan Mager of Psychology Today offers up a ready answer: start eliminating all swearing, name calling and finger wagging – far too common today. As soon as they enter the conversation, he said, “The only thing other people hear is anger and attack.” At which point, “they are likely to leave, shut down or attack as well.” So, if these are the conversational roadblocks that need to be eliminated, then what are some options that could lead to more civil exchanges and fewer screaming matches? The first step, according to Elaine Gast Fawcett of the National Center for Family Philanthropy, is to recognize the point of a civil conversation. The purpose of civil conversations, Fawcett said, is to “build a better understanding” between the participants. It’s equally important to recognize that “participants don’t have to
agree.” Rather, “what matters is the act of listening to other people and learning their perspective.” As the CEO of Metropolitan Family Services of Illinois, Ric Estrada gets in on a lot of conversations. “It’s when we listen and hear each other’s stories that we recognize common experiences. And on those commonalities, we can build communities,” said Estrada. The notion that listening is a key component to generating civil discourse is a concept heartily endorsed by Jeffrey Stevens, Ph.D., of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. As a psychology professor, Stevens notes that when people converse with someone holding an opposing viewpoint, their tendency is to listen only to what most closely coincides with their own world view. “Everyone should be aware of the notion of confirmation bias,” said Stevens. This is the scientific explanation for why people “tend to pay attention to and remember things that (they) already agree with.” But, if people are most likely to listen only to what they want to hear, how can one person ever persuade another person to think about the issue in a different way? It’s a good question – and Stevens has an answer for it. “Take a deep breath,” he said, “and remember that the best conversations involve active listening.” That is, listening “to the other person without interrupting or trying to prove them wrong.”
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When someone allows their emotions to take control of their mouth, any hope we had of persuading the other person, or in the rare instance, confronting the fact that we may be wrong, goes out the window, Stevens said. Stevens conducts simulations in his classrooms that focus on exactly this issue. He makes his students interview somebody on a subject with which they vehemently disagree. “They struggle to avoid arguing,” he said, “but when they do just listen, they walk away with better knowledge of the person’s viewpoint.” If actively listening is a key to productive conversation, how can it be employed in a topic as divisive as climate change?
Kreitmair said there is one sure way to go about implementing the science into daily conversations: “Don’t.”
“Don’t use the specifics when you’re talking to a denier or a skeptic – that will only shut them down and end the conversation.” - Ursula Kreitmair, Ph.D., assistant professor of political science at the University of NebraskaLincoln Kreitmair said there is one sure way to go about implementing the science into daily conversations: “Don’t.”
According to her, that’s one of the reasons conversations on such an important topic become tainted. And, too often, it ends up Ursula Kreitmair, Ph.D., a political science professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, tainting the relationship as well. has a ready answer: Actively listen, for sure, but don’t jam up your responses with a boatload of “Don’t use the specifics when you’re talking to a denier or a skeptic – that will only shut scientific complexities. them down and end the conversation,” she suggested. 42 | CLIMATE CHANGE NEBRASKA
“If they believe the premise is tainted, they will not be open to conclusions. Any attempts to persuade will only shut them down and end the conversation. Rather, work on building common connections,” she said. Meanwhile, Charles Camosy, Ph.D., a professor of theological and social ethics at Fordham University, offers another suggestion. He strongly recommends “avoiding binary thinking” such as liberal/conservative or believer/denier.
To convincing everyone that there is hope for whatever it is they believe in. The desire to have conversations with those holding opposing views is age-old. But to generate an understanding with one another, to eliminate the chances of one party storming out of the room, mind untouched, the experts say it is critical to re-examine the way in which these conversations typically occur. As experts suggest, not everyone can be wellversed in the science of the climate crisis, but they can actively listen, engage with others and build bridges in the process.
Too often, he said, we try to debate issues and These bridges have improved the relationship separate frames of thought into two categories. between father and daughter, in fact. But, in reality, they “are almost always too complex to fit into simplistic categories.” “You know, Alyssa, I’m very proud to see you following your passions.”
Issues “are almost always too complex to fit into simplistic categories.” - Charles Camosy, Ph.D., Fordham University theology professor So, according to the experts, actively listening, avoiding swearing, name calling and finger wagging, taking a deep breath to calm potential nerves, not overloading the science into it, remembering the concept of confirmation bias and the downsides of binary thought are all critical to having more civil conversations. These are the keys, they say, to convincing your grandma that recycling is good. The keys to convincing your daughter that the world is bigger than the sum of its parts.
“Thanks, Dad. It’s something I really believe in and something I need to do.” “Do you think there’s a spot for me in there somewhere?” “You want to join? Don’t you think we’re ‘climate-terrorists’?” “Well, no, not so much anymore. Some of my buddies at work have opened my eyes a bit.” “Really? How’d they pull that off? I’ve been trying for years.” “Well, they didn’t treat me like the enemy. Or like I was a jackass for having a different view.” “So glad to hear that, Dad.” “Good. Now let’s not waste this casserole Mom made for us.”
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Omaha Public Power District’s North Omaha Station in August 2013. Photo by: Ryan Soderlin
Experts: Climate Poses Significant Public Health Threat In Nebraska, heat and pollution leave many with climate change-related health issues By: Grace Gorenflo 44 | CLIMATE CHANGE NEBRASKA
A
whistle blows, echoing off the glossy wood planks of the gymnasium floor. Two sweaty teens butt heads, arms flailing, each grappling to make the first move. Soon, the one draped in a gold-and-blue Omaha North High Magnet School jersey twirls a finger in the air. The action stops. His wrestling coach jogs over to the mat, a small device in hand. He gives it to the kid, now hunched over and wheezing. The wrestler sucks in a lungful of albuterol, holds it for 10 seconds, then nods at the referee. The whistle blows, and the teens go at it once again. “Every match, I have an inhaler in my pocket,” Coach Steven Kirchner said. “And I hate feeling the inhaler in my pocket.” Kirchner also hates that his team suffers from respiratory issues. More than that, he’s frustrated that these issues derail their confidence. But it’s critical that he holds on to the device. The reason: Nearly half of his team — a group of teenagers whose magnet school is an eightminute drive from the North Omaha Station coal-fired power plant — suffers from asthma, a condition linked to fossil fuel emissions by the Environmental Protection Agency. When a coal plant emits a high concentration of sulfur dioxide, the colorless gas reacts with other atmospheric compounds to form tiny particles, according to the EPA. These particles can penetrate deep into the lungs, triggering an asthma attack and other respiratory conditions. “(Respiratory specialists) who work in the Omaha area, you ask them, where do you see the highest cases of asthma? And they’re like, you can circle it in Omaha,” said Jesse Bell, Ph.D., a University of Nebraska Medical Center professor of health and environment. “And it
is North Omaha that’s one of the areas that is definitely susceptible.” The quality of life in North Omaha is reflected in residents’ life expectancy rates, according to data from the Douglas County Health Department. Residents living in zip code 68111, where Omaha North is located, have the lowest average life expectancy in the county at 70.8 years, which is almost seven years lower than the county average of 77.5 years. North Omaha is 69% Black, according to the 2010 United States Census. Less than 10 miles away, zip code 68154 in West Omaha has the county’s highest average life expectancy at 81.3 years — 10.5 years longer than parts of North Omaha. Here, the population is 89% white. Nebraska State Sen. Ernie Chambers, who represents North Omaha’s 11th District, says communities of color, and specifically Black communities, are often targeted when it comes to things like interstate or coal plant construction. “We are never viewed as being truly American, so we are the expendable people, we are the un-people,” Chambers said. “Whenever something has to be constructed that is detrimental, it will be in or very near our community.” Though concentrated in North Omaha, these respiratory issues spread across the city. In 2019, Omaha placed ninth on the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America’s list of most challenging places to live with asthma based on estimated asthma prevalence, emergency room visits due to asthma and asthma-related deaths. For many Americans, climate change has become a toxic cocktail. Coal plant fumes and wildfire smoke drifting through the air. Pollen seasons and heat waves increasing in length and intensity. Each extreme weather event climatechangenebraska.com | 45
worsening the spread of emerging infectious diseases. “Climate change is a significant threat to the health of the American people,” Bell said. And Nebraska is far from immune. Stuck with lengthening pollen seasons, the Cornhusker state is among the worst in the country for allergy sufferers. The wholesale burning of North Kansas crop stubble adds more smoke to the dangerous mix each spring, and summer heat waves edge eerily close to southern temperatures. Historic winter snowfalls lead to historic spring flooding, causing the loss of livelihood and homes — $2.5 billion in 2019 alone. Meanwhile, mental and physical health both teeter on the brink. “I think a lot of times people think of climate change in the context of ice caps melting, sea level rise or something that’s happening in other parts of the world,” Bell said. “People need to understand that the impacts are local, that we’re already seeing the impacts of climate change and they’re probably only going to become more severe or worse in the future.” North Omaha is wedged between Interstate 680 and Nebraska 64, parts of it hugging the Missouri River. Here, car exhaust fumes and coal plant pollution fill the air — and the lungs of some of Omaha’s poorest citizens. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People gives the North Omaha coal plant an F rating in its “Coal Blooded: Putting Profits Before People” report. When there was talk about adding a freeway to the equation, Omaha State Sen. Ernie Chambers fought hard. Though an environmental impact statement was done, he says it focused on infrastructure, not the community. 46 | CLIMATE CHANGE NEBRASKA
State Sen. Ernie Chambers talks to an audience of his North Omaha constituents. Photo by: Omaha World-Herald
“As far as the actual health of the people, there was no consideration given,” Chambers said. “And nobody ever denied that it was going to be detrimental.” Before the interstate was built, Chambers said many people would take North 24th Street or North 30th Street to get downtown and back home, stopping in at local businesses along the way. Now, in a community with an average annual income of less than $14,000, according to the NAACP, drive-by is gone. “The property that abuts both sides (of the street) will decrease in value, and the community deteriorates,” Chambers said. “In other words, we are an easy target, so we are targeted.” After graduating from Iowa State University, Graham Jordison arrived in North Omaha, ready to see the coal-fired power plant retire. Working as a field organizer for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign, he attended
by about 10 days over the last 20 to 30 years, according to Bell. “If you’re a child or a parent with a child that has asthma, that’s 10 to 11 more days your child is potentially at risk for an asthma attack,” Bell said. “It’s 10 to 11 more days that your child could potentially go to the hospital. And that’s life threatening.” Extreme heat is the No. 1 weather-related killer in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And, due to rising temperatures, it’s claiming more victims each year. The CDC has reports of 1,130 heat-related fatalities from 2006-2015, though this doesn’t capture the full extent of the issue, as many deaths associated with extreme heat are not listed as such by a medical examiner.
neighborhood meetings and built relationships with community members, educating them on the dangerous effects of the plant. The campaign was successful — in 2014 the Omaha Public Power District board voted to retire three of the plant’s coal-burning units and eventually convert them to natural gas. But Jordison says the coal plant isn’t the only thing threatening livelihoods in North Omaha. “I’m trying to get them to realize that there’s this coal plant there, we need to shut this down, but there’s also a food desert there. There’s no access to medicine for miles in that community. There’s no businesses. They’re struggling to survive in all these other ways.” This absence of infrastructure means disadvantaged populations lack resources to reduce or mitigate climate issues. In North Omaha, Jordison says residents have a 75% to 80% higher rate of asthma than the rest of the city. The cherry on top is Nebraska’s ragweed pollen season, which in Omaha has increased
Temperature extremes stop the body from regulating its internal temperature and have the most direct impact on human health, according to “The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States: A Scientific Assessment,” done by the U.S. Global Change Research Program.
Signs and Symptoms of Heat Stroke
Dizziness
Fast, strong pulse
Nausea
Hot, red, dry or damp skin
If you experience any of these, you should move to a cooler location, avoid drinking anything and call 911. Information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention climatechangenebraska.com | 47
Heat illness can worsen chronic conditions, like respiratory and cardiovascular illness, and cause renal issues, kidney issues and preterm labor, according to Bell, a lead author on the report.
“We are never viewed as being truly American, so we are the expendable people, we are the un-people.”
In Nebraska, the average annual temperature has increased 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit since 1895, and it’s projected that the frequency of extreme heat occurrences will double by 2050, according to the Nebraska State Climate Office.
- Ernie Chambers, Former Nebraska State Senator
Martha Shulski, Ph.D., Nebraska’s state climatologist, says it’s only going to get worse.
West Nile virus, a vaccine-less infection primarily transmitted by mosquitoes, is at a nationwide high in Nebraska.
“We’re going to get more hot days, and summers are going to be four to five degrees warmer by the middle of the century,” Shulski said. Both Shulski and Bell mentioned concern about populations vulnerable to the heat, including farm workers, student athletes, the elderly and impoverished populations. Urban populations as a whole are vulnerable, Shulski says, since cities are naturally warmer and are less likely to cool off at night. And there’s no time like the present, Bell notes, to get a jump on dealing with the consequences of a warming planet. “I always preach that we need to get ahead of this stuff before it becomes more significant in the future,” Bell says. “We need to be able to understand the impacts of extreme heat or any other climate-related disaster or climaterelated event in Nebraska now, because if they
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continue to increase in intensity and frequency in the future, we need to be prepared for that.”
In 2018, Nebraska had the highest number of West Nile virus cases in the country, according to the CDC. That year, 167 people in the country died of the infection, 11 of them in Nebraska. Going forward, the virus is projected to increase in the northern part of the United States due to rising temperatures and decreasing precipitation, according to the Climate and Health assessment. Dr. Ali Khan, dean of the UNMC College of Public Health, said climate change affects the distribution of vector-borne, water-borne and food-borne illnesses, causing increased risk in various parts of the world. “As you change climate, nationally and globally … these vector distributions change, and so that puts people at risk for some disease, but it removes risk for other diseases, depending on what local conditions are. So climate change is a global issue with a local impact,” says Khan, former director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response for the CDC.
Lyme disease, an illness transmitted through the bite of an infected tick, is also moving closer to Nebraska. Primarily found in the Northeast region of the country, Lyme disease is expanding westward. The CDC receives 30,000 reports of Lyme disease cases each year, though this is only a fraction of infections that occur. With all of these health concerns piling up, Bell says it’s important for physicians to talk to their patients about climate changerelated illnesses. Physicians, he says, are a more trusted source of information in the community than researchers like himself. “Anybody working in health care, public health and emergency preparedness should be aware and knowledgeable of climate change because it is an underlying threat to the health of the American people,” Bell says. “If we’re not addressing or understanding those potential threats, then that’s a big miss in the context of any of these different institutions.” Despite popular preconceptions, Khan has been pleased to find that many Nebraskans are receptive to the conversation about climate change and health. He says he tries to focus on “nothing but the facts,” allowing the reports to speak for themselves. “I’ve actually been quite surprised,” he said. “This is a rural state, and nobody understands weather and climate better than a farmer.” The first step toward solving this public health emergency, Bell and Khan say, is a state climate action plan.
Johnson Foundation, a nonprofit focused on health. Nebraska’s environmental health, however, is a different story. “We do really poorly in environmental health,” Bell said. “We do excellent in a lot of these other things, but when it comes to environmental health … Nebraska as a whole doesn’t do very well. And one of the ways that we can improve our score is by creating a climate action plan.” There are two sides to the action plan story: adaptation and mitigation. Mitigation, Bell says, is reducing fossil fuels, focusing on sustainability and bettering the future. But accepting the damage that’s already been done is important, too. “We’re already facing the impacts of climate change. We need to have our infrastructure, our communities, more aware and more ready for the next whatever event we’re going to face,” he said. The public health effects of climate change are far-reaching and heavy. But Bell finds promise in knowing the first step toward betterment is an attainable one. “A lot of times when people talk about climate change, and they talk about some of these issues, they’re like, it’s so big … I’ve talked to numerous students and individuals where they just say, ‘I can’t get a hold of this,’” Bell said. “I always tell them, I think this is a hopeful story. Because the first person you can change is yourself.”
Nebraska is the top state in the country for health security, according to the Robert Wood
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A Conversation with Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird Baird ran for mayor promising to prioritize public safety and quality of life in Lincoln. What changes have you made in your life to reduce your carbon footprint and why? “We all have a role to play. There’s a difference each of us can make in trying to leave this world better than we found it and a lot of the good that we can do is in trying to preserve the environment not only for ourselves but for future generations. And a big way to do that is to reduce the kinds of emissions that we contribute to. So I’m a parent of three kids and my weekends are pretty busy with errands and one small thing that I do is try to organize my errands and consolidate them in ways that minimize my vehicle miles traveled. That’s just efficient for me and gives me a little more free time, but it’s also good for the environment.” What do you think are the best actions an individual can take to combat climate change? “One of the best things you can do is buy local. That will reduce the amount of transport that items, you know that come in and out of our community that take fossil fuels to move. It also has the added benefit of supporting our local businesses and organizations and our local economy. And that’s really important during this pandemic, as we look to try to recover from the economic impacts of COVID-19. Other actions include trying to find ways to use active transportation and reduce driving where it’s possible. So if you can walk or bike or bus instead, or even take a ride share that can make a difference in reducing carbon emissions and improving the energy efficiency of your home.” 50 | CLIMATE CHANGE NEBRASKA
Where did your concern for climate change issues start? “My concerns really come out of the values that my parents taught me about caring for the environment. So I grew up in a family that conserved, recycled, camped, hunted, fished, canned fruits and vegetables and gardened, and some of my earliest memories are popping in the truck with my dad and taking bags of cans and bottles and newspapers to the recycling center. And then we’d stop and pick up a Nestle crunch bar on the way home as a reward for ourselves. And, you know, we were, we were essentially doing our best to have a light footprint without actually articulating it in those words. And as an adult, I’ve paid more attention to the rising tide of information about the adverse impacts of climate change that we’re experiencing, and increasingly likely to experience as a result of that accelerated rate of climate change and warming of our planet.”
Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird courtesy photo
What are you doing as the mayor of Lincoln to address climate change? “Here in Lincoln, we’ve studied our local vulnerabilities and we’re about to release a draft Climate Action Plan that presents just a menu of recommended strategies about how we can build resilience for our community.
and respond in a way that’s meaningful and successful in the face of this other big challenge that humanity faces related to climate change and there’s meaningful work we can do locally to make a difference.”
And building resilience is something that Lincolnites are very familiar with, whether it was going to the Platte River many decades ago to shore up our water supply for a community that was settled with, you know, around at Salt Flats, to stewarding the environment as we built parks and trails ... this pandemic gives me a lot of hope that we can also come together climatechangenebraska.com | 51
Rising Temperatures Threaten Nebraska’s $14 Billion Cattle Industry Scientists seek to develop new uses for heat-trapping methane gas By: Nora Lucas
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attle, like people, don’t do well in hot, humid weather. Unlike humans, they don’t have the option to retreat to airconditioning for relief. Disorientated and agitated, overheated bovines stumble around with frothy mouths agape before collapsing. The bad news for Nebraska ranchers (and cattle, of course) is the number of hot days that can trigger these responses are occurring more frequently — a growing risk from climate change to an industry that contributes $13.8 billion to the Nebraska economy. Terry Mader, Ph.D., a retired University of Nebraska–Lincoln animal science professor, said two significant heat events led to significant cattle losses in all of the 1980s. In the 1990s, there were four. Now, at least one extreme heat event occurs every other year. “If a livestock operation is to be sustainable, they must be prepared for adverse weather events, which could affect the health and welfare of the animals in the operation,” Mader said.
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The story of climate change and cattle is a story of cause and effect. So far, it’s been mostly cause. While fossil fuels account for the vast majority of greenhouse gas emissions, agriculture contributes a-not-insignificant slice of the pie — about 10 percent of the emissions in the US. And livestock production through the release of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, is the biggest contributor within agriculture. But there are effects, too. A hotter cow is also a thirstier and weaker cow — and one that is less productive, i.e. generates less revenue. Extreme weather events, like last year’s bomb cyclone, mean more animal losses and new expenses for repairing damaged property, threatening ranchers who already operate on the margins.
