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Governor's Conference on Managing Drought and Climate Risk: Day 3
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Photo: Coyote Gulch archives
Speakers at the third day of the "Governor's Conference on Manageing Drought and Climate Risk" concentrated on climate change and predictions for Colorado through 2050.
Susan Solomon -- Nobel Peace Prize winner for her work with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change -- got to the heart of the climate change problem with her statement, "This generation is making decisions that will change the geography of the planet." (Reported by The Pueblo Chieftain.)
The current generation has to learn how to take the long view. What are we leaving for future generations? We're burning all the easily accessible hydrocarbon energy, a storehouse that took millions of years to accumulate.
We're using up the fossil water in aquifers around the world. We're heating up the planet and endangering 25% of the world's species. Some biologist's say that we're in the Sixth Extinction and that it's different from the past since it's manmade.
Proponents of nuclear energy don't tell you that we are committing hundreds of generations to storing our waste. Some talk of recycling the waste -- and that's a good idea -- but that leads to highly radioactive waste that will still need to be stored.
Similarly -- in our response to climate change and forecasted water shortages -- we're making the decision to move water out of basin from the west slope to water the unbridled growth on the Front Range. Do we have the moral right to commit future generations of Coloradans to that decision? Should we tackle the problems of population control now?
Colorado may or may not get drier with climate change. One thing is certain: We've warmed up 2 degrees Farenheit in the last 30 years. Some of that is due to climate change while there may be other factors in play since that's roughly double the national average.
We're getting warmer, more crowded, more polluted and shorter on water. As evidenced by the conference we are at least talking about the problems now. It was not too long ago that the deniers were in power and controlled the argument.
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