Wisconsin’s lieutenant governor and the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point will host a summit to discuss climate change issues in the state.

The summit will gather regional leadership teams to discuss and create a framework for regional and local response to global climate change. The summit is part of Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton’s Green Economy Agenda.

Lawton will host the event along with UW-Stevens Point, the Wisconsin Alliance of Cities, the Wisconsin League of Municipalities, 1000 Friends of Wisconsin and the Midwest Renewable Energy Association, according to a statement from the Lt. Gov.’s office. The summit will be held at UW-Stevens Point Dec. 12.

“Her main focus as lieutenant governor has been to work on having a green economy,” said Ben Nuckels, Lawton’s press secretary. “She really sees climate change as an opportunity to create jobs … and put Wisconsin on the green track for the 21st century.”

Regional elected officials will participate with teams consisting of leaders from private industry, education, medicine, media, environmental organizations and economic development.

The teams will meet with national, regional and local experts and learn how to effectively address environmental issues. According to Nuckels, the goal of the summit is to subsequently have these regional leaders go back to their local communities and put those ideas to use.

“Lawton really believes that we need a regional and local response to local climate change,” Nuckels said. “…[T]his summit hopefully will give mayors and other local leaders a chance to learn how they can deal with the climate change crisis.”

Galen McKinley, UW assistant professor in atmospheric and oceanic sciences, said the summit is an important step in addressing climate change, but added no one can know how effective it will be until the summit concludes. 

“I think that more communities and municipalities need to be aware of climate change and the growing need to adapt to the climate and reduce climate change impacts,” McKinley said. “But in the end, the real effectiveness of [the summit] depends on whether or not these local and regional leaders take what they learn back to their communities.”

McKinley added college students should be aware of climate change and the various topics that will be addressed at the summit in December.

“Most college students will be living through much more dramatic change in climate than most of their professors, and they’re also the people that are on the verge of taking responsibility for political decision-making around the issues of climate change,” McKinley said.

McKinley said whether a student’s field is in business or engineering, they should still consider the exponential growth of climate change as a part of their future. 

“The impact the environment has on our health, on our economy, on every aspect of our lives, is becoming ever more clear,” McKinley said. “We just can’t think about these things separately anymore.”