Cattle exit a sale barn in Burwell, Neb. Photo by Matt Dixon
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As the rain fell in sheets last spring, UNL student and animal science major Felicia Knoerzer said it was impossible to keep pens bedded with straw and calves free of mud. “We did everything in our power to ensure the safety and well-being of our animals,” she said. “However, Mother Nature was not on our side.” The family operation lost more calves than it ever had, Knoerzer said. “Farmers are on the front ends of climate,” says Graham Christensen, who promotes environmentally-friendly agriculture practices through his consultancy GC Resolve. Over the past century, Nebraska’s temperature has increased by 1 degree Fahrenheit. Models suggest that Nebraska’s temperatures could increase by another 4 to 9 degrees by 2075.
But they are most comfortable, and therefore most productive, between a range of 60 and 80 degrees. “Animal productivity is optimized within narrow environmental conditions,” UNL’s Mader wrote in a 2014 UNL climate study. “The impacts of climate change and rising CO2 are certain to affect all major food-producing domestic livestock species.” Without the ability to cool down at night, cattle undergo heat stress, a biological response that can limit a cattle’s ability to gain weight. They are more susceptible to disease, require more water and eat much less, translating to loss of revenue for ranchers. Beef and dairy cattle that spend most of their lives outdoors will be “particularly vulnerable,” Mader wrote.
The 2014 climate study projected that the number of nights above the 80-degree mark could increase by 40 nights by 2075.
“Climate variability has already had an effect on livestock production in recent years,” he wrote in an email.
Cattle, which spend most of their lives outdoors, are resilient animals. Beef cattle can tolerate a wide range of temperatures.
Adding shady spots, more water holes and less fatty feed can mitigate the effects of heat stress on cattle. But the United States Department of Agriculture reported that these methods increase costs to production and capital.
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Cattle feed on pasture grass near Burwell, Neb. When the time comes to harvest the animals, they will be loaded onto trucks and brought to feeding lots to put on their final weight. Photo by Carlee Koehler
With rising temperatures and humidity, climate change also brings greater variation in the amount of rainfall. In worst-case scenarios, cattle could drown in overflowing rivers, or, as was the case last year, be buried by blizzards.
“The impacts of climate change and rising CO2 are certain to affect all major food-producing domestic livestock species.”
Last year’s flooding cost Nebraska $400 million in livestock losses. John Hansen, president of the Nebraska Farmers Union, said severe weather damaged fences, led to soil loss and destroyed roads and bridges, adding new stresses for farmers and ranchers who “were already barely hanging on.”
- Terry Mader, Ph.D., University of Nebraska-Lincoln animal science emeritus professor
The variation in weather, more pronounced in a warming world, can be difficult to manage, according to Travis Mulliniks, Ph.D., a range cattle nutritionist at UNL. “Rising temperatures means that winter is very different, which leads to performance quality changes,” he said. “Last winter, it was wet, it was extremely cold. This winter has been really open for us. Those yearly variations in temperature change the management strategy.”
Changing management means more time and labor, in addition to higher costs, to adapt to unforeseen weather. Cattle are ruminant animals, meaning they have multiple stomachs, whereas a pig or a chicken only has one. An advantage of these ruminant animals is that they can consume products that humans cannot — leading to less food waste and higher productivity.
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Cattle, however, contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. Cattle produce methane in the digestive process, most of which is expelled in burps. That’s bad for the planet because methane is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, though it dissipates in the atmosphere decades sooner. Agriculture scientists are looking for ways to reduce the amount of methane cattle produce, which could pay off economically for livestock producers, said UNL livestock engineering professor Rick Koelsch, Ph.D.
“If we spend more days trying to raise that animal to a certain desired weight, then we have more manure produced, more greenhouse gases, we have a larger environmental footprint,” Koelsch said. The primary concern from farmers right now, according to Hansen, is the prospect of rising commodity prices, which barely cover the cost of production. With lower yield of feed due to climate change, this will only continue.
“Our nation desperately needs more, not fewer, family farmers and rancher resource managers who have a deeply felt conservation ethic and want to do everything in their power “Anything not lost as methane is potentially to leave the land in a better condition than energy that could be used for the growth of the they found it for future generations,” Hansen animal,” he said. “Methane is a loss we’ve just said. historically accepted, and now we’re looking at how to utilize that energy.” Knoerzer takes this to heart. She said that while climate change presents new challenges, Koelsch, who serves on the U.S. Roundtable her family has years of experience that so far For Sustainable Beef, a group that has allowed them to handle whatever situation includes academics, agribusiness leaders, they face. environmentalists and food service executives, said that to reduce emissions, cows must get “Do we want to raise cattle in conditions like to weight more quickly so fewer feed and water last spring? Absolutely not. But we will do resources are consumed. This means lower everything we can to ensure those animals cost for the producer and lower environmental receive the best treatment regardless of the impact. conditions we are faced with,” Knoerzer said.
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Cattle look on from the pasture in the Nebraska Sandhills. Photo by Carlee Koehler
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Rising Temperatures Put Heat on Nebraska’s $7 Billion Corn Industry Food shortages could spark global upheavals By: Sophia Svanda
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n late summer mornings for about two weeks every year — after the sunrise but before it gets too hot to do much of anything — corn stalks all over Nebraska mate with themselves. The tassels sprout anthers, which release pollen, which fall onto the sticky silks below, sometimes on the same plant. Two months later, give or take, and, voilà, a fully-grown corn cob is ready for harvest. The process supports some 23,000 Nebraska farmers and provides about $7 billion annually to the state. But, scientists say, climate change could take a big bite out of Nebraska’s corn business, threatening an economic engine for the state and an important food source for an everhungrier world. “Corn pollination almost all takes place between 8 o’clock and 10 o’clock in the morning,” said Tom Hoegemeyer, Ph.D., a former University of Nebraska-Lincoln agronomy professor who has studied climate change’s effects on corn. “If it’s hot early in the day, that’s really negative.”
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Brothers Rodney and Rich Byars walk through a field of dead and stalled corn on July 16, 2012 in Geff, Ill. Summer temperatures in Nebraska in the mid-21st century could be similar to those experienced during the 2012 drought. Photo by Robert Ray
For Hoegemeyer, who is also a member of the Elders Climate Action group of former UNL scientists, “negative” means a drop off in corn production of at least 20% when climate change really starts to pinch around midcentury. Nebraska’s temperature rose by about 1 degree Fahrenheit over the past century. Climate models predict a temperature increase of 4 to 9 degrees by 2100, depending on how well the world can control greenhouse gases. According to the Fourth National Climate Assessment, a collaboration of 13 federal agencies, agricultural productivity in central
By contrast, a year earlier in 2018, only 25,048 were lost during a normal rainfall, according to a 2020 UNL agriculture report. Corn was particularly hard hit. The 2019 spring floods prevented 344,407 acres of cropland from being planted compared to a loss of only 18,956 acres in 2018. If there is one group that can adapt to change, it’s farmers, who have a long history of managing all manner of threats: weather, pests, market shifts brought on by trade wars. Billions of research dollars have led to insectresistant plants, techniques for healthier soils and new crop rotation practices. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, farmers in the US cultivated 330 million acres in 1910, supplying food and fiber for a population slightly over 92 million people.
and eastern Nebraska may fall by 50% toward the end of the century, although it would increase in the higher and cooler western half of the state. Upsetting the pollination sequence is just one potential threat to Nebraska’s Cornhusker moniker. Higher overnight lows in July’s critical growth weeks may also mean a less robust crop. Longer and more frequent droughts would deplete moisture levels in the soil. Irrigation can help mitigate the damage, but surface and groundwater sources may not be quite so plentiful in a hotter, drier climate. Heavier spring rainfalls in the Midwest could lead to more soil erosion, another threat to yields. For example, in 2019, the floods took 421,958 out of production.
By 2006, farmers plowed the same number of acres but produced enough crops for nearly 300 million. Nebraska farmers produced 26 bushels per acre in 1900. Today, they produce more than 180 bushels. Suat Irmak, Ph.D., a UNL engineering professor who has studied how climate changes affect agricultural productivity, said heat can have a “huge impact on crop growth and development.” For the last decade and a half, he said Nebraska has seen more extreme temperatures and precipitation events. But he sees ways to mitigate the worst effects. A small amount of irrigation — an extra ¼ inch — can lower field temperatures by 7 to 10 degrees. No-till farming can also help keep soil cool. And genetics can create corn varieties that better withstand drought and high heat, Irmak said. Corn itself is already remarkably adaptable.
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Hoegemeyer said there are tens of thousands of varieties. Corn has been grown on the outskirts of the Arctic Circle, from sea level to mountainous regions. But a warming planet may bring tests of a different order. “Climate change presents an unprecedented challenge to the adaptive capacity of U.S. agriculture,” a 2013 USDA report said. Before he retired as head of the USDA’s National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment, Jerry Hatfield, Ph.D., studied just what the effects could be. Temperatures above 90 degrees can make pollen sterile, resulting in corn cobs that look like they badly lost a fight, only with missing kernels instead of missing teeth. Hot, dry winds carry the same risk. But it’s higher overnight lows that worry 60 | CLIMATE CHANGE NEBRASKA
Hatfield the most. During the day, corn uses photosynthesis to create sugars. At night, the sugars spur cell growth. When nighttime temperatures are too high – above 50 degrees Fahrenheit – the process is much less efficient. The stored energy gets wasted, and the plants don’t grow as well. The UNL climate study reported that the number of high degree temperature stress days – days over 90 degrees – will increase substantially by 2041-70. “We think we have the capacity within adaptation to basically handle climate change scenarios until about 2050,” Hatfield said. “But then, as you look at the projections going forward, we may have to have some really innovative adaptation strategies to be able to cope without tremendous impacts on productivity.” Tyler Williams, a UNL extension educator who focuses on climate issues, worries about how climate change will affect precipitation.
“In the No. 1 irrigated state for acres, we’re heavily dependent on groundwater and it’s not an infinite resource,” he said. “If we see a decrease in summer precipitation, or even the same precipitation with increased temperatures, we will put a strain on our groundwater and surface water resources.” As snowpack levels decrease in the Rockies, another consequence of climate change, Nebraska rivers and streams that farmers also draw water from will drop as well. For Andrea Basche, Ph.D., a UNL agronomy professor who specializes in climate adaptation, the concern is the variability of the rainfall. Heavier spring rains could keep farmers from getting in their fields. Because there aren’t crops to help hold the soil in place, spring rain leads to more erosion, stripping away the earth’s productive capacity. Climate models and recent history both “point to more water in the winter, spring and fall and less in the summer, which is very bad for the crops we grow,” Basche said. Another concern is an increase in the number of crop-destroying bugs. Climate change impacts the survival rate, geographical distribution, population size and other factors related to pests and diseases. “If our winters get warmer, some pests who typically die in our cold winter may be able to survive,” Williams said.
For Nebraska, an inability to adapt will lead to a severe economic hit. More 45,900 farms and ranches contributed more than $21 billion to Nebraska’s economy in 2018. According to the Nebraska Department of Agriculture, one in four jobs in the state is related to agriculture. The effects of bad crop years in the Midwest will likely ripple across the globe. The world’s population is expected to grow from 7 billion people in 2010 to nearly 9.8 billion in 2050. According to a World Resources Institute report, food demand will increase 50% by mid-century. To meet demand, farmers will have to increase yields at a greater rate than historic trends, the report found. A disruption in any part of the world may be enough to raise prices, adding new stress for the food insecure. Hoegemeyer retired from the university four years ago. But he often thinks of a student from Egypt who was studying at UNL during the Arab Spring of 2011. The student said his father back home was constantly struggling to balance the family’s little money for fuel to get to work, to feed his family and for books so his children could attend school. “When you increase food prices in lots of the vulnerable societies across the world, it’s going to force some really ugly decisions,” Hoegemeyer said. “We have a real responsibility to deal with climate change.”
They may also be hungrier. As temperatures warm, the metabolism of pests such as aphids and corn borers speed up.
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BUDGETING
Take a breath.
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ACTIVITY
66.6% of Americans reported feeling at least somewhat anxious about
climate change, and 26% are very worried. If you are feeling anxious after reading about climate change, you are not alone. Remember to take time to focus on your physical and mental well-being, especially if you are feeling overwhelmed.
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Scientists Say: Climate Change Is Here and Nebraska’s Not Immune Impacts of warming climate felt from Nairobi to North Platte By: Lindsay Johnson
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ight-story-tall chunks of ice groan and grumble, plunging thunderously into the ocean, raising sea levels where 70% of the global population lives. Nine trillion tons of Earth’s glacial ice was lost between 1961 and 2016. Easily seen from outer space, roaring fires and billowing smoke burn an estimated 2.24 million acres (3,500 square miles). In 2019, a football pitch-sized area of tropical rainforest was lost every six seconds. The Amazon rainforest is the planet’s largest terrestrial absorber of carbon dioxide, capturing 2.4 billion metric tons of carbon annually. Farmers look on in horror as billions of locusts engulf East Africa, darkening skies and wreaking havoc on one of the world’s most impoverished regions, due largely to changing weather and climate patterns. Globally, droughts have increased in frequency, severity and magnitude since 1900, leading to war, famine and death. In 2019, Cape Town, South Africa, started a countdown for when it would run out of water following years of drought and low reservoir levels. Venice, Italy, was brought to its knees in November 2019 with its worst flooding since 1966. Worldwide, floods accounted for about 64 | CLIMATE CHANGE NEBRASKA
Interstate 29 along the Missouri River was one of many roads swept away by the 2019 flood. Photo by James Wooldridge
40% of all losses due to natural catastrophes since 1980, triggering $1.1 tillion in damages, according to the global reinsurance company, Munich Re. In the last decade, 26 drought and flooding events slammed the US, costing $139.6 billion and killing over 500 people, compared to 11 drought and flooding events, costing $70.6 billion and 237 deaths during the previous decade, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. “Human influence on the climate system is clear, and recent (human) emissions of greenhouse gases are the highest in history. Recent climate changes have had widespread impacts on human and natural systems,” according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Droves of day-old drowned calves. Scores of homes swept away that had stood for generations. Damages surpassing $2.5 billion — including $640 million in roads, levees and other infrastructure, $300 million in agriculture and $400 million in cattle. Floodwaters destroyed or damaged more than 2,000 homes and 340 businesses at a cost of over $170 million. There’s no doubt climate change is happening in Nebraska, according to Martha Shulski, Ph.D., Nebraska state climatologist. “Our economy and Nebraska is highly vulnerable to these weather extremes. The drought of 2012 will be worse in the future, the flood of 2019 will be worse in the future,” said Shulski, a Nebraska native and associate professor of applied climate science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “If we don’t act now to mitigate, they’re only going to be more of them.”
Among climate scientists, 97% agree that climate-warming trends over the past century are extremely likely due to human activities, according to NASA. And Nebraska is hardly immune. The nightmare of March 2019 is firmly etched in the minds of most Nebraskans. Images of raging rivers spilling over embankments. Thousands of flooded acres of farmland.
This is a story about science – about the accumulation of facts generated by scores of scientific studies meticulously compiled by hundreds of scientists filing thousands of pages of reports. “CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion and industrial processes contributed about 78% to the total (greenhouse gas) emission increase between 1970 and 2010, with a contribution of similar percentage over the 2000–2010 period,” according to the fifth IPCC report.
“If the leadership of a nation does not understand climate change or the consequences of climate change then it’s very likely that they will not prepare the government and the people for eventualities that will come.” - Chuck Hagel, former Secretary of Defense and Nebraska State Senator climatechangenebraska.com | 65
Since the end of the Industrial Revolution in 1840, scientists have studied the effect of CO2 on a warming climate. In his latest book, “Falter”, Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org, revealed how scientists understood the consequences of increasing CO2 emissions over 50 years ago. To drive home his point, McKibben quotes a 1970s scientific document given to senior Exxon executives. “There is no doubt that increases in fossil fuel usage and decreases of forest cover are aggravating the potential problem of increasing CO2 in the atmosphere,” McKibben writes. He also quotes a 1982 American Petroleum Institute task force: “There are some potentially catastrophic events that must be considered. Once the effects are measurable, they might not be reversible.” Greenhouse gas emissions are the highest in history due to human activity, which are having a clear influence on the climate system, according to the IPCC. These dire warnings brought the global scientific community together to design the most sweeping initiative to fight climate change — the Paris Climate Agreement. In 2015, 196 countries committed to an ultimate goal of keeping global temperatures well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) of the pre-industrial global average temperatures. As of April 2020, 195 countries and the European Union have signed the agreement, with the United States withdrawing from the agreement on June 1, 2017. Member nations saw this as a devastating blow to achieving key goals, as the US was a major negotiator in 2015 and currently the second-highest
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CO2 emitter. President Donald Trump said the agreement “disadvantages the United States to the exclusive benefit of other countries.” In response, French and German leaders expressed their disappointment but doubled down on their commitment to curb CO2 emissions. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesperson said, “Now more than ever we will work for global climate policies that save our planet.” This withdrawal was not disappointing to everyone. One in four US registered voters supported the president’s decision, including Nebraska State Sen. Dan Hughes, who is skeptical about the cause of climate change. “There’s no question the climate is changing,” Sen. Hughes said. “What is causing it is the contention I have. I do not believe that human activities have that big an impact on the weather … We’re in a very active weather pattern right now, currently. And how long that lasts, I don’t think anybody really knows.” Those arguing humans are not the primary cause of climate change often cite that climate has always changed. “The world is getting warmer, but not just due to pollution and greenhouse effects,” said Tanner Lembke, a 25-year-old rancher in Chadron, Nebraska, who took over the ranch in his family for 100 years. “The world goes through hot and cold spikes. But on the same note, I also believe the world is pretty damn good about resetting itself when things aren’t going good.” Scientists agree the climate has always changed and natural cycles influence Earth’s climate. But global temperatures have been rising for the last 150 years. Man’s burning of fossil fuel and increasing atmospheric CO2,
scientists say, is the only factor that accounts for this warming. Antarctica and the Arctic both recorded its hottest temperatures in 2020. However, there are some who don’t believe the science is settled. Sen. Hughes questions the facts. “I think there’s a lot of people who are cherry picking certain aspects of the way the world is,” he said. “There are lots of climate scientists out there who are saying, you know, this is not that much out of the ordinary.” Even those not sold on the argument of man-made climate change believe it’s time to discuss solutions. “I’m sure we do have the effect of changing the environment ourselves, but a lot of finger pointing isn’t helping,” Lembke said. “Stop bitching about it and start doing something.” And Lembke is not the only one who feels that way. According to a June 2020 Pew Research Center survey, nearly two-thirds of Americans think the federal government should do more to combat climate change, including measures to reduce greenhouse gases. Those greenhouse gases, scientists say, are a critical factor in a warming planet. The High Plains, which includes Nebraska, is particularly vulnerable to climate change with its agriculture-based economy. Since 1895, Nebraska has warmed about 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit and “the number of high temperature stress days over 100 degrees Fahrenheit is projected to increase substantially.”
Fast Facts About the Paris Climate Agreement •
It was passed in 2015 by a coalition of 197 countries.
•
Countries in the Paris Climate Agreement work together to set goals limiting warming to 1.5 degrees celcius, review emission targets every 5 years and assist developing nations.
•
The Agreement holds countries accountable for reduction targets.
•
Countries are allowed to reduce emissions in the way that is most beneficial to their economy.
•
The United States officially left the agreement in November 2020 but rejoined in January 2021.
Temperatures are also expected to increase by 4 to 5 degrees Fahrenheit to 8 to 9 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100 in Nebraska.
