This past Tuesday, Dane County Executive Joe Parisi came out with his 2014 county budget. While students may not be privy to all the details of county government and its budget, I believe students would support this budget. Here is an issue students comprehend: We understand that our climate is changing and that we need to change our behavior at individual, institutional and societal levels in order to secure the future health of our planet. There are thousands of undergraduate students studying these issues in majors from geography to environmental science to community and environmental sociology. Graduate students are researching a variety of solutions to these challenges, prepping our generation to become leaders on this issue.

That said, Executive Parisi has placed the environment and climate change at the center of this budget. He has pledged $3 million to continue improving the overall water quality of the Yahara Lake watershed, helping to build another manure digester and storage tanks which will reduce the overall runoff of phosphorous from farms. He also earmarked $1.5 million in energy efficiency initiatives and $2.3 million to convert snowplows to compressed natural gas which will come from the two manure digesters improving energy security for all Dane County Residents. Further, he included a blueprint for the future on how our county government will mitigate the inevitable effects of climate change in the here and now. Yes, it’s true the solutions need to come from private as well as public sectors, but after years of lackluster government leadership, it’s refreshing to see such values enacted in a budget. Thank you, Executive Parisi.

Chris Hoffman ([email protected]) is a senior studying Political Science and Environmental Studies.