Hotter and Drier: The West's Changed Climate
| Property | Value |
| Name | Hotter and Drier: The West's Changed Climate |
| Release Year | 2008 |
| Primary Author | Organization |
| Additional Authors | People Organizations |
| Description | This report shows that the West is being affected by a changed climate more than any other part of the United States outside Alaska. Comparing average temperatures in the last five years to 20th century averages, the West has experienced 70 percent more warming than the world as a whole. The economic damages of this disrupted Western climate are being felt in the tourism, agriculture, hunting, fishing and skiing industries, to name just a few. The good news is this is a problem residents of the West can help solve. This challenge can be met through improvements in building, vehicle and industrial efficiency; increased investment in renewable energy and low carbon fuel; and deployment of technologies to capture and store carbon emissions. Enacting mandatory federal greenhouse gas limits will stimulate investment in cleaner energy technologies. Additionally, policies that will help overcome the significant barriers to investment in energy efficiency must be adopted. Relying on the market alone to drive investment is not enough. Federal and state policies are also needed to promote building and transportation efficiency by reforming perverse regulatory incentives and allowing investment in energy efficiency to compete on a level playing field with expenditures on electric and gas supply. There are several ways of achieving these goals. One is regional. To date, seven western states (Arizona, California, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Washington) have entered into a regional agreement to limit global warming pollution. Governors of these states, and others that join the Western Regional Climate Initiative (WCI), have agreed to a goal of reducing their aggregate greenhouse gas emissions 15 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. Current and future members of the WCI should ensure that a suite of comprehensive policies achieves these targets either on or ahead of schedule. Additionally, the WCI states should agree to the firm target of reducing emissions of global warming pollution at least 80 percent below current levels by mid-century. State action, however, cannot do the job alone. We also need leadership at the federal level, where the U.S. Senate is working on a major bill that would get the United States started on addressing global warming. We urge western state Senators to support and strengthen S. 2191, the Lieberman-Warner bill (“America’s Climate Security Act”) on global warming. The sooner and the more decisively we act to usher in the next generations of buildings, vehicles, fuels and energy, the greater our chances will be of avoiding the most dangerous effects of human-caused global warming and preserving the West we know and love. The authors of the report would also like to thank the following for their assistance: Jesse Aber, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation; Martha Apple, Montana Tech of the University of Montana; Jennifer Chase, Colorado State Forest Service; Gabriela Chavarria, NRDC; Lisa Crozier, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); Robin Cunningham, Fishing Outfitters Association of Montana; Diane Debinksi, Iowa State University; Henry F. Diaz, NOAA; Jon Eischeid, NOAA; Jeffrey A. Hicke, University of Idaho; David Inouye, University of Maryland; Randall Julander, Natural Resources Conservation Service; John Katzenberger, Aspen Global Change Institute; Dan Lashof, NRDC; Niel Lawrence, NRDC; Jesse A. Logan, U.S. Forest Service (USFS) (retired); Martin P. Hoerling, NOAA; Geraldine Link, National Ski Areas Association; Amy Mall, NRDC; Bobby McEnaney, NRDC; David Parrish, Idaho Department of Fish and Game; Mauri S. Pelto, Nichols College; Kelly T. Redmond, Western Regional Climate Center; Jon Riedel, National Park Service; Michael Ryan, USFS; Jennifer Smith, National Interagency Fire Center; Bob Steger, Denver Water; Bradley H. Udall, University of Colorado; Jeffrey Witcosky, USFS; and James Worrall, USFS. |
| Sectors | |
| Source | NGO |
| Keywords | Climate Change, Western States, Adaptation, Drought, Supply, Temperature, Urban Growth, Infrastructure, Emissions |
| Homepage | http://www.nrdc.org/globalWarming/west/contents.asp |