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This is according to a 2014 UNL report: Understanding and Assessing Climate Change: Implications for Nebraska. This is a story about water. Rising sea levels is one of the greatest consequences of climate change, with an estimated 1 to 3 feet of sea level rise to occur by 2100. Over one-third of the world’s population lives within 60 miles of the coast. More than 600 million people live in New York City, Shanghai, London and Bangkok, all built no more than 3 feet above sea level. Between November 2019 and February 2020, severe winter flooding hit several parts of Britain, the worst in northern Britain, causing an estimated $165 million in damages. All of this rainfall led to the wettest February (6.68 inches) since
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records began in 1766. This is a story about fire. In 2019, the Amazon rainforest experienced one of its warmest and driest periods. This resulted in a massive part of the rainforest becoming a raging inferno, contributing almost as much CO2 to the atmosphere as it typically absorbs from the atmosphere. On the other side of the world, historic brush fires also ravaged Australia in 2019. Record heat and drought forced thousands to abandon their homes and seek refuge. As temperatures began to fall and Australia entered autumn, over 46 million acres were burned, the air quality index in Sydney reached more than 12 times the hazardous level and over a billion wildlife were killed. Drought is a natural climatic
occurrence that is becoming more frequent and more severe throughout the world. In 2019, 45 million people across 14 African countries struggled to find food as droughts spread across East Africa. This is a story about how scientists believe climate change is giving Mother Nature the power to wreak havoc on the human-made world. And that havoc includes Nebraska. As an agricultural state, Nebraska is vulnerable to the devastating impacts of climate change. Agriculture requires temperature, precipitation and weather to be consistent. These factors are becoming more extreme, or variable, due to climate change, making the agricultural sector one of
Interstate 29 along the Missouri River in 2019. Photo by James Wooldridge
A protest sign at a Divest NU rally calling for removal of UNL investments in fossil fuels. Photo by Caitlin Thomas
the most sensitive to climate change’s impacts. “We know annual precipitation totals have increased by about 10%,” state climatologist Shulski said. “And we know that that rate of change is accelerating in recent decades as it is with temperature. So, we’re getting warmer and we’re getting wetter and that is speeding up.” This is a story about Nebraska’s future. Graham Christensen, an Oakland, Nebraska, farmer who has seen the impacts of climate change firsthand, founded GC Resolve to advocate for and educate farmers and ranchers as climate becomes more extreme. “We have no choice. (Climate change) is going to happen
regardless and Nebraska is well positioned to become a national leader and an example,” Christensen said. Rather than focusing on the problem of climate change, Christensen said, Nebraskans can focus on the solutions. He said the arguments become unimportant as the mission becomes clear and brings people together. “They do the right things and the next thing they know after they’re applying these good practices and it works, they’re talking about the reason they did it was for their kids, and so on,” he said. When John Hansen, a native of Newman Grove, Nebraska, bought his farm from his grandfather, he was told to take good care of the land and the land will take care of
him. Hansen is striving to do just that through his work as the president of the Nebraska Farmers Union. Like many farmers, people who have made a living off the land, Hansen has seen the weather changing. “There needs to be an allhands-on deck approach to dealing with climate change,” he said. For Hansen, the time for climate action is now. “Every day we don’t do something, we’re making the problem worse,” Hansen said. “So, you know, the longer you don’t deal, the more profound the problem becomes, the more expensive it becomes, the more radical changes need to be made.”
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“Going Red” How the Winnebago are planting ancient corn to regrow their culture. By: Andrianna Jacobs
O
ne day in the late summer of 2020, a
Winnebago tribal elder was anxious to see her field of dreams—row after row of her beloved Indian corn stretching to the horizon. Thirty-five years earlier, she had restored the ancient tradition of planting and harvesting the sacred corn as a fundraiser for her women’s church group. But when Sarah Snake finally got to the field that hot summer day, she saw something else: She saw an empty field covered in mulch. She saw that all the Indian corn she prayed would help restore her people’s culture had been destroyed. The 65-year-old grandmother with stage four lung cancer stood alone in the barren field and cried. “There was absolutely nothing,” Snake said. “The corn was all gone. Who would do that? Who would do such a thing?” A white farmer, it turned out, had driven his tractor through the field, over and over, destroying all the corn. All that Sarah got was an unsigned one-sentence letter: “sorry for the misunderstanding.” But that misunderstanding has not been enough to derail an ambitious tribal plan to rebuild the reservation’s cultural infrastructure. To help restore Winnebago cultural traditions
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Sarah Snake, a Winnebago tribal elder. Photo by Kevin Abourezk and illustrated by Amy Tran
by taking back the land. To merge old harvesting practices with new regenerative farming techniques that promote 21st century environmental sustainability. The Winnebago have a name for this aggressive movement of using the land to make their culture healthier. They call it: “Going Red.” For decades, ownership of tribal land had increasingly passed from red hands to white hands. By 2004, 78% of the Winnebago Reservation was owned by white farmers. But in the last eight years, the tribe has bought back 20% of its 27,637-acre reservation in northeast Nebraska, 92 miles north of Omaha. “The buyback program itself is actually really beneficial for us as a people,” tribal member Eugene DeCora said. “The food sovereignty
“By reclaiming those lands and the food, and those traditional ways, it’s really just getting back in touch with who we are,” Zuffante said. “And I think sometimes we’ve lost that through all of the trauma that our people have gone through.” Originally from what is now Wisconsin, the Winnebago lost most of their land in a succession of boundary and peace treaties signed in the early 19th century. Ultimately, the federal government ended up forcibly moving the tribe from Wisconsin to Minnesota to South Dakota—and finally to Nebraska, where the Winnebago Reservation was established in 1865.
part where, you know, we can literally feed ourselves and sustain ourselves without any outside help…I think that’s some of the biggest parts that…connect us back with our culture.” Elders, including Sarah Snake, hope that teaching tribal youth the traditional ways of harvesting Indian corn will inspire youngsters to continue growing their own food in accordance with ancient Winnebago traditions. Mona Zuffante, the tribe’s public health administrator, said those traditional practices already are empowering youth and creating balance within their community.
But the General Allotment Act of 1887, also known as the Dawes Act, broke up the tribal land base by awarding 160-acre plots to individual households. Over time, the enormous amount of surplus land was sold off to white farmers and by 1913 the Winnebago – like many other Native tribes – had lost about two-thirds of their original reservation. The famed Lakota Chief Red Cloud put it this way. “The white man made us many promises, more than I can remember, but they never kept but one,” he said. “They promised to take our land and they did.” The Dawes Act not only took away reservation land and gave it to white settlers, but it also tried to force Native Americans to disavow their own culture and adopt a Euro-American one.
“The white man made us many promises, more than I can remember, but they never kept but one. They promised to take our land and they did.” - Lakota, Chief Red Cloud
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Aaron LaPointe, manager of Ho-Chunk Inc.’s subsidiary known as Ho-Chunk Farms, is the quarterback who oversees it all. “We feel like we are doing the right thing,” LaPointe said. “A lot of our culture and who we are revolves around food. That’s a big part about who we are.” Today, LaPointe’s operation organically farms more than 5,400 acres with plans to soon add another 1,000 acres. The Winnebago Tribe, he said, has the largest organic farm in northeast Nebraska and is trying to set a high bar— environmentally—for the agriculture sector. Illustration by Andrea Atkinson
The act prohibited traditional Native beliefs while promoting white cultural practices and ideologies. Native cultural traditions became illegal and anyone caught speaking a Native language or practicing Native religions could be tried in a Court of Indian Offenses and imprisoned. Fast forward to 2020. Although much of the Winnebago land has been destroyed and is difficult to farm, the tribe is determined to turn the corner—to continually work the land to restore its health. “I believe that our people are tied to the land. So when Mother Nature hurts, so do our people,” Zuffante said. “So when we reclaim our land, in essence, we’re reclaiming ourselves.” Along with harvesting traditional Indian corn, tribal members also practice other food sovereignty efforts to help restore the land. Those include growing vegetable gardens, planting organic farms and using designer chickens—chickens used to groom the fields.
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For example, to avoid using chemicals and pesticides, Ho-Chunk Farms plans to implement the designer chickens—a special breed that will eat insects off the crops while fertilizing them at the same time. In August, the company also planted about 1,200 hazelnut trees which help absorb toxic CO2 gases. All of these changes have led to the natural re-emergence of native fruits and grasses—elderberries, sage and Indian tobacco—which can be used for food and sometimes even for medicinal purposes. And all the while, they also provide a kind of cultural glue for a once-shattered community. “So I’m a firm believer in the community, working together to…raise the child because it does take more than just their parents and I believe that the Indigenous community is really what sets us apart from others,” said Zuffante, the public health administrator. “Having our youth reconnect to the land will allow them to also find that inner spirit because that’s their culture and tradition.”
Last year alone, tribal members planted about 20 acres of traditional Indian corn. From this yield, harvesters donated about 75 pounds— valued at $35 a pound—to the Winnebago Boys and Girls Club and tribal elders. The Winnebago consider traditional Indian corn a delicacy and not something a machine can harvest. Instead, tribal members use a spoon to press into each row on an ear of corn to get the hard piece at the end of each kernel.
“Going Solar” 2007
Ho-Chunk Inc. introduced renewable energy infrastructure in 2007 with five wind turbines.
2020
Reservation utilizes over 2,000 solar panels across 14 sites:
The process is known as WhaSkooing. “My grandmother always told me that that [the hard kernel] represented the heart of our people because it kept our people alive,” Sarah Snake said. “Drying that Indian corn kept our people alive when there was nothing else to eat during the winter months.” Lance Morgan, a Harvard University graduate and the Ho-Chunk Inc. CEO, said harvesting 20 acres by hand is grueling work but worth it for his people. “Culture and food are really, really tied together, and the Indian corn itself is something that’s really symbolic of us and what we do,” Morgan said. “From an economic standpoint, it isn’t that big of a deal. But from a cultural standpoint, it’s everything.” And from a health standpoint it is also a big deal. Danelle Smith, executive director of the Winnebago Comprehensive Healthcare System, said harvesting the corn not only promotes cultural health, but environmental and tribal health as well.
• • • •
Powwow grounds Elder housing Solar panel farm Blackhawk Community Center Ho-Chunk, Inc.’s accounting offices.
Energy The solar panels generate more than 700 kilowatts of solar energy.
Savings The solar panels reduce energy bills by about $87,000 a year.
Latest Investment $728,600 investment in renewable energy. •
$364,300 from grants (Office of Indian Energy at the Department of Energy).
•
$364,300 from matching funds (Ho-Chunk Inc. and various tribal sources).
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“In terms of the corn planting, and just the process of how we go about doing that, it just really helped to build that sense of family,” Smith said. “We were all a part of something that was important to our family. Not only did it help feed us, but it provided healthy food for us.” But harvesting traditional Indian corn died away along with much of the tribe’s independence many years ago. DeCora said that’s because the tribe became too reliant on unwanted and unhealthy commodities. “Everything we ever needed was right here for us, and then we got put on a crutch,” DeCora said. “I think that’s why we’re taking the steps we’re
trying to take to get back to that… so we can stand on our own two feet and… have our own traditional foods being sold at our own local store.” To help restore this independence, Ho-Chunk Inc. developed various other programs to help align tribal members with their traditional beliefs as well as promote growth, health and success. For example, Ho-Chunk Inc. built 144 housing units in the last five years that quickly became known as the HoChunk Village. The company also created Titan Motors, a pre-owned car dealership which charges fair interest rates to help tribal members build credit. These developments have significantly decreased the poverty rate—down 5.1% from 2000 to 2013—while increasing the tribe’s growth median income by 83.2% from 2000 to 2016. “I take great pride when one of our tribal members gets a new home, or gets a new job, goes to college, graduates or are at some milestone,” Ho-Chunk CEO Morgan said. “I know that we’ve helped put in place the system and environment that helps make that possible.” But that’s not all Ho-Chunk Inc. has done. To promote better environmental health via renewable energy, Morgan
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said the tribe now has solar panels on every building— more than 2,000 panels in all. The company also is installing other food sovereignty programs to help tribal members become more independent. In August 2019, Ho-Chunk Inc. opened The Village Market, a 4,644-square-foot indoor farmers market, reducing the tribe’s need for imported food. “My job in the community is to create economic activity and success, so that people do not have to worry about their next bite of food or their next meal,” Morgan said. “That’s why you do the job—is to make people’s lives better, and I frankly just love watching the success as it emerges in our community.” Before the market opening, the closest place for tribal members to get fresh produce was Sioux City, more than 20 miles away. As members consumed more processed foods, they struggled with obesity and diabetes. In 2018, about 35 percent of the tribe’s elementary students and about 39 percent of its high school-aged members were considered obese, according to Indianz.com. Today, hospital director Smith said the tribe’s food sovereignty programs help educate youth and families on healthy practices.
“You really have to look at it from all different angles and start with our youth,” Smith said. “They learn about…good nutrition at a young age and then it just becomes a part of who they are, part of their life.” Smith’s goal is to restructure the entire Winnebago healthcare system by zeroing in on the specific needs of tribal members. The key ingredient, she said, is better nutrition. “We thought that it was important to do it in a more comprehensive way and focus on innovation, on the more preventative aspects of it and not be fully focused on treating disease and chronic conditions after the fact,” Smith said. The Winnebago now have access to a variety of programs teaching them about healthy living, including tips about meal preparation, food canning and walking wellness. The entire structure of the community also is being altered to include more walking paths to promote physical exercise. Ho-Chunk Farms also distributed more than 220 raised-bed vegetable gardens so tribal members can grow their own food, can or sell it at the Village Farmers Market. Growing their own food, Smith said, “helps provide a very productive healthy activity for families to do together. There’s really I feel a sense of pride and I see people posting on social media about their harvest and about their crop… and people really are excited about it.” Meanwhile, Winnebago children like Lula DeCora, the 2019-2020 Junior Miss Celebration Harvest Princess, share in the excitement of the programs. “I think about helping out with some of my friends and how we all grew up together and being able to help out the community, so that’s really exciting,” the 12-year-old said. Although there are now a variety of programs, harvesting the traditional Indian corn carries the most cultural weight within the tribe.
“There’s still seed corn being planted that originates from original seed corn that we carried with us when we moved here,” Eugene DeCora said. That seed belonged to Sarah Snake’s grandmother. ` “My grandmother had some seed corn under her bed in a pillowcase,” Snake said. “So all of this branched from my grandmother’s seed.” But now it is up to the youth to learn the programs and ultimately keep this independence going. “They know the process from the beginning to the end,” Snake said. “It’s good to know that that’s going to continue on for our kids and their parents too.”
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A Conversation with Kat Woerner
As a UNL student, Kat advocates for climate action through student and local government.
Where did your concern for climate change issues start?
What do you think are the best actions an individual can take to combat climate change?
“My concern for climate change issues started when I first learned about climate change in high school. My family always told me that climate change wasn’t caused by humans and was the fault of volcanos, but I learned differently from a book when I was about 17.”
“The best actions an individual can take to help combat climate change is to work with their organizations (volunteer, workplace, etc) to reduce their impact on the environment. Individual actions on daily habits are great, but, overall, industries tend to have a much larger impact than any singular person. “ What changes have you made in your life to reduce your carbon footprint?
Kat Woerner courtesy photo
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“Almost every aspect of my life has been changed to reduce my carbon footprint for a multitude of reasons. I became a vegetarian when I was 17 and then a vegan when I was 20; I brought my bike from home to transport myself through Lincoln; only purchase local produce during the growing season; buy locally produced goods; selectively picked my majors and career choice to reduce other peoples’ impact on the environment; started an urban farm; travel long distances primarily by train; reduce energy usage through turning off lights, opening shades, turning off the thermostat when I’m not home, opening windows, unplugging appliances not in use and started a compost at my house for my roommates and me to use. I do these things because climate change is the largest threat to our generation, and I have made it my life’s purpose to reduce human impact on the environment. Climate anxiety consumes me and I’ve learned that action is the antidote to despair. “
Woerner speaks out about divestment in 2021. Photo by Caitlyn Thomas
What do you think Nebraska is doing right to combat climate change? “Nebraska overall pretty well sucks when it comes to combating climate change, but we have some good hot points. The NU system is doing pretty well with housing the High Plains Regional Climate Center then just setting an
ESG policy. Along with this, the UNMC is doing great with its carbon neutrality by 2030 goal. Then this journalism program is a highlight as well. Lastly, our public power districts setting carbon neutrality goals is great to see.”
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School buses near the North Omaha coal-fired power plant in 2021. Photo by Caitlyn Thomas
Environmental Racism: How Climate Change Disproportionately Impacts Communities of Color A legacy of racism leaves people of color most susceptible to climate change and environmental hazards By: Aila Ganić
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A
mid-August sun beats down on a middleaged roofer in South Omaha.
He’s hammering away, shingle after shingle, the searing heat sapping his body. Some days, he leaves home at 6 a.m. and returns at 8 p.m., a routine he’s maintained for years. Fifty-five miles away, Sofia Gavia sits in a college dorm room, worried about the man on the roof. Did he get home safely?
American Lung Association. “Anywhere you can go and find a neighborhood like North Omaha, or where there’s not enough housing or jobs [or] there’s people of color who live as [a] majority in one community, there’s environmental racism happening,” asserted Graham Jordison, a senior organizer with the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign. And, Jordison said, people of color do not end up living where they do by accident.
While Native American land was taken and their fundamental way of life destroyed, Black and Latino communities are confronted with What will I do if something happens to him? a different reality. They often find themselves crammed into substandard housing Her father owns a roofing and siding company. surrounded by toxic coal-fired power plants She knows he’s diabetic and lugs heavy loads of and highways jammed with CO2-spewing cars, roofing tiles up and down ladders. The terrible trucks and buses. heat heightens her anxiety. Every minute he’s outside is an extra minute he could be felled by Add climate change to deteriorating social the stubborn heat wave. conditions triggered by systemic racism and you’ve got a highly toxic brew, many climate “You don’t have that luxury of having your experts believe. parents working in office jobs,” says the University of Nebraska-Lincoln environmental Dr. Ayana Johnson, a Black climate scientist, studies major. is one of them. In a June 3, 2020, Washington Post article, Johnson offered this observation: What if he gets heat stroke?
Sofia’s fears are not unfounded. Talk to medical experts and social scientists and they’ll tell you it’s no coincidence her Latino, immigrant father is at higher risk for heat-related illness than the general population. This, they say, is but one example of environmental racism – a combination of often-deadly conditions that disproportionately injure and kill America’s people of color. For example, between 2005 and 2015, heatrelated emergency room visits in California rose 63% for Hispanic people – but only 27% for whites, a 2019 Weill Cornell-Medicine Qatar study revealed. Meanwhile, Black Americans remain three times more likely to die from asthma than white Americans, according to the
“Black Americans who are already committed to working on climate solutions still have to live in America, brutalized by institutions of the state, constantly pummeled with images, words and actions showing…how many of our fellow citizens do not, in fact, believe that Black lives matter.” Taken as a whole, this means rising temperatures are not the only issue impacting the Gavia family in South Omaha. The historic consequences of environmental racism, many experts believe, have spawned a long list of medical and social issues.
