About 150 college students gathered in Lincoln on Friday for the 5th Nebraska Youth Climate Summit.
Presenters included 25-year old Louise Mabulo, an entrepreneur and environmentalist from the Philippines, and Nebraska State Climatologist Martha Durr.
Mabulo has won international acclaim for her “Cacao Project,” which teaches farmers and students in the Philippines how to build a sustainable, climate resilient livelihood in a country often ravaged by typhoons.
She spoke earlier in the week at former President Bill Clinton’s Global Initiative meeting, saying that much of her group’s work involves planting a diversity of crops, crops that can withstand extreme weather, and stopping the rapid depletion of soil.
Durr, who is stepping down soon as state climatologist, told the students that climate change is “real and here now.”
She cited the extreme, “bomb cyclone” floods of 2019 across the state and noted North America had the hottest temperatures on record in August and this summer.
Durr said without reduction in greenhouse gasses,Nebraska’s summer weather will be much like southern Oklahoma with highs averaging 95 degrees.
The message at the Student Climate Summit wasn’t all doom and gloom. There were reminders that the state got $3-million dollars in federal funds for a state climate action plan due next year and a similar $1-million dollar plan for Omaha.
The students were also reminded that Nebraska’s 2 largest utilities, NPPD and the Omaha Public Power District, have set goals of “net-zero” carbon production by 2050.
The third-largest utility, the LIncoln Electric System, has set an even more ambitious goal of reaching that level by 2040.
The presenters all emphasized that even small effort, if done by enough people, can make a difference.
Perpetuating the “climate change hoax” with students helps guarantee it will never go away. Where is the actual science behind all of this?