Updating students, faculty and community members on congressional
progress on global warming, Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., paid a visit to
the University of Wisconsin campus Thursday night and heard concerns
from UW experts and concerned citizens.
Baldwin, who serves on the Congressional Committee on Energy and
Commerce and its subcommittees on health, energy and air quality, as
well as the Environment and Hazardous Materials, spoke on the
challenges in Washington and was optimistic for the future with a
progressive Democratic Legislature.
With Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., at the helm
calling for aggressive introduction of legislation by July 4, Baldwin
said Congress will move forward with several measures after their
spring recess.
“When we return, the House will start with an efficiency package. …
We’ll likely move on from there for carbon cap and trade measures,”
Baldwin said. “Many pieces of legislation have already been introduced
and have guided our efforts — this Congress, I hope, has the leadership
and commitment to address the problem head-on.”
Baldwin called Thursday’s panel — sponsored by Wisconsin Public
Interest Research Group and the Nelson Institute for Environmental
Studies — an opportunity to shed light on real solutions, both short-
and long-term.
Paul Meier, UW Energy Institute director, said the solution lies in
energy reduction, alternate fuels, and carbon capture and storage, with
40 million tons of carbon dioxide emitted in Wisconsin coal plants
alone.
“These changes aren’t going to happen overnight — it’s going to take
time,” Meier said. “We need to reduce energy use. … We have a lot of
potential in Wisconsin.”
UW zoology professor emeritus John Magnuson expressed concern
regarding the timeframe of global warming efforts, but pointed to
studies revealing a “significant impact” that will occur within the
current generation, where “we’ll be living in a world much different
than today.”
Magnuson also addressed the slow progression of climate issues as a
concern, in contrast to sudden weather, such as a severe storm where an
alarm would be sounded.
“We do not have an alarm signal for a slow ramp,” Magnusson said.
“There’s no place that sounds an alarm when we’re getting into trouble.”
Tracy Holloway, researcher and assistant professor with the Nelson
Institute, shared her expertise on air pollutants and said Dane County
is hovering alarmingly close to dangerous air levels.
“Nearly every county adjacent to Lake Michigan is out of attainment
with [state standards],” Holloway said. “It will have adverse health
effects and extra costs to businesses — like in Milwaukee you need to
get your car smog tested.”
When asked about “big money corruption” by an audience member,
Baldwin said Congress should approach the fight against global warming
like the national space exploration of the 1960s.
“We ought to, in part … look at it like the Apollo project and say
what Kennedy did and challenge the country to do something we haven’t
done before, and marshal the financial resources it will take to
undertake that process,” Baldwin said.
Rich Bradt, electrical engineer who teaches UW students about wind farms, said he enjoyed the panel and the various opinions.
“I think Rep. Baldwin showed us what she was thinking and took notes to take back to Washington,” Bradt said.