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Among them: • • • • •
Higher asthma rates More heat-related illnesses and deaths Decreased life expectancy Lack of access to clean air and water Increased risk and mortality from COVID-19
“With climate change, it does affect people of color in the sense that we’re already at a deficit in our society, in the sense that we are treated as second-class citizens,” said Keyonna King, a University of Nebraska Medical Center professor. “And if we’re already in a hole, you put climate change on top of that, which brings a whole other realm of issues that we’re inept to really try to address within our own communities.” Environmental racism isn’t a new phenomenon. In fact, it has been around since the late 1400s, according to Barry Thomas, Director of Equity and Diversity for Omaha Public Schools. This, Thomas says, is when European colonizers first landed in North America. “The story for this country about environmental racism begins the moment that Indigenous people had their land taken from them,” Thomas said. And over time, experts say, environmental racism has expanded to include increased exposure to climate change impacts. Jesse Bell, University of Nebraska Medical Center professor of health and environment, says scientists know populations of color are more vulnerable to climate change impacts. The reason: lack of access to health care, pre-existing health conditions connected to increased exposure to environmental hazards, housing location and discrimination. “We’re still based off of a long history of discrimination, a long history of racism that was built in[to] a lot of these institutions, in these cities and these places. And because of that, you have all these different hurdles that certain 80 | CLIMATE CHANGE NEBRASKA
groups have to overcome,” Bell said. While these external factors contribute to people of color’s increased exposure to climate change impacts, Dominique Liu-Sang insists internal factors shouldn’t be overlooked. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln agricultural economics major said money and greed also are significant factors in environmental racism. “When you decide that you want to make changes to our environment, you’re not thinking about the people that live there,” said Liu-Sang, a local Black Leaders Movement organizer. “You don’t see the people as people – you see them as money.” And environmental racism can appear in a multitude of ways. For one, natural disasters often strike communities of color the hardest. UNMC Professor King notes natural disasters
Nebraska’s Black communities have suffered for generations from environmental racism, resulting in a multitude of health and social issues, according to experts and health records. Consequently, it’s no coincidence North Omaha residents have a shorter life expectancy, said Professor King. This area of the city has an average life expectancy of 70.8 years, according to the Douglas County Health Department. But just a few miles away, in predominately white West Omaha, the average life expectancy is 81.3 years. This decreased life expectancy, King said, is a product of the social determinants of health and built environment.
are more frequent due to climate change. And the populations most adversely affected, according to King, are people of color. “[Communities of color] are inadequately resourced that they can’t recover from [climate change impacts] as quickly, or our governments, for whatever reason, don’t have a sense of urgency to address the issues within those communities,” King said. Beyond natural disasters, environmental racism also is reflected in the overall cleanliness of green spaces, according to Jazari Kual, CEO of the Nebraska-based media company Kualdom Creations. “The farther south you go, you see how well kept the environment is,” Kual said, using Lincoln, Nebraska, as an example. “The further north you can go and more towards central Lincoln, you kind of see how unkept it is.
Social determinants of health include employment, education, housing and access to health care. Built environment, on the other hand, includes lack of access to sidewalks and safe green spaces. Pollution and litter also are factors of built environment that render residents unable to get fresh air. “It just happens to be the life expectancy is lower in the areas where Black and brown people live,” King said. “I don’t think that’s a coincidence at all.” In fact, elevated asthma rates have become a staple of North Omaha – a trend reflected nationwide. Black individuals are 42% more likely to have asthma than white individuals, according to a 2018 American Lung Association report. These skyrocketing rates can be partially attributed to coal plants polluting communities of color. Black Americans are 1.54 times more exposed to PM2.5, a pollutant released from coal plants, than white Americans, according to a 2017 study published in the American Journal of Public Health. climatechangenebraska.com | 81
PM2.5, research shows, increases respiratory damage. It “can send the body’s immune system into overdrive,” which leads to “worsening asthma symptoms,” according to a 2019 international research study. And coal plants are not the only air pollution culprit. Jordison, the Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign organizer, notes the highways infiltrating North Omaha are a contributing factor. “They built a frickin’ highway right through the [North Omaha] community. They never would have done that in a white community or an affluent community,” Jordison said. Add it all up and Omaha ranks as the ninth-most challenging city for asthmatics, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.
Additionally, Tsegaye Tadesse, a climatologist at the National Drought Mitigation Center, has identified locations where toxic waste dumps cause respiratory problems in children. These locations tend to be close to people of color and low-income communities, he said. “If they [people of color and low-income communities] complain, they can’t do anything about it because these high-income people or just people who are investing money, they use the legal system to just shut them up,” said Tadesse. Contaminated air that triggers high asthma rates is detrimental to childhood development, said Nebraska state Sen. Tony Vargas. In fact, the World Health Organization cites air pollution as a factor in premature births, neurodevelopment and cognitive ability. People of color living by these pollutants is not an accident, maintains Thomas, the Omaha Public Schools diversity director. “The people who are positioned next to the most polluted areas in this state, and across the world, are those that are seen or have a perception of being least valuable,” Thomas said. “And in our society, that tends to be people of color.” Meanwhile, lead poisoning also has infiltrated Omaha’s Black and Latino communities and its effects will be felt for decades, according to both health experts and citizens living in those areas. “We know the effects of lead,” Professor King said. “They can be fatal.” And these effects occur at a young age, Sen. Vargas said. For example, lead poisoning in old housing stock affects cognitive development in children, which in turn, he said, “contributes to the ability to be academically successful in our communities and in our schools.”
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Thomas echoes this point, adding that lead poisoning has “generational impacts” on educational capability, intellectual capability and emotional development. Lead poisoning is not the only concern for Nebraska’s Latino population. As Sofia Gavia knows only too well, heat-related illnesses also are a chronic concern. Bell, the UNMC professor, said the lack of green space and tree cover, especially in lowincome areas of cities, leads to even higher levels of heat in these densely populated areas. This constitutes significant concern, especially for those who lack resources to deal with heat, such as access to air conditioning – often a fatal factor for the poor and the elderly. And most recently, COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted Indigenous, Black and Latino populations. To date, American Indian and Alaska Natives have 5.3 times higher rates of COVID-19 hospitalizations than whites, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Black individuals have 4.7 times higher rates of COVID-19 hospitalizations than whites, while Hispanic and Latinos have 4.6 times higher rates of COVID-19 hospitalizations than whites. These higher rates of infection and hospitalization among people of color make sense rationally and scientifically, Bell said. It’s a scientific fact, he noted, that pre-existing respiratory conditions make individuals far more susceptible and vulnerable to COVID-19. “It doesn’t surprise me in any way that if you live closer to some sort of industrial area, or power plant, if you’re being exposed to more or poorer air quality, then it wouldn’t surprise me that that wouldn’t potentially be a factor leading to more severe outcomes due to COVID-19,” Bell said.
Although issues of environmental racism abound, experts also are quick to reassure that a multitude of solutions exist. Ponca Tribal Chairman Larry Wright noted that solutions start with inclusion before the issues develop. “[People of color] see the effects [of climate change] first, but they’re the last ones to be heard,” Wright said. “They need representation at the table at the beginning of the conversation.” Gavia, meanwhile, said she believes the environmental movement has to meet people where they are at, allowing them the space and time to work at their own pace. “The reason I feel you see a lot of white people in [the environmental] movement,” she said, “is because of the privilege they hold. They have the time and the resources to invest into the movement. While … people of color are often not that well off and have to focus on that third job, and have to worry about feeding [their] kids.” Thomas, the Omaha diversity director, is focused more on solutions to environmental racism that already exist. He emphasized the role of policy change and the location of people of color as two key factors that need to be addressed. “The beginning and end of all policy-related racism is all about location,” Thomas said. “As long as large groups of particular races are constantly and consistently found within one area, those areas will always have disproportionate impacts on race.” Thomas also noted an equitable allocation of resources to people of color will help erode existing environmental racism. Those resources include housing, land, water,
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access to education, job creations and job promotions. Professor King, meanwhile, also echoed the important role of policy and resource allocation. She said there’s a need to amend policies that harm people of color’s access to resources, putting them at higher risk for environmental hazards. Bell agreed. “We need to make sure that we really focus on some of those populations that are most at risk [for climate change impacts], and make sure that they have the resources that are now necessary and available to help overcome some of these issues that we’re going to be facing,” he said. Although concerns about her father likely will increase as he gets older and Nebraska summers get hotter, Sofia Gavia has found a place to relieve her anxiety. The first-generation college senior has become an ardent climate activist – involved in Sustain UNL, Embrace and OurClimate, all environmental organizations. She believes today’s youth will be the ones to help solve the environmental crisis – hopefully in a way that eases the burden she carries every time her father leaves for work. “People are listening to young people now because we have something good to say,” Gavia said. “We care about communities and want to help improve and provide a better future for future generations.”
Native People No Strangers to Environmental Racism A long history of colonization has left Indigenous populations with a multitude of environmental issues. Larry Wright, chairman of Nebraska’s Ponca Tribe, says the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline 84 | CLIMATE CHANGE NEBRASKA
is a prime example of environmental racism because of its threat to sacred Native land. “For centuries, the Poncas and other tribal nations have called Nebraska home before it was Nebraska. We have buried our dead, our ancestors in those lands,” Wright said. The proposed KXL pipeline, only partially built, extends from Northern Canada to Steele City, Nebraska, and could carry 830,000 barrels of oil a day. The 1,200-mile pipeline has been controversial from the beginning and has been delayed multiple times in district and federal courts from environmental groups and Native tribes suing to have it stopped. Many believe the pipeline also threatens Nebraska’s water supply. Wright said the pipeline would travel beneath the Missouri and Niobrara rivers, as well as in close proximity to the Ogallala Aquifer. “The Missouri River and Niobrara for my people, along with other tribes, is considered sacred because it gave us life, it provided life. Not only drinking water, but for the animals that we
in that?” While Native populations would be affected the most, Ponca Chairman Wright said that an oil spill into the Ogallala Aquifer would be detrimental to all Nebraskans as it’s a main source of irrigation and drinking water. Meanwhile, the KXL Pipeline is but one example of the flagrant disregard for Indigenous people by the U.S. government, according to activists. Wright believes the federal government has preyed on the Native’s lack of legal resources to fight environmental racism. He said such disregard begins with ignoring how environmental changes impact tribes.
consume, the plants and crops that we grew,” the tribal chairman said. Among the most significant concerns with any pipeline is the potential of an oil spill. Art Tanderup, a Sandhills rancher, believes Native populations will suffer the consequences of an oil spill more than any other community. Not only does this pipeline have the potential to flood Indigenous land with oil, but it also blatantly contradicts Native values, according to Tanderup. “The tribes are very much into protecting Mother Earth, very much into protecting water,” Tanderup said. “The pipeline is trying to violate all those things.” Thomas, the Omaha diversity director, agreed with the Sandhills rancher, explaining why the KXL Pipeline can be attributed to environmental racism. “The land is precious to [the Ponca],” Thomas said. “But we put spirituality, we put culture to the side in respect of dollars in the Keystone XL Pipeline, and where’s the environmental justice
“I think when Native lands are impacted, in many, many cases, there’s not really a consultation process from the beginning of a project … And tribes historically have struggled to fight that because of lack of resources necessary,” Wright said. Tanderup agreed that the U.S. government and corporations often have disregarded Native life. Using North Dakota’s Standing Rock Reservation as an example, Tanderup described how the Dakota Access Pipeline was constructed without any regard for the Indigenous populations living on top of it. “They literally just plowed right through Native graves. [It] would be just like somebody taking a bulldozer down through our cemeteries,” Tanderup said. Beyond pipelines threatening sacred land and water, Wright also cited hardships resulting from the forced relocation of Native people as another example of environmental racism. “The crops that we planted and the medicines that we harvested from the area that we lived in for centuries, all of a sudden, you uproot our people to a place 500 miles away and the environment is very different,” Wright said. “And so, you had disease, you had starvation, you had those things and sickness that didn’t exist where we were originally from.” climatechangenebraska.com | 85
Water Protectors march in protest against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline in October 2016. Photo by Rob Wilson
The Impact of Climate Change on Nebraska’s Water: Too Much and Too Little The state already has taken steps to protect its precious resource By: Celeste Kenworthy
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ifty-five years ago, Jim Goeke hated the state of Nebraska.
While the veteran hydrogeologist was on a football scholarship at Wisconsin in the mid60s, his team lost 30-0 to Nebraska one year and 33-0 the next. Those stinging defeats created a lasting bitterness. Later, after attending Colorado State University to earn his master’s degree in hydrogeology, Goeke was presented with two job offers: 86 | CLIMATE CHANGE NEBRASKA
Mississippi or Nebraska. He choked back his disgust and took a conservation and survey job at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, which he kept for 41 years. Goeke, now retired, owns land in the Sandhills of Nebraska, a region he once considered desolate. He says he and his wife have come to cherish Nebraska and its rich groundwater resources. “Nebraska is the envy of probably the entire country because of our groundwater resources,” Goeke said, adding that monitoring groundwater resources is what the Conservation and Survey Division has done for 120 years. While at UNL for four decades, Goeke helped identify Nebraska’s groundwater resources through groundwater test wells. Since 1930, the Conservation and Survey Division has drilled almost 6,000 wells across the state to gain a wealth of information, including how far down it is to water. Climate change may soon alter the water levels in those wells. Experts who predict rising temperatures in Nebraska also foresee the impacts of a hotter climate: greater rainfall variability, an increase in high temperature stress days and a decrease in soil moisture content. This will lead to an increase in extreme events, including drought and heavy precipitation. By the end of the century, Nebraska is projected to see: • An increase in average temperatures up to 9 degrees if greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase. • An increase of 13 to 16 more days over 100 degrees. Western Nebraska could see up to 37 more days over 100 degrees. • A 5% to 10% decrease in soil moisture if greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase.
Northern Midwest saw a 29% increase in the amount of rain from 1958 to 2016, and that trend is expected to continue. Nebraska has already experienced a 1.6 degree rise in temperature since 1895. Most of Nebraska’s groundwater is found in the High Plains Aquifer, a massive region of watersaturated rock and sediment that underlies eight states.
“Excessive anxiety that stops you from moving forward, that doesn’t allow you to set it aside and still have moments of happiness in your life, that’s unusual and that’s problematic.” - Beth Doll, Ph.D., University of Nebraska-Lincoln psychology professor
Sixty-six percent of the aquifer is under Nebraska, which includes about 2.15 billion acre-feet of groundwater or about 700 trillion gallons. That’s more than 1.5 times the amount of water in Lake Ontario. This groundwater is important to Nebraska because those multi-billion acre-feet of water supply the multi-billion-dollar agricultural industry, which in turn supplies the world with corn, soybeans and beef. Additionally, 85% of Nebraskans get their drinking water from the ground, according to the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy. “Oftentimes, you hear the Good Life in Nebraska,” Goake Said “Good Life in Nebraska is based, I think, primarily on groundwater resources we have in Nebraska.” Those groundwater resources are not guaranteed, however.
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In 2012, Nebraska experienced its hottest and driest year on record. Despite farmers’ efforts to save their crops by pumping more groundwater for irrigation, some lost their entire season and had to get out of the farming business. Across most of the state, more groundwater was being pumped out than was being replenished to the aquifer, leading to declines, according to Goeke. But the declines were not severe because the 2012 drought was a one-year drought, a “blip on the radar,” Goeke said. Robert Ray, an on-camera reporter for The Weather Channel and a 1997 UNL College of Journalism and Mass Communications graduate, witnessed the devastation created by the 2012 drought. He described the soil drying up and crops withering. “Soybeans took a huge hit,” Ray said. “They kind of looked like tumbleweeds as they dried up, just sort of came out of their roots. The wind just took them, literally.” Climate change may flip the conditions experienced during the 2012 drought from a blip to the new normal. By the middle of the century, projected increases in the number of high temperature stress days would mean
typical summer temperatures similar to the summer of 2012. In Lincoln in July of 2012, the average temperature was 97 degrees, 8 degrees above normal. Ray said there is no doubt that things are changing because of climate change but also wishes there was more information. “My big thing with it is I do wish that we had more historical data. Of course, that’s not possible because people just weren’t taking data 200 years ago,” he said. As climate change leads to warmer temperatures, crops will need more water, said Crystal Powers, a research and extension communication specialist at the Nebraska Water Center. Powers said there are already steep groundwater declines occurring in southwestern Nebraska, similar to the extreme declines in other states that draw from the High Plains Aquifer, like Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. But that’s even before factoring in future climate change. “It’ll be even more of a concern of how do we keep a long-term sustainable supply of groundwater when we will need to use more water?” Powers said. Powers cited groundwater scarcity as the biggest concern for the western part of Nebraska, where the climate is already drier.
A flooded railroad in Plattsmouth, Nebraska. The spring 2019 flood caused widespread damage to infrastructure, cattle and crops for a total of over $3 billion. Photo by Nati Harnik/The Associated Press 88 | CLIMATE CHANGE NEBRASKA
“In Nebraska, we kind of live in the land of extremes,” she said. The Sandhills of north-central
“Let (your heart) crack open and let the whole world rush in. Stop fighting that cracking open of your heart.” - Mary Pipher, Ph.D., Lincoln clinical psychologist and New York Times bestselling author Nebraska are experiencing a different problem: too much groundwater. The middle Niobrara River basin is experiencing significant increases in groundwater levels with some serious consequences, said Mike Murphy, manager of the Middle Niobrara Natural Resources District. Water has come up to cover private land and even some roads. One landowner told Murphy that a valley on his property south of Valentine is flooded.
groundwater but plenty to be concerned with in terms of groundwater quality. In spring 2019, floods tore through roads, farms and homes across Nebraska, causing more than $1 billion in damage. The flooding also caused an Omaha wastewater treatment plant to stop operations. During that time, 65 million gallons of untreated sewage was dumped daily into the Missouri River. One of Nebraska’s biggest groundwater quality problems is nitrate contamination, which could be exacerbated by climate change, according to Tiffany Messer, Ph.D., a UNL professor and water quality engineer. Messer said the 2019 flooding was “definitely a climate impact” and when flooding like that happens, it can wash contaminants like nitrogen out of the soil and into the water cycle.
“He figures it’s about 20 feet deep right now. And he’s got trees buried, and he’s worried about it getting into his house,” Murphy said. The water level in one Cherry County well rose 19.59 feet in the past 10 years. Managers are used to seeing changes in the inches from year to year, Murphy said. In some wells last year, the water level was above the surface. “We got irrigation wells that literally water (was) running out of them when the guys went to sample,” Murphy said. Overall, groundwater in Nebraska rose an average of 1.3 feet from spring 2018 to spring 2019, according to the 2019 GroundwaterLevel Monitoring Report. During the same time period, 93% of reporting stations saw above average annual precipitation. The 2019 data is reflective of long-term rises and long-term declines in areas of Nebraska. The eastern part of the state has less to be concerned about in terms of quantity of
Roric Paulman with son, Zach, in a field on Paulman Farms in Sutherland, Nebraska. About 8,000 acres of the farm is irrigated with groundwater. Photo courtesy of Roric Paulman climatechangenebraska.com | 89
Too much nitrogen in drinking water can harm young infants and livestock, starving the body of oxygen and causing “blue baby syndrome,” according to the United States Geological Survey. High nitrate levels in drinking water are also linked to certain cancers. “There’s a potential we could actually be speeding up this kind of surge of nitrogen into the system,” Messer said. It may seem as though water quality would be less of a problem during drought years, but Messer said that is not necessarily the case. “When we have a drought, we typically see what looks like a low year of surface water contamination,” Messer said. When it starts to rain the following year, however, the contamination may be double the usual amount. That large influx of contaminants can negatively impact species that require specific environmental conditions to survive and wouldn’t normally be affected by the regular 90 | CLIMATE CHANGE NEBRASKA
addition of contaminants in a non-drought year, Messer said. Brad Makovicka, 33, farms 800 acres of land in York, Nebraska, with his father, Ron Makovicka. They have implemented groundwater conservation practices for the water they draw from the High Plains Aquifer. “Everyone’s starting to make rules as to what you got to use,” Brad said. “I think we were kind of ahead of the curve and starting to conserve water.” One method they use to conserve groundwater is soil-moisture sensors that can tell the Makovickas when to water, allowing them to use their supply more efficiently. Brad said this allows them to make smarter choices. “When you see other people irrigating when we know our soil is quite full, I question if they see the same thing, or if they just water just to water,” he said.
He believes climate change will impact their farm. “It’s very real,” he said. “We need to be a lot more aware of what’s going on with that, as it’s going to affect us in more ways than one.” Like the Makovickas, Nebraska’s Natural Resources Districts are looking out for Nebraska’s groundwater. Established in 1972, the NRDs were charged with conserving and protecting Nebraska’s natural resources, including groundwater. They have elected boards and are mainly funded by property taxes. The NRDs are prepared to deal with the effects of climate change, even if they don’t call it by that name. “We’ve been dealing with climate change with the managing of groundwater since the ’70s. Just never call it climate change. We call it periods of drought, periods of extensive moisture, and flood events,” said Dean Edson, executive director of the Nebraska Association of Resources Districts.
