S.C.'s climate heritage is threatened by global warming

When we think of our heritage we do not usually consider climate, but our climate has impacted our history and culture in many ways. Generations have grown up hunting, fishing and enjoying our beautiful outdoors, but it is no exaggeration to say that all of that is being threatened by global warming.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts an increase in the global average surface temperature of between 3.24 degrees and 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100. The IPCC was awarded a Nobel Prize last year for their work, but it does not take a climate expert to know that our world is changing. As usually happens when humans alter the environment, wildlife suffers. This is going to be especially true with climate change. Plants and animals have adapted to the existing climate over millennia. Many species are not going to be able to keep up with the rapid rate of climate transformation.

Certainly we in South Carolina will notice changes. In fact, impacts are already being seen in our state. Scientists have documented changes in migrations into and out of our coastal inlets. Our Carolina hemlocks are being attacked by the wooley adelgid, abetted by warmer winters. Because of warmer summers, our upstate trout streams could well disappear in this century. No doubt there are many other changes that are too subtle to have been noticed.

Fortunately, many local governments are starting to deal with this matter, but its seriousness has not penetrated the halls of Congress. This problem is one for which timely and real solutions are impossible without Congressional action. Right now, there are several bills before Congress, but Congress does not have a sense of urgency about this issue.

Recently, the National Wildlife Federation brought people from all over the country to Washington, D.C., to talk to their congressmen about passing climate change legislation. The three bills supported by the National Wildlife Federation and the S.C. Wildlife Federation cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2 percent per year through 2050 and provide funding to help wildlife survive the effects of global warming. They all phase in gradually, giving individuals, governments and industry time to adapt.

Unfortunately, those of us from South Carolina were disheartened by our visits. None of South Carolina's senators or congressmen have agreed to co-sponsor or to vote for these bills. It is vitally important that legislation pass this session before a new president and Congress get bogged down in many other important issues. The Senate bill has made it out of committee, and the speaker of the House is committed to getting a global warming bill voted on this year.

A study by Environmental Defense showed that if we wait two years beyond the 2012 starting date envisioned in these bills to begin cutting greenhouse gas emissions, we will have to reduce emissions twice as fast to achieve the same pollution reductions that are necessary by 2020. This will dramatically increase the cost and disruption to our lives and economy.

We have had a long history of cheap energy, but those days are coming to an end, and we are going to have to change our ways. We can do it voluntarily, gradually and without causing terrible disruptions in our economy, as all of these bills allow, or we can do nothing now and be forced by circumstances to make involuntary changes, which will no doubt be very painful. The choice really is ours, and the choice is now.

STEVE MOORE

Director of Climate and Energy

S.C. Wildlife Federation

Clark Hills Circle

Charleston