University of Wisconsin students gathered with state leaders on campus Tuesday to explore ways to alleviate the growing concern over global climate change.
Environmental advocates challenged legislators and university officials to immediately curb advancement and even possibly reverse the effects of global warming.
"There is an overwhelming sentiment to get going," said state Sen. Mark Miller, D-Monona. "The sooner we take significant action to reduce human contribution to global climate change, the more we will be able to reduce and manage the consequences of that change."
Research presented by professor Jonathan Foley, director of UW Gaylord Nelson Institute, started the discussion at the Capitol Tuesday morning. Before members of the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources and other legislators, Foley outlined the predicted implications of current pollution emissions.
According to Foley, the average global temperature has increased 3 degrees Celsius since the last ice age thousands of years ago, and he said a third of the increase happened within the last hundred years.
As a result of this sharp increase in temperature, Foley said 150,000 people die every year due to climate changes, and the majority of the affected areas are less-developed countries in the southern hemisphere.
On campus, Sen. Robert Jauch, D-Poplar, said, "We have all been impacted by the changes that have occurred in our climate, throughout the world, as we have watched starvation and droughts occur in other parts of the world."
According to Keith Reopelle, director of Clean Wisconsin, people today can expect to see the consequences of pollution in their lifetimes, and currently, Wisconsin is not progressing toward its emissions goal.
"We need to reduce our emissions by 60 to 80 percent by 2050, so that's obviously a huge reduction, considering we've been increasing our global warming emissions," Reopelle said. "As a state, we are headed the wrong way."
During the meeting, several panelists expressed concern with decreasing emissions while also growing the state's economy.
"We have to balance between the growth of the economy and the state of the environment," Miller said.
One of the main topics discussed regarding this balance was the amount of money citizens spend on their energy bills and how much energy use affects the environment. Jauch said consumers should pay "a little bit more" if it had a favorable effect on the environment.
"I'd pay 10 percent more if I knew it was going to be green energy. I don't see why other people wouldn't do the same," said John Vrieze, president of the Wisconsin Dairy Association.
Miller said the UW System is key to developing alternative solutions for the global climate change and that lawmakers will continue to support further discussions on the subject.
Graduate student Andrew Stuhl, like many others present, was pleased to see state officials and students coming together for a common goal.
"It's just impressive to see senators coming down to Science Hall, interacting with business owners, farmers and even students," Stuhl said. "I feel like they are making a change here."