Each NRD has a groundwater management plan and is ready to react to these extreme events. Changes can be implemented quickly in the monthly meetings the local NRDs are required to have. “It’s probably the quickest response you’re ever going to get if there is an issue dealing with the climate change,” Edson said. As other states face major groundwater declines, they have turned to Nebraska’s NRD model for guidance. Edson doesn’t find this surprising. “We’re so far ahead of everybody else. We’re poised in a situation where we can react to whatever changes may come,” Edson said. Goeke, the retired hydrogeologist, agrees. “When we created the Natural Resources Districts and charged them with taking care of groundwater, that was a great idea,” Goeke said. “I think it’s gonna guarantee a future in Nebraska.”
Tiffany Messer and her students build a floating treatment wetland. Floating wetlands can remove contaminants from water and save space by floating on top of existing lakes. Courtesty photo climatechangenebraska.com | 91
What is your response to climate change? Directions Take five minutes to reflect on what you have read and what it means to you. Feel free to write, make a list or even draw your response. • • • •
Think about the three most important things in your life. Has climate change impacted any of them, or could it in the future? If so, how? How do you think climate change will impact your future? Which story in this magazine has resonated with you the most? Why? What are you doing or what can you do to face the challenges that climate change will bring?
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Cliff Mesner displaying the Central City solar panels. Photo by Sarah Hoffman/Omaha World-Herald
Breezy Nebraska L Could Also Be a Solar Powerhouse
ight glides over the Nebraska prairie, flushing the darkness from its path to reveal the manifestation of Cliff Mesner’s dream.
By: Annelise Christen
The sun strikes dark, rectangular panels floating above what used to be a gravel lot. Electrons fire across millions of circuits and shoot off to the grid, lighting Central City homes. Mesner, the town’s attorney at the time, had simply wanted to reduce his carbon footprint by adding solar panels to his home. But his ambition proved larger than his rooftop, and with the help of other town officials he eventually built this field of 800 panels.
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“I really didn’t think anything about it at all,” Mesner said. “But then the TV cameras and the newspapers showed up. And turns out it was the biggest array in the state, about half the solar in the state at the time. And then pretty soon other communities were calling saying, can you come do solar here?” Most Nebraskans are likely familiar with the state’s wind potential: ruined umbrellas and overturned garbage cans testify to that. But the state also has significant untapped solar resources that advocates say could make Nebraska a key to efforts in the U.S. to fight climate change. One recent study, for example, said Nebraska is a particularly attractive site for investment because the solar developed here would likely replace coal power, which accounted for 55% of in-state electricity generation in 2019. “Although renewable energy itself is emissionsfree, where such projects get built greatly influences their true net impact on overall grid emissions — because it matters what existing generation they’re displacing,” the study, which was written by solar-power consultancies. Global temperature increases are already impacting Nebraska’s public health, crops, wildlife, and water supply. And climate change’s effects in the decades to come will only become more severe. A 2014 climate study by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln noted that crop yields could fall by 50% in some places over the next half-century. One popular method of solar development to emerge in the past decade is known as community solar. In a program like Central City’s development, Nebraskans who want to join the fight against climate change can subscribe to a solar development even if they live in apartment complexes or otherwise can’t add panels to their roofs. “It’s really the logical way to do it, because the cost of putting a large solar array out is half
the cost per kilowatt hour of putting it up on a rooftop or in an individual, small array,” said Mesner, who now helps build solar projects in the state through his company Mesner Development Co. “So, it turns out that not only does it make more sense environmentally, it’s much cheaper.”
“So, it turns out that not only does it make more sense environmentally, it’s much cheaper.” - Cliff Mesner, owner of Mesner Development Co.
Solar power, though it remains a small slice of the overall national energy mix, is growing at a fast clip. In the last decade, solar energy in the US has an average growth rate of nearly 50%, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, a trade group. There are over 85 gigawatts of solar capacity installed throughout the US, which is enough to power 16 million homes. Much more will be needed to curb greenhouse gas emissions. A 2016 Energy Department study estimated that using solar power for about 27% of U.S. electricity generation, a goal of the Obama administration’s SunShot initiative, would cut greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 20%. Solar now accounts for less than 2% of total electricity generation. Most of that power is produced outside of the Midwest. More than 85% of solar development is concentrated in 10 states, and Nebraska is not among them. Nebraska obtains less than 1% of its power from solar energy. There are around 62 megawatts of solar installed in Nebraska, or enough to power nearly 8,000 homes in a state of over 600,000 households. Several Nebraska communities are working hard to close the gap. Projections over the next five years show solar in state growing to climatechangenebraska.com | 95
roughly 155 megawatts, enough to power just under 39,000 homes. It would be significantly more than that if the Salt Creek Solar Project, a 230-megawatt utility-scale solar farm on roughly 1,100 acres of corn and soybean fields east of Lincoln, moves forward. County officials have approved the plan, but Ranger Power, the developer, is still looking for a buyer of the power. Ruth Thompson has 100 panels on her farm. She agreed to a 40-year lease that will start once construction begins, which Ranger Power estimates could happen by 2023. She sees Salt Creek as beneficial both to the environment and the local economy, as it could ease the financial strain of agriculture and shifting commodity markets. “There are many years we really don’t make a lot of profit,” Thompson said. “This is another way for farmers to make income without really having to deal with the weather and prices and trade deals and all of the kind of uncertainty.” Proponents say Lancaster County will benefit as well. Solar projects typically hire as many as 300 workers during construction, usually from a pool of local applicants. In addition, Salt Creek is estimated to pay $800,000 annually in taxes to the county. Thompson likes how the power it produces will be homegrown. Nebraska imports its coal from Wyoming.
“We’re a public power state. Why shouldn’t we produce our own?” Thompson says. “I mean, that just furthers the goal of being public power, or invest in it ourselves and produce it ourselves.” Colin Snow, the Salt Creek manager for Ranger Power, said solar projects can be a marketing tool for communities. “A project like this really does send a message, basically from the community to kind of a larger economic world saying, ‘We’re open for development, and we value these things that you value,’” Snow said. “So, it’s a nice invitation to other businesses.” But not everyone is a fan. “I was fine with a solar farm,” said Shana Gerdes, a landowner who lives near the proposed solar farm. “Just not one encapsulating my neighborhood.” Gerdes is concerned about falling property values. Beyond land-use issues, solar faces another big obstacle. It doesn’t work at night and is unpredictable during the day.
Central City’s 200-kilowatt solar farm developed by Cliff Mesner. Courtesy photo
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“You look at things like solar and wind, they’re great. No fuel costs, good for the environment,” said Scott Benson, manager for resource and transmission planning at Lincoln Electric System. “What’s their one drawback? They’re not what we call dispatchable. I can’t turn them on and off when I want. Mother Nature decides that.”
“We’re a public power state. Why shouldn’t we produce our own?” - Ruth Thompson, farmer and solar advocate Broader solar adoption may depend on advances in battery technology, an effort one Nebraska community is also working to develop. Solar batteries, which can store power for days when the sun doesn’t shine, come with a hefty price tag. But costs are coming down and the efficiency is improving. An 8.5-megawatt solar farm being developed in Norfolk by the Nebraska Public Power District and three companies operating under the umbrella of NSolar, including Cliff Mesner’s solar development company, includes a 1-megawatt battery. The farm will be built on roughly 75 acres of land on the outskirts of the city.
Mayor Josh Moenning says he wants Norfolk to be the renewable energy capital of Nebraska. According to Moenning, the costs of solar energy are lower than those of the conventional wholesale generation mix that the city currently purchases from its utility, the Nebraska Public Power District. “It makes all the sense in the world to me, for us to make energy in our own backyard, rather than hauling it in on a coal train,” he said. “And we think it’s important because renewable energy is now one of the cheapest forms of electricity generation. And northeast Nebraska has been a hotbed of renewable generation activity.” The project will produce clean energy for around 1,200 homes while helping lower energy bills for Norfolk’s citizens and contributing to the recent growth of the local economy.
Ruth Thompson and her husband, Scott Otley, stand in front of their solar panels. Courtesy photo climatechangenebraska.com | 97
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“I’m proud to have that in my hometown because I think it’s the right thing to do environmentally,” Moenning said. “It has benefits environmentally, socially, and economically. And it’s really a market opportunity for our region in the new economy.” Some solar advocates say the fact that Nebraska has 166 publicly owned utilities operating in the state has complicated efforts to expand solar power. Some public power officials are reluctant to abandon fossil fuel plants that their districts have already paid for and like the reliability coal offers. “They have, basically, restrained the growth of solar,” says Michael Shonka, president of Solar Heat & Electric. But some utilities are charging ahead and implementing programs to help bring solar into the mainstream in Nebraska. A community solar program implemented by Lincoln Electric System allows its customers to support solar power without having to install panels on their property. In 2016, LES installed the 5-megawatt solar facility in northwest Lincoln. It was the first utility-scale solar installation in Nebraska. A utility-scale solar facility generates solar energy and delivers it to the grid while supplying the utility with energy.
Customers who sign up for the program pay up to $620 to purchase a “virtual” solar panel, rather than the $20,000 it takes to buy a residential solar system. The customer receives a monthly credit to their bill based on the amount of energy the panels generate. LES’s Benson believes it is an affordable and beneficial way for anyone to get involved in solar. The program is part of an initiative to maintain a diverse generation portfolio and support renewable energy. LES has set a goal of net-zero emissions by 2040. Jeff Berggren, Nebraska program manager for GenPro Energy Solutions, a solar company with an office in Central City, said that around three to four years ago, Nebraska utilities became more open toward solar energy. He says one benefit of public-power is that the boards that run the utilities are more responsive to the communities they serve. “Surprisingly, it used to be they just wouldn’t even talk to us,” Berggren said. “Now they realize they need to talk to us. And its customer driven. The customers are demanding it.”
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Nebraska Races to Catch Its Windy Neighbors By: Carmelo Lattuca
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mid acres of swaying grasslands and rows of corn and soybeans, a newcomer rises high above the Nebraska prairie. Giant steel wind turbines three times the size of a cottonwood spin in the state’s steady breeze. The spinning towers now churn out 20% of Nebraska’s electricity, more than 16 times the output from just a decade ago. To advocates, the structures are a welcome addition to the landscape. They provide farmers with a new source of income, counties with a new tax revenue stream, and Nebraskans with hundreds of new, clean energy jobs. They also offer the nation a way to reduce the outflow of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere that are leading to dramatic changes in the climate, including, likely, the devastating “bomb cyclone” in Nebraska in 2019 that cost the state at least $1 billion in damage. “Between sea level rise. Temperature rise. Wildfires. Hurricanes. That is all happening a lot quicker,” says Rich Lombardi, Nebraska director of the Advanced Power Alliance, a 100 | CLIMATE CHANGE NEBRASKA
trade association that promotes renewables as leading sources of energy generation. “You really can’t move quick enough to deal with the disasters that are unfurling here.” Lombardi and other backers say Nebraska is well-positioned to contribute to the global fight against climate change. High and low-pressure systems meet east of the Rocky Mountains, generating more potential for wind energy generation here than all but two states. Once the wind starts, the crops and grasses offer little resistance, leaving it to turbine blades over half the size of a 747’s wingspan to catch it and make power. But not everyone likes the new look. Critics see wind turbines as damaging to the landscape and say the tall structures disrupt the view in pristine places such as the Sandhills. Belinda Fowler, environmental assistance coordinator at the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy, agrees that wind energy can help reduce fossil fuel use. But she’s wary a rush to development will diminish the solemn beauty of Nebraska’s open horizon.
Wind energy can help reduce fossil fuel use. Photo by Carmelo Lattuca
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“I struggle with the disruptions to the natural landscape,” said Fowler, an Environmental Planning professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “There’s just a sense of peace that comes when you get a look across an entire landscape and see very limited signs of inhabitancy. You drive up on a wind farm, and maybe you’re not feeling as relaxed about it.”
in fields from sea to sea — and a few in the sea itself. Collectively, the wind turbines can generate nearly 112,000 megawatts of power. As a reference, the 230-megawatt Plum Creek Wind project in Wayne County, Nebraska, is enough to light 100,000 homes.
But while Nebraska ranks 7th in terms of the share of electricity generated by wind, it’s behind its neighboring states in the nation’s Nebraskans are much more likely to bump into windy interior. Wind accounts for just under a wind farm now than they would have been 10 20% of Nebraska’s electricity. Iowa generates nearly 42% and Kansas more than 41% from years ago. There are 29 wind farms operating from Kimball to Humboldt, many concentrated wind. in the northeastern part of the state. Another six are under construction and an additional 21 Nebraska could be doing much more, says former State Sen. Ken Haar, who advocated for have been proposed. the industry in the Legislature. Lombardi said Nebraska’s wind is steadier than even Iowa’s, Nebraska’s rapid wind energy growth tracks making it a less intermittent source of power. the nation’s. In the past decade, wind power has more than tripled as a percentage of “The capacity factor for Nebraska wind is very the electricity generation in the U.S. It now accounts for 7.3% of the total, making wind the high,” Haar, an environmentalist, said. “That’s a good deal.” single largest source of renewable energy in the U.S. The biggest benefit of wind projects is that they can dramatically lower CO2 emissions. The There are more than 60,000 turbines spinning
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American Wind Energy Association estimates that the carbon emissions saved by wind energy in the US equals the output from 42 million cars. Nebraska’s wind energy industry saved 6.4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions in 2018. That equates to 1.4 million cars’ worth of emissions. Nebraska, though it’s out of reach from rising seas and devastating hurricanes, is still threatened by climate change. According to the 2014 UNL climate study, increasing temperatures could lower crop yields in Nebraska and increase the intensity of rainstorms, leading to more soil loss. And while scientists have yet to pinpoint a cause of the bomb cyclone that devastated farms and communities along the Niobrara and Missouri rivers, they expect climate change will create more severe weather events. “We have underestimated as society the true costs of having an economy based upon fossil and nuclear fuels,” Lombardi said. While nuclear power produces gobs of carbon-
“We’re in one of those transition periods, and I just see an opportunity.” - Rancher David Hamilton, vice president, Cherry County Wind Energy Association free power, it also leaves behind dangerous radioactive waste, and the U.S. has yet to approve a permanent repository for it. Beyond reducing emissions, wind power also reduces water use, not a small thing in a state that depends on crop irrigation. According to the Nebraska Power Alliance, Nebraska saved 7.1 billion in gallons of water from 2011-2018 in electricity generation by utilizing wind energy instead of coal power. Agriculture is the single biggest source of water consumption in the U.S. Scientists say droughts will become more frequent and last longer in a warmer world. Farmers and ranchers across Nebraska have had to contend with drought. climatechangenebraska.com | 103
In a red state without a climate action plan, wind energy advocates are as likely to talk about the economic benefits as they are to note the environmental pros. Since 2003, the wind energy industry has created more than 7,000 construction jobs in the state and paid more than $24 million to landowners through lease payments, according to the power alliance. State Sen. John McCollister said farmers can get $10,000 for each turbine on their property. McCollister has introduced a bill to mandate the state generate 75% of its median annual generation from renewable sources by 2030. The measure has stalled in the Legislature. David Levy, a lobbyist for the wind industry, said that with companies like Amazon and Google pledging to use more renewables, wind energy provides Nebraska with a golden business opportunity. “This isn’t some fringe, sort of one-off, treehugging, hippie enterprise,” Levy said. “This is the biggest companies on the planet wanting to buy the output of this industry.”
Former state Sen. Ken Haar courtesy photo
above-average wind resource. “As soon as they knocked on my door, I brought them in and wouldn’t let them go until they got the damn project built,” he said.
Developers pay property taxes on each turbine, and the assets don’t depreciate over time. Wind projects in Wayne and Holt Counties will generate more than $5 million in property tax revenue annually, which may lower the tax burden on residents there.
The quick rise of the wind energy, however, isn’t seen as an unalloyed good in some parts of the state. In the Sandhills, a sparsely populated area of rolling hills and swaying grasslands, the battle over clean air and aesthetics is playing out.
Holt County farmer Mike Zakrzewski said payments helped his district build a new school. Meanwhile, the 10 turbines on his property have helped him weather the vagaries of commodity markets. Zakrzewski suffers from osteoarthritis, and the lease payments allowed him to reduce his workload on the farm to take time for knee replacement surgery.
Bluestem Energy Solutions of Omaha and Sandhills Wind Energy of Valentine want to build a 60-megawatt, 19 turbine wind farm in the Kilgore area of Cherry County. David Hamilton, a fourth generation Thedford rancher, supports the project. The country is moving away from fossil fuels to renewable energy, he said, and Nebraska is in a great position to benefit.
He said he immediately recognized the opportunity when the wind development representatives first told him his county had an
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“I remember when my grandfather talked about burning cow chips. Then, they transitioned to wood, and from wood to coal,”
said Hamilton, who is vice president of the Cherry County Wind Energy Association. “We’re in one of those transition periods, and I just see an opportunity.” But state Sen. Tom Brewer, the only Native American in the Legislature, said the Sandhills is a unique ecological area that should be preserved. Wind development will fragment the land and poses risks to endangered species such as the whooping crane that migrate through the Central Flyway. The threat to birds is a common complaint, though cats and windows kill more. This year, the Nature Conservancy produced a map identifying 2.3 million acres in the state it considers safe to build turbines. Another issue for Brewer is he sees wind projects as creating conflicts among families who have turbines on their property and get a direct financial benefit and their neighbors who don’t. “It’s so disappointing, because I’ve seen nothing that causes more controversy than this has in the district,” Brewer said. Another effort that is creating controversy in the Sandhills is the R-Project, a proposed transmission line that would extend from Sutherland along I-80 to Thedford, in central Nebraska, and then east into Holt County. Because wind resources are typically the highest in sparsely populated rural areas, wind projects need power lines to carry the electricity to the cities that need the power. To critics, that’s another eyesore.
landmark on the Oregon Trail. Construction and maintenance will “scar the landscape in these virgin Sandhills,” Brewer said. “Now we’re going to be doing that for hundreds of miles. And so, I don’t think you’ll ever repair that scar.”
“It’s all in the eye of the beholder. It’s like beauty.” - John McCollister, Nebraska State Senator Because of these local considerations, McCollister said that the towns directly impacted should decide for themselves whether wind projects make sense. “It’s all in the eye of the beholder. It’s like beauty,” he said. “You get a landowner that’s got 10 turbines on his property, and maybe what he thinks is beautiful is that checkbook where he sees all the payments coming from the wind company.” But he acknowledges not everyone will agree. Haar, the former state senator, said no energy source is perfect. But right now, as the effects of climate change seem to grow more severe each year, wind energy development may be the best solution. “As with everything, there’s a trade-off,” Haar said. “In my view, the trade-off that we make now is burning fossil fuels. I mean, that’s a trade-off. That’s harming the whole globe.”
Proponents say the R-Project will enhance reliability of transmission and relieve congestion of power lines already in the Nebraska Public Power District. The project could also provide an opportunity for renewable energy to be developed. As of this writing, a federal judge in Colorado has suspended the R-Project. The judge cited the potential damage to O’Fallon’s Bluff, which is a climatechangenebraska.com | 105
How Can We Lower Our Carbon Footprint? Ages 10-17 • • • • • • • • • • •
Opt to reduce and reuse before you recycle Make craft projects out of things in your trash and recycling bin Carpool with friends Opt for eco-friendly items such as a bamboo toothbrush or toilet paper Use a reusable bottle Talk to school administraition about ways to lower your school’s carbon footprint Turn off the faucet when you are not using it Turn off the lights when you leave a room Only take food that you know you will eat Don’t be afraid to ask questions Become involved in sustainability clubs or start your own
Inspiring Leaders Middle schoolers from Prairie View Learning Center, along with UNL student activists, helped draft climate legislation that was heard by the Nebraska State Legislature.
