Dusty Johnson: “today I share with my colleagues some thoughts regarding how to reduce worldwide greenhouse gas emissions and a few key…”

“today I share with my colleagues some thoughts regarding how to reduce worldwide greenhouse gas emissions and a few key benchmarks I believe should be included in a national strategy to address this environmental and economic security challenge. The scientific evidence linking the effects of man-made releases of carbon dioxide and the warming of the Earth's climate is clear. In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change analyzed the science on climate change and concluded with high probability that the Earth is dramatically warming and that the atmospheric concentration of CO2 is at the highest level in 400,000 years. To forestall the most significant effects of predicted changes in the world's climate over the next 50 years, the United States and other major emitting nations must begin to transition to a low-carbon economy. Although South Dakota may avoid the direct consequences of rising sea levels or more powerful storms caused by climate change, in many other respects my State is vulnerable to changes in the Earth's temperature. More frequent and severe droughts would dramatically harm the State's economy. The loss of productive farmland, denuded pastureland, and scarce ground and surface water supplies are probable under the current scientific modeling on a warming planet.”