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Ages 18-24 • • • • • •
Trade clothes or go thrift shopping with friends instead of online shopping Mend clothes that have rips and tears Buy locally sourced food Educate yourself by listening to podcasts or watching documentaries Bike, skateboard or take the bus whenever possible Turn off the lights and unplug devices when not in use • • • •
Switch from single use to reusable items (bamboo utensils, reusable cotton pads, reusable Q-tips, water bottles, grocery bags) Advocate for the environment on Youth Lobby Day in Lincoln Join campus or community organizations that help protect the environment Talk to your friends and family about ecoanxiety and climate change
Ages 25+ • • • • • • •
Invest in an electric car or use alternative transportation whenever possible Use energy efficient lightbulbs/electronics Start a compost bin in your yard Go to the grocery store weekly instead of monthly to reduce food waste Buy local food by going to the farmer’s market Use reuseable or zero waste products wherever possible Grow plants that promote bees and pollinators
• • • • •
Opt for growing native grasses instead of grass you have to mow Invest in renewable energy for your home and in the stock market Collect electronics and hazardous materials to bring to a recycling facility Calculate your carbon footprint and set goals to help decrease it Contact city, local, state officials
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Efforts to improve Nebraska’s soil may reduce the risks of climate change too By: Jenna McCoy
D
el Ficke has been called the “Walt Whitman of soils.”
company that promotes regenerative agriculture.
“I don’t know if that’s good or bad, but I like Walt Whitman,” he says. “So, what the hell?”
However many farmers Ficke can convince to follow his methods may have consequences beyond Nebraska’s soil health. Some scientists see no-till farming, cover crops, and the use of livestock to provide fertilizer as potentially powerful tools in the fight against climate change.
Ficke does tend to wax poetically about the quality of the soil on the 480 acres of family-owned land near Pleasant Dale, Nebraska. He raises Graze Master Cattle designed for foraging on 240 acres of permanent pasture, and on the other half, he grows corn and soybeans. Ficke doesn’t till the soil, and he plants cover crops and perennials like alfalfa in his fields after the harvest. Ficke is a proponent of what’s known as regenerative agriculture, a small but increasingly popular method of farming that puts a premium on soil health. Teeming with nutrients and microorganisms, healthy soil requires less chemical fertilizer and is better able to withstand heavy rainfall and extended drought. Outside of running his farm, Ficke also works to convince others to adopt similar practices for Indigo Agriculture, a Boston-based
Though the science isn’t settled, some studies suggest managing for soil health could turn farms into carbon sinks, pulling heat-trapping carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. Already, some programs pay farmers to implement regenerative ag practices, efforts that could serve as test cases if the U.S. adopts a broad climate reduction strategy. Climate change represents real risks to farm livelihoods. According to the Fourth National Climate Assessment, a report developed by 13 federal agencies and released in 2018, climate change will lead to more
Soil in Adams, Nebraska. Photo by Anjali Nooka 108 | CLIMATE CHANGE NEBRASKA
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intense rainstorms, accelerating the depletion of soil that Nebraska depends on to drive its economy. Temperatures could increase 4 to 9 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100, depending on how well the world controls greenhouse gasses. That could cut yields in some parts of the state by 50% between 2080 and 2099. “The degree of change that is projected will overcome our innovative ability,” said Jerry Hatfield, Ph.D., a retired U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) plant physiologist who studied water and nitrogen interactions in farming. Nebraska is one of the few states without a climate action plan, but it has moved to protect soil health, an effort that climate advocates hope will have knock-off effects to reduce greenhouse gases. The state Legislature created the Healthy Soils Task Force in 2019 to examine ways to prolong the productivity of Nebraska’s land. The task force, which is made up of farmers and agricultural scientists, is studying practices including no-till and cover crops.
“We do know that cover crops and no-till capture carbon,” says Aaron Hird, task force advisor and state soil health specialist with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. “If we can pull carbon out of the atmosphere and use it for productivity, that’s a benefit not only to the farmer but to the environment.” Hatfield says cover crops on one acre of farmland could pull in as much as 2,000 pounds of carbon into the soil yearly, as much carbon as is sequestered by 4.3 acres of forest. Agriculture accounted for 10% of United States greenhouse gas emissions in 2018. Most of farming’s contribution comes in the form of nitrogen oxide, which has far more heat-trapping potential than carbon dioxide but dissipates in the atmosphere much more quickly. A three-year study from Purdue University in 2011 found that not tilling the soil can reduce emissions of nitrous oxide by 40-70%, depending on crop rotation.
Carbon cycles through the environment and is stored in soil. Graphic by Amy Tran with information from CalRecycle.
But the climate-saving potential of regenerative agriculture is an ongoing debate. Some scientists believe the potential of no-till alone for climate change mitigation is limited. As most farmers till their no-till fields periodically, the little carbon stored in the soil is lost. Researchers from the World Resources Institute, an organization focused on sustaining the world’s natural resources, questioned regenerative agriculture’s potential for largescale emission reductions. “There’s limited scientific understanding of what keeps soil carbon sequestered, and, as a result, uncertainty about whether regenerative practices actually sequester additional carbon,” according to the group.
“The degree of change that is projected will overcome our innovative ability.” Jerry Hatfield, Ph.D., a retired U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) plant physiologist Although that debate is unsettled, scientists say there are plenty of reasons for farmers to embrace regenerative agriculture beyond climate change mitigation. Regenerative agriculture builds up organic carbon matter in the soil. It can improve nutrient value of crops and increase a field’s ability to retain water while minimizing the soil loss due to erosion.
“We tend to think about the carbon sequestration piece and what that means, but in reality, carbon is one part of the overall A team of scientists disputed WRI’s key points, production system that gives us a lot of saying regenerative agriculture practices increase soil carbon, discourage the conversion resilience,” Hatfield said. of forests to cropland and reduce use of nitrogen-based fertilizers.
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County-level cover crop and no-till coverage based on the 2017 Census of Agriculture. Maps by Jenna McCoy
Scientists from Iowa State University found that planting an additional crop besides corn and soybeans can eliminate 96% of chemical herbicide applications and 86% of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers.
“There’s a perception that because we do a good job with having less tillage, we’ve solved all our problems,” Basche said. “Cover crops are great, but they’re not going to be a silver bullet either.”
So, how does Nebraska stack up on regenerative agriculture practices?
Proponents argue that a farm’s profitability can go up as regenerative practices lower input costs. But up-front costs and social challenges both play a part in limiting farmers’ embrace of the techniques, farmers say.
Findings from the 2017 Census of Agriculture by the USDA showed 46% of cropland acres in the state were under no-till, 1% of farms were organic, and 3.4% of farms planted cover crops. For regenerative agriculture to be an effective mitigation and adaptation tool against climate change, Nebraska farmers likely would need to embrace many of the components of regenerative agriculture, according to UNL agronomist Andrea Basche, Ph.D., who advocates for a more holistic approach to farming. 112 | CLIMATE CHANGE NEBRASKA
“They don’t see adding additional crops into the rotation as being economically viable,” said Keith Berns, farmer and chairperson of Nebraska’s Healthy Soils Task Force. “And until they are, they’re not going to do it.” Berns farms 2,500 acres with his brother near Bladen, Nebraska. They haven’t tilled the land for more than 12 years. The brothers also co-own Green Cover Seed, a cover crop seed business that seeks to educate the community
about cover crops and no-till farming. “I don’t know that we lost money at first,” Berns said. “But I don’t know that we really started seeing a lot of the benefits for four or five years.” The drop in commodity prices this year due to COVID-19 added to the financial woes facing the agricultural economy nationwide, which could slow a broad switch to regenerative agriculture. “The average farmer in the US has gone red seven years in a row,” says Graham Christensen, who promotes regenerative agriculture through his consultancy GC Resolve. “So, I know there’s not money out there to take any chances.” But interest is growing in regenerative
agriculture, in particular its ties to efforts to pay farmers to reduce carbon emissions. Boone McAfee, director of research for the Nebraska Corn Board, a state agency focused on corn market development and research, says farmers are asking more frequently about carbon sequestration programs. He says the Corn Board partnered with the Nature Conservancy to understand how carbon markets work and to address concerns about how farm data is valued. Companies including Nori and Indigo Ag have developed programs that pay farmers for increasing the carbon in their soil, and Ecosystem Service Market Consortium is running a pilot program in Nebraska. Meanwhile, the Nature Conservancy, Cargill, McDonalds and Target announced an $8.5
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million project aiming to increase soil health practices to make their beef supply chains more sustainable.
Lately Ficke says he has noticed more neighbors embracing at least one regenerative farm practice.
Some funding is available through USDA programs to help pay for conservation activities, such as adding cover crops and converting to no-till.
Research at UNL and other places that show regenerative farm practices can lead to financial reward, and may be encouraging more farmers to switch. Paul Jasa, UNL agricultural engineer, has seen no-till agriculture work for nearly 40 years at the 300-acre Rogers Memorial Farm, which doesn’t use irrigation and sits 10 miles east of Lincoln. Research on the farm has shown that the longterm no-till plots usually have the highest yields and are the most profitable.
“If we do it right, which is incentivize farmers to innovate, we build wealth at our farms, and we save the world,” said Matt Russell, an Iowa farmer and director of Iowa Interfaith Power and Light. Through his group, Russell gathers small groups of farmers together at churches to discuss climate change and agricultural solutions. He said farmers understand there’s room for improvement but are reluctant to take the leap.
That’s important because even in an agriculture state like Nebraska access to quality food can be a problem for some communities, Christensen said.
“When I go up to see my friends up on the “And, so, then the question became, Well, why?” reservation, they’re not getting fed the nutrition Russell said. “What’s preventing you from doing they need,” Christensen said. “They will tell you that?” firsthand that they’re not getting the nutrition that they need. And when you go into the inner Beyond upfront costs, Ficke said that an city, food sovereignty is also a goal.” additional hurdle is the social ostracism that can come from taking a different path. Meadowlark Hearth, a 492-acre certified organic farm run by Beth Corymb and her “People are very concerned about the husband in Scottsbluff, produces food for the perception of their neighbors, even if they don’t community, including its schools. Corymb’s communicate with their neighbors a lot,” Ficke, farm is part of community-supported the healthy soils evangelist, said. agriculture where community members pay to receive fresh produce weekly. The farm also His neighbors didn’t ask questions about what produces grass-fed beef, as well as vegetable he’s doing on his farm, “but they were definitely seed. watching us,” he said.
“The aim is to try to balance your farm like you would balance your own health.“ - Beth Corymb, farmer from Scottsbluff, Nebraska
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“The aim is to try to balance your farm like you would balance your own health,” says Corymb. Ficke’s meat company markets beef locally and is part of the RegeNErate Nebraska network, a group of farmers and ranchers that practice regenerative farm techniques and sell directly to consumers.
Fast Facts About Soil •
There are more microorganisms in a teaspoon of (healthy) soil than there are people on Earth
He also hosts tours of his farm year-round, encouraging visitors to see and hear what a regenerative farm is like.
•
One dubious visitor from the United Kingdom didn’t believe Ficke’s farm practices yielded the results he proclaimed, so he showed up to see. Healthy soil has a scent called petrichor, the same pleasant and earthy smell that accompanies rain. Ficke says he told the visitor to smell the soil. Once he sniffed a shovelful, the visitor became an instant convert.
About 92% of the land in Nebraska is used for farming and ranching, so it is vital economically, biologically and socially to maintain healthy soil
What makes soil healthy? • Biological diversity, or having many different species of microorganisms, worms, insects and plants, among others
“I’m a big believer in, ‘We make the soil better, all of society improves,’” Ficke said.
•
Increasing levels of organic matter
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Efficient movement of water through the soil, which helps prevent erosion and flooding
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Soil health principles such as cover cropping, reducing tillage, increasing diversity and integrating livestock are applied in context of each individual farm operation
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More Reliance on Renewables, Efficient Vehicles and Better Buildings Means Less Reliance on Heat-Trapping Fossil Fuels By: Emerson McManus
J
ust north of Omaha, a nearly finished house crowns the peak of a hill. The onestory structure with a sea-foam-green roof is surrounded by native grasses bending in the wind and neat stacks of chopped firewood. Birds sing in the distance. Although the house is near a major city, the landscape is rich and green, full of rolling hills, cottonwood trees and babbling brooks. The house boasts extra-thick insulation, windows only on the south wall and a recycled ceiling of ornate tin — just like many of the other fixtures inside the 1,800-square-foot dwelling. This is a passive solar house and it has two primary functions: to reduce both energy costs and carbon emissions. “I think with the passive solar, you can significantly reduce your energy footprint,” said Bing Chen, Ph.D., a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. And, based on an array of scientific studies, that reduction can’t come soon enough — both nationally and locally. In Nebraska, energy costs often mean depending on fossil fuels for electricity. According to the United States Energy Information Administration, coal produced
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A new passive solar home nears completion on a hillside north of Omaha. Courtesy photo
approximately 56% of the state’s electricity in July 2020. Using data from three years earlier, a 2016 study found that Nebraska is indeed No. 1: It boasts the highest per-capita carbon emissions in the country. “We do not understand quite yet the power that we possess,” Professor Chen said. Enter Kim Morrow. She is the director of Climate Planning and Resilience at Omaha’s Verdis Group, a career grown from ministry at Lincoln’s First Plymouth Church and from a passion for climate activism. Until recently, Morrow headed up Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor-Baird’s Environmental Task Force, a group working to design finely tuned climate solutions for Lincoln. Among the group’s solutions proposed during an Oct. 28, 2020 news conference: reduce Lincoln’s carbon dioxide emissions 80% by
gas emissions linked to fossil fuel have reached unprecedented heights, while new environmental disasters dominate the news regularly. To wit: 2020’s record-setting hurricane season pummeled the Gulf Coast with violent, destructive storms. Wildfires burned over 4 million acres of California, killing at least 31 people. Each of the seven calendar years from 2014 through 2020 ranks as one of the seven warmest years on record. A new climate clock estimates it will be about seven years before the world’s carbon budget is dried up unless significant changes are made. Closer to home, despite calls for increased renewable energy production, dormant railroad tracks in Lincoln will be used to begin carrying coal to Nebraska City daily in January 2021. The trains, two a day, will each be a mileand-a-half long, carrying about 36,000 tons of coal per day. For many, it is an alarming development. 2050, increase resiliency to future climate hazards and integrate resilience measures through strategic city ordinances and action. Kim Morrow, director of Climate Planning and Resilience at the Verdis Group in Omaha. As far back as 2007, Morrow said she could see climate change “was going to be the biggest challenge facing [her] generation.” Thirteen years later, her crystal ball appears to be on target. In 2020, the negative effects of greenhouse
“We do not understand quite yet the power that we possess.” - Bing Chen, Ph.D., electrical and computer engineering professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
“We shouldn’t start with our argument two steps back,” said Clinton Rowe, Ph.D., department chair and professor of earth and atmospheric sciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “Yes, there’s a problem.” Climate change in Nebraska can seem far away, separated by hundreds of miles from raging wildfires and intense hurricanes. But the effects are actually much closer to home on a number of fronts. Nebraska faces high risk for water stress. Rising temperatures threaten crop growth. Emissions from burning coal and heavy traffic exhaust both pose health risks for residents of larger cities. But all hope is not lost. Many are working hard to transform problems into solutions. They believe Nebraska has the opportunity to lead by example. But leading by example takes work. “First, we gotta make the investment,” urged Nebraska state Sen. Adam Morfeld. climatechangenebraska.com | 117
Nebraska Emergency Management Agency 2019 courtesy photo
Solutions in Nebraska will look different than in California, Louisiana or New York. But Nebraska is a state used to doing things a little bit differently. Talk to experts in the field and you will hear a familiar chorus: Improving emissions in agriculture, building efficiency, energy generation and transportation are key to reducing Nebraska’s carbon output and fossil fuel dependency. “I really feel that there’s a role for everybody, no matter what your background is, or your field is, because we just need it everywhere,” Morrow said. Climate change already has staked its claim on Nebraska, which has begun to feel the heat. The fourth National Climate Assessment’s 2018 forecast is grim: Temperatures are rising by about 0.15 degrees per decade. By 2050, the number of extreme heat days could double, while extreme cold days will decrease. Meanwhile, the effects of and solutions to climate change are tricky, mainly because so many aspects of climate are interconnected. Deepak Keshwani, Ph.D., associate professor of biological systems engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, calls some of these connections the Food-Energy-Water Nexus. That idea is based on food, energy and water as dependent variables in industry as well as climate. In Nebraska, the corn, beef and energy industries provide a good example. 118 | CLIMATE CHANGE NEBRASKA
Here’s how it works: Corn is grown and sent to an ethanol plant. Ethanol is combusted to produce energy. The corn byproducts then are used to feed cattle. Cattle manure goes back into the cornfields as a fertilizer. And the entire process requires water — from irrigating corn to feeding cattle to producing ethanol. Important resources such as food, energy and water are connected and interact on what experts call the Food-Energy-Water Nexus. Graphic by Global Water PartnershipMediterranean. “Some people actually call this a golden triangle because it actually works really well for our economy,” Keshwani said. “It’s almost like a dance right between these three industries.” But climate change threatens this delicate dance. Warming temperatures and changes to the growing season imperil corn growth, which could threaten energy and cattle production, both vital Nebraska industries. So, what’s causing the problems threatening Nebraska’s golden triangle? “That has nothing to do with natural cycles. It’s all man-made,” Professor Chen said of the significant rise in carbon dioxide levels from about 200 parts per million in the 1960s to 400-500 parts per million in the air today. Although the problems can assume many different aliases, they often trace back to a single suspect: Transportation, energy and industry all rely on fossil fuels. “Our climate system is changing in fairly profound ways. And it’s changing because of human activity, putting more CO2 and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere,” said Professor Rowe. A 2019 Yale study found that 57% of Americans think fossil fuel companies have either “a great deal” or “a moderate amount” of responsibility for damages caused by global warming. And as 2020 has proven, the damages aren’t slowing down.
about his passive solar project in Omaha. The project is designed to create the prototype of a small, energy-efficient home for aging seniors. Those whom Professor Chen calls Nebraska’s “Solar Pioneers” step in when efficient building is involved. They don’t always produce energy, although some install solar panels on their property and sell leftover electricity. More often, their homes are designed to use less energy and be more sustainable overall. Guidance from the new Lincoln Environmental Action Plan recommends electric appliances and thicker insulation, but Nebraska’s passive solar pioneers integrate efficiency even deeper in their home designs. A large portion of Americans think fossil fuel companies are responsible for effects of global warming. Courtesy of Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. So, what can be done to slow down environmental damage? Experts offer a range of possibilities. Projects like solar panel installation or making the switch to all-electric vehicles can seem daunting and expensive, even though prices are declining. For homeowners, making changes to improve efficiency is a good way to save on energy costs. Improving a home’s efficiency also translates to lower electric usage and a smaller dependency on fossil fuels in daily life. Nebraska electric companies are unique because they are public utilities and residents have a say in electric production. While efforts to diversify the state’s energy profile continue and renewables grow, some Nebraskans also have turned to sustainable, efficient building to reduce their use of fossil fuels. “I became convinced that we had found a solution path for significantly reducing building energy consumption,” Professor Chen said
Homes like these are called “passive solar” because they are adapted to the local climate and passively use the sun — combined with insulation, strategic windows and recycled materials, to heat and cool the homes. A passive solar home, if it isn’t fitted with a solar array, still uses electricity for lights and appliances, but it can mostly provide its own heating and cooling. In Washington state, a Habitat for Humanity passive home’s up-front cost was increased by $12.50 per square foot, but heating costs were reduced to less than $20 per month. Professor Chen suggests orienting a new home to face south or placing a garage or trees on the northwest side for less expensive adjustments. “In terms of what percentage heating and energy can be reduced, that can vary from 50% for doing things such as orientation, weather stripping windows and doors and adding
Did You Know? In 2019, Nebraskans drove about 21 billion miles -- the equivalent of driving to and from the Voyager 2 spacecraft, which left the solar system in 2018, according to the Nebraska Energy Office, climatechangenebraska.com | 119
insulation, to nearly 100% for heating, cooling and electrical production,” Chen said in an email.
berm up against the one-story kitchen and neighboring study, enabling the temperature to be regulated by the soil.
Twenty-three miles southeast of Lincoln, in Panama, Nebraska, Lee Schriever’s home is hidden on a corner, shrouded by shrubs and mature trees. The passive solar home he designed and built himself is almost unrecognizable as the modest honeymoon cottage he originally purchased.
Another high-emissions sector in Nebraska is transportation. It is the third-largest producer of carbon dioxide in Nebraska, trailing only agriculture and power plants, according to a study analyzing 2016 emissions data by Dr. Adam Liska and Eric Holley.
Today, the home is two stories tall with weathered wooden siding. The windows on the south side are large and wellinsulated. An eave above the windows is designed based on the sun’s angles, so the home doesn’t overheat in summer, while ensuring it stays warm enough in winter. On the north side, Schriever built a
And while transportation emissions did dip considerably during the tightest lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic, the decreases in travel weren’t large enough or long enough to significantly reduce carbon dioxide levels. Nebraska is not a state with cutting-edge public transit like larger cities or less caroriented countries. While
Passive solar homes can showcase the creativity of the designer. Shown here, the Otley farm house in Lincoln recycles a wide variety of windows. Photo by Emerson McManus 120 | CLIMATE CHANGE NEBRASKA
some cities have public transit systems, Nebraska is largely rural, with homes sometimes spaced far apart and from resources in nearby towns. Because personal vehicles are something of a necessity in Nebraska, the amount of motor vehicle miles traveled is very high. Even urban areas are designed with personal vehicles in mind. “Our city’s laid out so much for the private vehicle,” Morrow said of Lincoln. Unlike an overhaul of the Nebraskan energy profile, reducing vehicle emissions is a fairly simple concept. How so? Removal of gas-powered cars would significantly reduce demand for motor oil and petroleum gas. Today, introducing electric vehicles to replace gaspowered ones is an idea with traction. Both California and New Jersey already have proposed future bans on gas-powered cars, forcing a shift to electric vehicles by 2035 instead. The automotive market now offers more electric vehicles from pioneer retailers like Tesla, and from other older car companies. “If you want to get rid of carbon output, the best way to do that is some form of electric vehicle,” said Jerry Hudgins, Ph.D., department chair and professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University
The Lee Schriever passive solar home in Panama, Nebraska, stays warm in winter and cool in summer. Photo by Emerson McManus
of Nebraska’s Lincoln and Omaha campuses. That sustainable change is just a bus ride away in Lincoln. This year the StarTran bus system received a grant to replace 10 diesel-powered buses with electric-powered. The new buses are clearly marked with a plug icon in the blueand-green decorative wrap and some already run routes through the city. Besides reducing demand for gas fuel, electric buses also don’t use motor oil and don’t produce exhaust, according to a Sierra Club report. Cleaner
transportation allows more people to commute through cities without using a personal vehicle and contributes to cleaner air and quieter neighborhoods. Electric public transit in cities is just one stepping-stone to lower transportation emissions for all of Nebraska. Other efforts focus on advocacy for electric train transportation. State Sen. Morfeld, who represents northeast Lincoln’s District 46, has proposed an electric train along the Interstate 80 corridor, from Omaha to Scottsbluff. “It’s more environmentally sustainable, reduces carbon emissions, and then third, I think it would also spur a lot of economic development and growth along the rail line in a socially responsible way,” said Morfeld. Agriculture is Nebraska’s most significant industry and it also produces 34% of its carbon emissions, which is almost five times more than the national average. Regions with strong agricultural economies contribute larger amounts of carbon climatechangenebraska.com | 121
dioxide emissions because farming disrupts natural carbon sequestration, livestock produce methane, products are exported and the scale of systems needed to produce food is so large. Although Nebraska’s large agricultural economy may produce large amounts of emissions, agriculture is not the enemy. “In many ways we are, in Nebraska, in the business of feeding and fueling the world,” said Professor Keshwani. Nebraska also is known as the beef state, for good reason. In 2018, the state’s beef and veal exports alone added up to $1.3 billion. However, in 2016, methane emissions from burping cattle also contributed the equivalent of 13.4 million metric tons of CO2 into the atmosphere. Whether cows burp or not can’t be changed. Their digestive systems function differently than in humans. Instead of digesting food one time, cattle have multiple chambers in
their digestive system, one of which ferments food products and produces methane burps. Some scientists experiment to see whether diets can change the amount of methane produced by those burps. One experiment from the University of California-Davis noted that seaweed added to cattle feed could reduce methane emissions. Meanwhile, crop farming could see improvement in breeding, irrigation and use of byproducts. Each issue presents its own unique challenges and questions. Irrigation improvement is a very local problem to solve, since neighboring farms can have very different needs based on local rainfall. UNL’s Professor Hudgins hopes to eventually see irrigation management on a micro scale, based on the individual health of each plant. So, what’s the bottom line? “Make good use of water that you do apply. And then of course, that directly ties to energy use,” Hudgins said. Product diversity and value addition also would allow the agricultural economy to get more out of the same amount of energy and reduce waste. Using byproducts in multiple ways not only increases the value of the crop, but it also ensures that Nebraska’s Food-Energy-Water Nexus is more resilient to change. As Nebraska faces increasing climate risks, change is necessary to protect homes, jobs and the environment, according to a number of scientists. The words “climate change” can spark anxiety about a problem that seems too big or too far away to fix. However, Nebraska has opportunities to make progressive strides. As Nebraskans vividly saw after the March 2019 bomb cyclone, communities have an impressive ability to come together and support each other through climate disasters. Protecting the place nearly 2 million people call home doesn’t have to be divisive, experts suggest.
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“I think the most important way Nebraskans can lead by example, I hope, is just being able to have civil
discourse and conversations,” said Professor Keshwani.
“In many ways we are, in Nebraska, in the business of feeding and fueling the world.”
The average Nebraska resident can’t singlehandedly convert the state energy profile to 100% renewables, revamp the entire agricultural industry or wipe out transportation emissions. But that doesn’t mean the average resident doesn’t have a voice to advocate for these kinds of positive change, experts believe.
- Deepak Kashwani, Ph.D., associate professor of biological systems engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
“I think people would be surprised to hear how powerful it is for probably even one constituent, but particularly five or 10 that contact their state senator,” said Sen. Morfeld. “Put them in the uncomfortable position to say, ‘I’ve done nothing.’ That’s what senators need to hear more of and feel uncomfortable.” In Omaha, Professor Bing Chen works on his passive solar project — the last thing he hopes to accomplish before retiring. In a partnership with the Omaha Public Power District, Chen is designing a prototype sustainable “granny pod” — a tiny, eco-friendly home with aging seniors in mind. Granny pods, or assisted living units, are popular in some cities as alternatives to nursing homes. They allow older relatives to stay near family instead of moving into more isolated conditions.
Chen’s granny pod will be designed with comfort and care at its core. It is also designed to be easy to manufacture. Currently, the price estimate is about $100,000 for a 400-500 square-foot tiny home. If it’s no longer needed, the home can be resold or rented. What goes into the $100,000 price tag? The tiny home is ADA-compliant with doors and hallways wide enough to accommodate a walker or a wheelchair. It will be fitted with an electric-powered, ceiling-mounted Hoyer lift for residents with less mobility. Professor Chen’s tiny home is also smart: A system will be programmed to respond to voice commands and automatic temperature controls. Chen’s sustainable granny pod also will be extremely energyefficient for both heating and cooling. Floor-level awning windows will guide cool summer wind through the house to 8-foot-high windows on the opposite side of the home. Because heat rises, this optimized airflow will keep the home cool. In winter, the house will be so tightly insulated it will take little to heat. “The original desire on my part was the heat of 16 birthday candles will be enough to keep it warm,” Chen said. “That’s based on a Molly Ringwald movie.” In addition to Chen’s ambitious 16-candle goal, this tiny home also will test methods for reusing roof runoff water to decrease strain on public water supplies while producing most of its own energy. And battery storage research with OPPD will explore backup solar energy storage. All in all, the goal of the granny pod is to efficiently knit together sustainability, seniors’ needs as they age and a desire to maintain relationships close to home. “I think people are going to start saying, ‘What alternatives do I have for my parents?’” Chen said. climatechangenebraska.com | 123
Mind Mapping Activity Directions Look at the example mind maps below and make one of your own from what you know about climate change. On a separate sheet of paper, write or draw key ideas with lines or arrows showing the relationships between them. It may be helpful to go back through each of the stories in the magazine and make a list of key terms to work from.
Climate Change
Option #1 Create a map of the challenges that climate change creates and solutions that have the potential to face those challenges.
Problems
Solutions
Key Points
Purpose
Option #2 Create a map of a story from this magazine. Start by determining the purpose of the story, and then include key details and any questions that you think of while reading.
Story Title
Questions
Details
Facts
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Opinions
Who is developing climate change solutions?
Who does climate change impact?
Option #3 Create a map that answers the essential questions (who, what, when, where, why and how) of climate change.
Who? What? When?
Climate Change Why?
How?
Where?
Globally
Locally
Option #4 Create a map that shows positive and negative relationships between key parts of the climate change system. Use arrows to show the direction of the relationship and two different colors to specify whether the relationship is positive or negative. Example: Agriculture is negatively impacted by climate change (yellow arrow) because changes in temperature, extreme weather and other factors decrease harvest yields. Agriculture operations that use practices that emit CO2 into the atmosphere can negatively impact climate change (yellow arrow) by the greenhouse effect. On the other hand, agriculture practices that draw CO2 down into the soil have a positive impact (green arrow) because reducing the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will help to mitigate the temperature rise.
Food Security
Agriculture Public Health
Climate Change
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A Call for Change: Putting a Price on Carbon Using economics to battle climate change By: Lindsay Johnson
S
ixty-seven-year-old Una Taylor and her husband could only watch, flabbergasted, as the March 2019 flood waters breached the dry creek banks cutting across their 180-acre yak ranch in Northwest Nebraska. Taylor watched as the fences her husband, Tim Hardy, put up by hand got slammed with debris, dead branches and trees and completely washed out the gravel road and underlying culverts on their Chadron ranch. This cut off their main access to feeding their yaks, with only the young bulls braving the freezing flood water to get to higher, dry ground. The extreme cold weather and limited food killed 10 of their 40 calves. “We were just stunned by it,” Taylor said of Nebraska’s bomb cyclone and flooding disaster that caused over $1 billion of damage to the state. This extreme weather – increasingly experienced over the last decade in Nebraska – was not the first disaster that Taylor experienced. In the 14 years since moving to Chadron from the Northeast, each drought, fire, flood and blizzard racked up costs for repairs and replacements. With each disaster, the
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cost to recover increases, giving Taylor a first-hand account of the mounting impacts of climate change on Nebraska. Taylor is not alone. A 2020 survey found that more than seven in 10 Nebraskans recognize the necessary and immediate action needed to address climate change. “I believe in climate change. I believe that it’s real. And I believe that it causes extremes in weather,” said Taylor. One solution to reduce carbon dioxide emissions that’s endorsed by the world’s top economists and research groups is putting a price on carbon. This would, experts say, incentivize a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and energy efficient innovation. The practice is already supported by major corporations and receives national bipartisan support through specific bills. After all, treating the atmosphere as a dumping ground for greenhouse gases should not be free, Taylor said.
Lesley Castanaza (left) and Stevan Kirchner (right) during the 2017 climate march at the Nebraska State Capitol. Photo by Adam Fenton
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“It’s like putting trash in the landfill,” Taylor said. “I mean, you have to pay for that.” Between 1751 and 2010, 63% of worldwide industrial carbon dioxide and methane emission have been traced to 90 “carbon major” entities. Moreover, 71% of greenhouse gas emissions have been traced back to 100 companies since 1988. But those actors, whose quantity of carbon emissions has led to human-amplified climate change and the resulting impacts, are not held accountable for damaging the planet. That is what a price on carbon does. The ultimate goal is to make emitting carbon far more expensive and encouraging carbon emitters to seek out less carbon intensive and more energy efficient
technologies. Experts say this is the most cost-effective way to rapidly decrease carbon emissions within the limited time frame. Yet, putting a price on carbon is not actually an additional cost. Every year since 2016, the US has experienced 10 or more individual billion-dollar disasters (exceeding $600 billion and averaging more than $120 billion a year), with 2020 experiencing 22 individual billion-dollar events at a cost of $95 billion, smashing the prior record of 16 events. And climate change is largely to blame for the near doubling of these disasters since 2000, according to a recent UN report.
Calculating Carbon Fees
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“It is baffling that we willingly and knowingly continue to sow the seeds of our own destruction, despite the science and evidence that we are turning our only home into an uninhabitable hell for millions of people,” said Mami Mizutori of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.
Under current business as usual scenarios, the US will see little to no reduction in its emissions in the coming decade, which could lead to more catastrophic climate change impacts such as:
While America’s carbon emissions fell by 14% between 2005 and 2017, the US is still at least 15% above its emissions reduction target outlined in the Paris Climate Agreement, from which the US withdrew on Nov. 4, 2020, only to re-enter via an executive order by President Joe Biden on Jan. 20, 2021. Meet the goal set by the Paris Climate Agreement requires a 45% reduction in global carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, according to a 2018 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
•
•
•
Nearly 19 inches (48 cm) of global sea-level rise by 2100 A 103% increase in frequency of warm extremes over central North America, or An 18% increase in frequency of extreme high river flows for the Mississippi River
Experts have developed a tool to help policy and decision makers understand the economic impacts of emitting one additional ton of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. This is the “social cost” of carbon.
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Burning fossil fuels and releasing carbon into the atmosphere results in widespread direct and indirect damages, including human health, mass extinction of plants and animals, social instability and water insecurity, to name a few. This results in a market failure, where the consumer price does not take into account all associated costs of damage caused by climate change. A price on carbon aims to correct this market failure by levying fees on greenhouse gases and providing incentives for citizens to invest in energy efficiency and alternative energy such as solar and wind. Like many economic theories, there are numerous ways to implant the pricing policies. Carbon pricing found throughout the world takes two main forms: carbon tax and cap-andtrade.
Carbon Tax A carbon tax is a price set per metric ton (2,205 pounds) of carbon dioxide emitted with a set rate of price increase until the carbon emissions reduction goal is met. These rates of increase would be dependent upon the agreement of economists, scientists and policy makers and the desired rate of greenhouse gas emissions reduction. The faster the reduction desired, the greater the annual tax increase. One group, the Environmental Protection Agency’s Interagency Working Group on Social Costs of Carbon, came up with an estimate of $40 per metric ton. This price would be implemented at the point of fossil fuel extractions and increase gas prices by 36 cents a gallon. It would add $0.02 to the price of a kilowatt-hour of electricity.
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But this price is on the low end. To keep global temperatures from rising above 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2030, the UN recommends a carbon tax between $135 and $5,500 per ton, according to a New York Times analysis. Pros • The added cost reduces emissions by motivating consumers to seek cleaner energy • Boosts economic growth by substantially increasing government revenue • Funds agencies managing climate change effects Cons • A carbon tax is regressive • A sudden increase in a carbon tax would shock the economy • It penalizes those who can’t switch to alternatives Carbon taxes allow industries to find the most cost-effective ways to reduce carbon emissions through free-market economies rather than government regulations. This is why even oil companies such as ExxonMobil, Shell and BP support a carbon tax.
Cap and Trade Cap-and-Trade is a two-part process: - The cap limits the maximum emissions of greenhouse gases by companies in a region. - The trade part is a market for companies to buy and sell emissions allowances that limit the amount of greenhouse gas emissions per permit; with prices set by supply and demand. The total emissions cap is split into allowances (permits), permitting a company to emit the amount of greenhouse gas emissions dictated by the number of permits owned by the company, which will typically decline over time. The government distributes these allowances to companies, either for free or through an auction. Trading gives companies a strong incentive to save money by cutting emissions in the most cost-effective ways and provides additional revenue for companies that do not need all of their government-allotted emissions permits. Pros • It encourages aggressive climate change goals. • Government revenues increase with cap and trade. • Agencies can purchase credits to retire them. • It eliminates the need for another tax in the economy. • It is a system which gives consumers more choices as well. Cons • It does not encourage some industries to change their behavior. • It can also encourage some companies to cheat. • The caps on this system must be rigid for them to work. • It provides an unpredictable system of costs. • The government ultimately dictates how many credits are available.
The European Union (EU) in 2005 created the world’s first multi-national cap and trade program with the goal of reducing carbon emissions. In 2019, the EU estimated that there would be a 21% reduction in emissions from sectors covered by the system by 2020. Both methods harness the free-market to allow for companies and consumers to drive emissions reduction without the use of government regulations. Cap-and-trade differs from a tax in that it provides a high level of certainty about future emissions (cap), but not about the price of those emissions (fluctuating costs of emissions allowances), where carbon taxes provide more confidence for future costs that companies can build into their business plans. Examples of both forms of carbon pricing can be found regionally, nationally and globally. Canada, Australia and Sweden are countries with a carbon tax. The European Union has the best known cap-and-trade program. But is one better than another? Not according to most economists, said former Republican South Carolina Rep. Bob Inglis. “There’s not a dime’s worth of difference between a carbon tax and a well-designed cap-and-trade system. And I believe that to be true,” said Inglis. Ficke’s meat company markets beef locally and is part of the RegeNErate Nebraska network, a group of farmers and ranchers that practice regenerative farm techniques and sell directly to consumers.
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“Carbon pricing is probably one of the best shots we have. It’s extremely efficient and allows the market to work…(allowing) capitalism to function and to figure out the solutions.” - Ursula Kreitmair, Ph.D., assistant professor of political science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
For Inglis, the problem is being able to convince others of the difference. He voted against the “hopelessly complicated” 2009 American Clean Energy and Security Act cap-and-trade bill. Part of his decision came down to the complexity of the bill. Before selling the American people on the 2009 cap-and-trade bill, Inglis tested the policy on his father, a retired industrial engineer, figuring if his father struggled to understand the bill, most people would. “I sat with my parents at the kitchen table where I grew up… and described cap-andtrade to them,” said Inglis. “If I can’t sell it to my parents at the kitchen table, this can’t be sold.” Inglis, a lifelong conservative and advocate of free enterprise, said carbon pricing is a way “to spawn an energy revolution, similar to the tech revolution. And the reason the tech revolution worked is it started with the government.” The 2009 cap-and-trade bill was passed in the House by a vote of 219-212 but was never brought to the floor of the Senate for discussion. But that doesn’t mean a price on carbon cannot work in the US, said Lucas Sabalka, Ph.D., a climate activist, chief scientist and computer vision specialist at Ocuvera and Lincoln Electric System Advisory Board member. “The failure of the 2009 cap-and-trade bill was a low point for the climate movement and a disappointment across the board,” 132 | CLIMATE CHANGE NEBRASKA
Sabalka said. “I think Republicans were burned by it. Democrats were burned by it. Environmentalists were burned by it. Everyone kind of walked away from that dejectedly…but coming off of that there were still opportunities to reassess, reorganize and reengage what was happening.” For Ursula Kreitmair, Ph.D., assistant professor of political science at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, carbon pricing would leverage the best of America to benefit the environment without further increasing regulation. “You can allow business to innovate, to maximize their profits using those true costs (of carbon) and the beauty of this is, it’s going to lead in the direction that’s beneficial to everyone, because we’re not hampering the economy,” said Kreitmair. Yet, while the benefits of decreasing carbon emissions would be widespread, Kreitmair said transitioning out of fossil fuels will hit certain areas more than others. “Areas such as Pennsylvania or Appalachia,” said Kreitmair, “they’re going to be suffering most — not because they’re so heavily fossil fuel relied, but it’s really a question of these being some of the last well-paid jobs you can have without necessarily a college degree.” In Nebraska, State Sen. Dan Hughes also fears a painful transition from fossil fuels. “We are heavy users of energy, diesel fuel, gasoline, so much, a lot of electricity,” he said. ‘Through irrigation, chemicals are pretty much
all derived from our petroleum products. Nitrogen fertilizer comes from natural gas.” And that’s not where his concerns end. He worries about any type of legislation mandating what his options are. “Any time the government gets involved, you lose the free-market system,” he said. “That can be very beneficial, but it can also be very brutal as well.” Despite the pros and the cons of carbon pricing as a climate policy, many agree that climate change is a major threat and the decision on how to solve climate change includes a market-based solution. “Carbon pricing is probably one of the best shots we have,” said Kreitmair who, along with many economists and business leaders, advocates for carbon pricing as a climate policy. “It’s extremely efficient and allows the market to work…(allowing) capitalism to function and to figure out the solutions.” The impact of carbon pricing will go beyond the fossil fuel industry to the sectors that are reliant upon fossil fuels, like agriculture. This raises concerns with states, like Nebraska, that have carbon-intensive economies. Boone McAfee, Nebraska Corn Board research director, said one of the most important things for Nebraska is listening to farms when it comes to carbon pricing. “I think that’s the biggest area that we look at is just how to make sure that farmers’ voices or producers’ voices are heard,” said McAfee.
And more than the incentives, Sabalka believes in the farmers. “Farmers are intelligent and adaptive and resourceful.” “In Nebraska … if you talk about limiting fossil fuels, you’re talking about increasing air quality, you’re talking about saving people’s lives,” said Sabalka, referencing a 2014 Regional Economic Models, Inc (REMI) report. Graham Christensen, founder of GC Resolve, would support a price on carbon but urges careful consideration so that “heavy polluting industries are not allowed an exemption from true emissions reductions. We do not have time to play games. We must demand real emission reduction goals.”
Sabalka agreed. “There would be increased costs for farmers,” he said, “but it’s not as much as you might fear.”
“I think that’s the biggest area that we look at is just how to make sure that farmers’ voices or producers’ voices are heard.”
In his opinion, farms “should be rewarded.
- Boone McAfee, research director, Nebraska Corn Board
“We should be paying our farmers to take carbon out of the air,” Sabalka said. climatechangenebraska.com | 133
Steven Kirchner, a North Omaha native and candidate for Omaha’s District 2 City Council, stands in front of a coal-fired power plant that contributes to climate change. Photo by Luke Andersen
There is also the argument for what to do with the revenue from a fee on carbon.
does not agree with renewable energy because of its unreliability.
“Instead of dividend we (farmers and ranchers) really need well-defined re-investment and security,” said Christensen. “We need to ensure that we are a part of this important conversation so that any carbon fee reinvestment program is practical for various farmers and ranchers in different geographical landscapes, regions and ecosystems across the county.”
“There’s a lot of small, localized nuclear plant technology that I think would be a much better way to go if, indeed, we really want to cut our carbon footprint, and still maintain a cheap, reliable source of electricity, which has been key to the financial success of the United States,” he said.
While some share concerns about carbon pricing and the disproportionate impact that farmers might feel from a carbon tax, others like Sen. Hughes described carbon pricing as “more of a stick approach than a carrot approach.” “If you want to reduce carbon, you’re really hammering someone that may not have an alternative,” Hughes said, adding that he is not opposed to reducing carbon emissions but he 134 | CLIMATE CHANGE NEBRASKA
But Sabalka sees an energy revolution being the catalyst for the US regaining its leadership on the global stage. “We’ve been leaders in the world. And I think we did a relatively good job of leading for a long time, but we are not leading around climate change. There is a power vacuum internationally right now around climate change,” Sabalka said, adding that America’s competitiveness is at risk.
“There’s a lot of small, localized nuclear plant technology that I think would be a much better way to go if, indeed, we really want to cut our carbon footprint, and still maintain a cheap, reliable source of electricity, which has been key to the financial success of the United States,” he said. But Sabalka sees an energy revolution being the catalyst for the US regaining its leadership on the global stage. “We’ve been leaders in the world. And I think we did a relatively good job of leading for a long time, but we are not leading around climate change. There is a power vacuum internationally right now around climate change,” Sabalka said, adding that America’s competitiveness is at risk. “If we don’t act, we’re going to get left behind,” he said. “Most of the rest of the world is on board with reducing carbon emissions. The longer you wait to stop that slider from sliding, the worse it gets. So we might not be able to get 1.5 degrees warming … but that is not a reason to not act.”
Meanwhile, activists like Kirchner said there is not a quick fix for climate change; it’s up to consumers to make change happen. “Young people have a lot of passion and energy for this,” he said. “We have allies and lots of different spaces … It doesn’t happen with one protest, with one sit-in … It’s a marathon, not a sprint.” The best thing Nebraskans can do, Kirchner said, is to make their voices heard and advocate and vote for candidates who support climate action. “There’s a lot of people realizing that pollution should not be free,” he said. “We should not be able to pollute for free as just ordinary citizens. I don’t take my trash out to the curb for free. There’s taxes that pay for that.” Summed up Kirchner: “There’s no silver bullet to solving the climate crisis. We are paying our carbon price right now. We paid it in health care. We pay it in climate change. We pay it in sea-level rise. We pay it in the forest fires and in the floods of Nebraska last year … It’s all of us that have to bear that burden.”
“There is a power vacuum internationally right now around climate change.” - Lucas Sabalka, Ph.D., chief scientist and Lincoln Electric System Advisory Board member
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Prarie Hill students protest in front of the Nebraska State Capitol in January 2020. Photo by Jason Nord, Prarie Hill Learning Center
How Nebraska’s Climate Education Could Shape the Future By: Mia Hartley
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Tick. Tick. Tick. It’s a sound that echoes louder and louder in the mind of Tela Hamric. The 13-year-old can’t shake the feeling that time is running out.
As time whizzes past and the pressures of finding climate change solutions continue to rise, education may be an important tool to mitigate its effects.
In Nebraska, teachers, administrators and state officials use a variety of means to educate Tick. Tick. Tick. students about the impacts of climate change Seven years, 66 days, 13 hours, 54 minutes and both globally and in their own backyard. The current state standards for K-12 educators, some change – the time remaining, scientists say, until the effects of climate change become adopted in 2017 by the Nebraska State Board of Education, include the phrase “climate irreversible. change” five times. A student at Prairie Hill Learning Center, Of those five, two state that students shall not a Montessori school nestled in the Roca, be assessed over climate change curriculum. Nebraska, countryside, Hamric has devoted Yet, teachers must teach climate change by many days learning about the environment. allowing students to gather and analyze climate Motivated by Prairie Hill’s extensive climate education curriculum, Hamric and her younger data and then make evidence-based claims peers already are becoming prominent climate and predictions about the topic. The previous standards for science, adopted in 2010, did not activists in the Lincoln community. include the phrase “climate change.” Time, they believe, is a luxury they do not have. The science curriculum standards are “threedimensional, according to Betsy Barent, the “We only have eight years before stuff gets really bad, and nobody is listening to the young K-12 Interim Science Curriculum Specialist for Lincoln Public Schools. Barent said it’s more people,” Hamric said. than just science concepts and facts. “It’s about how we do science, why science matters and For Jordan Hope, Prairie Hill’s executive director, Nebraska can be a tricky place to craft the themes that run through science,” she said. a climate curriculum. This vision for science, both statewide and nationally, is aimed at producing a science“Midwest culture sometimes doesn’t want to literate generation of students. take these things seriously because it means kind of a different way of life,” Hope said. “Kids are figuring out what’s going on around them, you know, rather than just sitting and Tick. Tick. Tick. learning about it,” Barent said. The impact of climate change can be felt The current language, Barent said, makes no across the state, from Kimball to Omaha. strong assertions that climate change is real or A report, published in 2014 by the applied human-induced -- an intentional move by the climate science group in the School of Natural Nebraska State Board of Education. Resources at the University of NebraskaLincoln, details many serious consequences “We want kids to become scientificallyof climate change facing Nebraska. Among them: increased average temperatures, higher literate citizens and critical consumers of that knowledge, so that they come to those precipitation levels, decreased soil moisture conclusions because of their own senseand an increased likelihood of flooding. making,” Barent said. climatechangenebraska.com | 137
Nebraska’s Science Standards
Nebraska Overall gade: C+ Type of standards: Framework Nebraska earned a C+, with weak scores in addressing the reality of climate change, the human responsibility for it, and possible solutions. The state’s standards did slightly better in addressing the severity of the problem. One reviewer noted subtle changes Nebraska made to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) “to reduce, even eliminate, the role of humans in causing climate change”: “A common device used in Nebraska’s standards is to adopt an NGSS standard but then change discussion of some action that ‘reduces impacts of human activities on...(e.g. natural systems, [NGSS]’ to action that ‘increases positive impacts of human activities on...(e.g. natural systems, [Nebraska]).’ This is a very subtle edit, but it precludes the possibility that human activities have negative impacts on natural systems.” Still, one of the three reviewers gave the state positive marks, particularly for its discussion of possible solutions: “Nice example of a forward-looking solutionoriented skillset for building a ‘there’s hope’ mindset.” The standards got mediocre marks for preparing students for study of climate change in higher education and for responsible participation in civic deliberation on the issue. 138 | CLIMATE CHANGE NEBRASKA
A 2020 study from the National Center for Science Education and the Texas Freedom Network Education Fund graded each state’s science standards for public schools addressing climate change. unique approach in showing students the importance of giving back to nature.
Nebraska’s grade: C+. The grades of other neighboring states vary, with Iowa receiving a B+, Missouri a C- and Kansas a B+. Since Nebraska is an open control state, each of its 272 school districts is responsible for adopting its own curriculum. The Nebraska Department of Education plays no role in the development of curriculum, which allows schools to customize the curriculum to their own needs. Floyd Doughty, a science teacher at Lincoln North Star High School, said the curriculum could be improved. “I think there’s enough to do the job that needs to be done in a way of conveying the information, but I think you could do better,” Doughty said. *** Tick. Tick. Tick. From impassioned discussions to engaging with nature and analyzing data to make scientific conclusions, teachers like Mitch Bern at Lincoln North Star High School provide a
“Whenever students can get more hands-on and actually take a little more personal stock in their own learning and what’s happening in the world around them, that’s going to be more effective,” Bern said. “We have to learn about history so that we don’t repeat the mistakes of the past. I feel that applies really well to climate change.” In 2019, Bern led a tree-planting initiative with his classes, growing trees from seeds combined with climate change and ecology lessons. His goal was to give students a memorable experience. “It’s not always doom and gloom,” he said. “We can change things, we can reduce the impact, we can turn around some of the damage that we’ve done.” Bern isn’t the only teacher taking matters into his own hands. Mary Morrow, a science educator at Lincoln East High School, is using NASA software to help students learn about varying aspects of climate change. Her students are trained to use the high-level software that she says fosters an environment of scientific understanding. By changing
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Photo by Rachael Arens, Albert Einstein Educator at NASA’s Science Mission Directorate Office and former Omaha Northwest High School Educator
variables such as snowfall, precipitation and air circulation patterns, students could make informed predictions about the earth’s future climate. “I think education is the most powerful tool you have,” Morrow said. “When students really understand it, that’s how they’re going to be able to make changes.” Rachael Arens, a former Omaha Northwest High School teacher, also believes education is a powerful tool - and she is devoting her life to it. In her days as an Omaha educator, her students built solar panels, constructed rain gardens, implemented a school-wide composting program, co-wrote a bill to reduce plastic bag usage in Nebraska and created a Native American garden to pay homage to the
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land that once belonged to indigenous people. “I think that youth have such a powerful voice and position that maybe 10-15 years ago wasn’t as valued as it is today,” Arens said. Arens, an Albert Einstein Educator at NASA’s Science Mission Directorate Office, said teaching climate change is a matter of social justice. “When certain pieces of the puzzle fall out of place, we all suffer,” Arens said. “I want to make sure that we act again against some of these injustices and provide tools to students to be able to see injustices within their own communities.”
The classroom isn’t the only place where education occurs. Outside resources like Nebraska Game and Parks are doing its part to make sure everyone -- from toddlers, teachers and the elderly -- is connected to the world around them. Amber Schiltz, a wildlife education program manager, connects students to nature through a variety of outdoor education programs such as Nebraska Bird Month, the Outdoor Discovery Program and Reptile Day. For students, the opportunity to get outside and learn real-world skills builds “ecological literacy,” Schiltz said. “It’s critical to let them just play, and let them love and let them build that connection,” she said. Schiltz’s passion for nature is closely tied to her growing concern about climate change -- and she thinks an improved climate education may be the answer. “We’re kind of in our infancy of getting the ball rolling on some big initiatives such as climate change,” said Schiltz. She is currently in the research and development stages of launching
a climate change initiative at the Wildlife Education Program. “The students living in Nebraska right now are going to be the future leaders of Nebraska, and it’s really important they understand what climate change is, how it’s affecting our state, but more importantly what they can do about it,” Schiltz said. *** Try as they might, public school educators can only do so much. Limited by the quantity of material required and a highly-structured curriculum, some public school teachers do not have the time to teach climate change. That’s what makes Prairie Hill’s comprehensive climate curriculum so unique. Starting at age 5, children learn about composting, vermiculture and recycling. “If we don’t help our children know what’s going on, they can’t do anything about it,” Hope said. Although Prairie Hill’s climate education is extensive, Hope said the students are up to the challenge. “There’s a really powerful ability to step outside
Photo by Amber Schiltz, Nebraskaland Magazine/Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
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of yourself as a young person and to see what needs to be done and not be tied down by the restrictions of adulting,” Hope said. *** Prairie Hill’s extensive climate education has spurred involvement and activism both inside and outside the classroom. A group of six Prairie Hill students wrote and presented a bill to Nebraska lawmakers asking them to consider the impacts of climate change on Nebraska and to take action to prevent it. Hamric, along with her classmates Lane Albrecht, Clio Baird, Willa Hamric, Hathaway Hutchings, and UNL students and activists, testified before the Nebraska Legislature in January 2020. Rick Kolowski of Omaha was the first to endorse the bill. After listening to the students, senators rejected the bill.
role in it but we need adults to listen to us and to take us seriously.” The theme of feeling ignored was a common thread among the students. Despite their youthfulness, these students feel the climate clock ticking as if it were their own heartbeat. This contributes to a feeling of anxiety among many. For Hamric, climate change makes her feel three basic things: anger, fear and sadness. Rather than allowing these feelings to consume her, however, Hamric is choosing to use them to her advantage. “My anger and my fear will make it so that I don’t go down quietly. So that this doesn’t end with us just sitting back and letting it happen,” she said. Luckily for Hamric, Prairie Hill is teaching her how to harness that anger and turn it into change.
“All (they) saw this as was a school project that a couple kids were doing about something they didn’t truly understand,” Hamric said. With Prairie Hill’s emphasis on collaboration and active learning, teachers are able to give Clio Baird, daughter of Lincoln Mayor Leirion their students real-life experiences to help Gaylor Baird, believes climate education needs them learn important lessons. Hope says to become a priority sooner than later. allowing students to indulge in tendencies such as talking and moving allows for a different “I think it’s important because we have a limited experience than a typical public school. amount of time and there will be irreversible changes to our planet,” she said. “Rather than fighting those natural instincts that all humans have, at a Montessori school “But we can’t do it alone because we don’t have we use those to our advantage,” said Hope. enough power to do that. We will have a big And the students are learning valuable life lessons.
“If we don’t help our children know what’s going on, they can’t do anything about it.”
- Jordan Hope, executive director, Prairie Hill Learning Center in Roca, Nebraska
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“We’re learning a lot of things that are going to help us do any sort of activism and fight climate change,” Hamric said. “I’m learning how to do public speaking, how to be passionate about something, how to reach out and make a change in my local community.”
While these are impressive skills for a 13-yearold, the reality is that this level of climate education is fairly unique to the Prairie Hill Learning Center. New science standards will be implemented in 2023, meaning there is still three years until climate education in Nebraska can be substantially altered. Until then, it will be the responsibility of school districts, educators and students to decide whether their climate education curriculum will change.
“This is my future. You are living your future. You’ve already had your chance,” Hamric said. “I haven’t even gotten a chance yet. I haven’t even gotten a chance to get a job and to live out my dreams because I am 13.” - Tela Hamric, Prairie Hill Learning Center student
Prarie Hill students, including Clio Baird, daughter of Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird, testify before Legislature in January 2020. Photos by Jason Nord, Prarie Hill Learning Center
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Meet The Team Amy Tran Omaha, Nebraska Graphic Design
Abigail Ridder Logan, Iowa Graphic Design Environmental Studies Forestry
Carmelo Lattuca Chicago, Illinois Meteorology Mathematics Broadcasting Communication Studies Applied Climate Science
Aila Ganić Lincoln, Nebraska Political Science Business Public Policy analysis certificate
Anjali Nooka Omaha, Nebraska Advertising and Public Relations Art Communication climatechangenebraska.com | 145
Mia Hartley Waverly, Nebraska Advertising and Public Relations Political Science
Andrea Atkinson Gretna, Nebraska Graphic Design
Sarah Damlo Lakeville, Minnesota Marketing
Management Environmental Studies
Rachel Williss Papillion, Nebraska Integrated Sciences Agriculture Environmental Sciences Communication
Caitlyn Thomas Papillion, Nebraska Journalism Psychology
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Chloe Schock Falls City, Nebraska Journalism Advertising and Public Relations Global Leadership
Emma Hastings Wahoo, Nebraska Broadcasting Sports Media and Communication Environmental Studies
Lucas Rief Omaha, Nebraska International Business
Ryan Dean Milwaukee, Wisconsin Sports Media and Communication Religious Studies
Lindsey Woods Papillion, Nebraska Advertising and Public Relations
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Aaron Housenga Geneva, Illinois Broadcasting Sports Media and Communication
Brittni McGuire Omaha, Nebraska Fisheries & Wildlife
Carlee Koehler Firth, Nebraska Wildlife Conservation Biology Journalism
Celeste Kenworthy Bellevue, Nebraska Geology Psychology
Grace Gorenflo Shawnee, Kansas Journalism
Jennifer Gilbert Omaha, Nebraska Environmental Studies
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Kat Woerner Bellevue, Nebraska Economics Environmental Studies Natural Resource Economics
Kayla Vondracek Salem, South Dakota Environmental Studies
Lauren Dietrich Omaha, Nebraska Journalism Advertising and Public Relations
Libby Seline Omaha, Nebraska Journalism
Libert Niyonkuru Kigali, Rawanda Integrated Sciences
Lindsay Johnson Aurora, Colorado PhD Natural Resources
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Luke Andersen Omaha, Nebraska Psychology Environmental Studies
Sophia Svanda Nehawka, Nebraska Agricultural and Environmental Science Communications
Nora Lucas Shawnee, Kansas Applied Climate Science
Tessa Fasut Lincoln, Nebraska Classics Religious Studies
Jeannette Uzamukunda Kigali, Rwanda Integrated Sciences
Leadership and Entrepreneurship Environmental Studies 150 | CLIMATE CHANGE NEBRASKA
Nick McConnell Lincoln, Nebraska Broadcasting Journalism
Jenna McCoy Hickman, Nebraska Environmental Studies Applied Climate Science
Emerson McManus Lincoln, Nebraska German
Andrianna Jacobs Rochester, Minnesota Journalism Psychology Broadcasting
Annelise Christen Lincoln, Nebraska Advertising and Public Relations
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Inspire and Educate climatechangenebraska.com
Photo by Anjali Nooka