Global Warming In The News

By Bob Downing

Beacon Journal staff writer

Global warming poses a big threat to Ohio's health, environment and economy.

That assessment came in a report released Wednesday by the statewide eco-group Environment Ohio at news conferences in Cleveland, Columbus, Toledo and Cincinnati.

''It's not just about polar bears and Arctic ice caps anymore,'' said Amy Gomberg, program director of Environment Ohio. ''Climate change poses threats to Ohio's environment that could have a negative impact on our economy as well.''

Ohio's economic stake in dealing with carbon dioxide, a key global-warming gas, is huge: nearly $127 billion and 1.9 million jobs that will be affected, the 34-page report says.

The report, What's at Stake: How Global Warming Threatens the Buckeye State, says changing climate profoundly will affect Lake Erie and Ohio's farming and timber industries.

Lake Erie water levels could drop 3 to 61/2 feet in the next 70 years because of increased evaporation and reduced ice cover, and that adversely would affect Great Lakes shipping, the report says. Ohio probably will face increased drought and flooding from more severe storms in the future, the report says.

Heat stress and asthma from worsening air pollution are expected to become bigger health problems for Ohioans, the report says. It suggests that troublesome insects and diseases probably will expand into Ohio if temperatures continue to climb.

Environment Ohio called on President-elect Barack Obama and Congress to cut emissions of carbon dioxide by 20 percent by 2020 and by 80 percent by 2050, perhaps via a cap-and-trade system or a carbon tax.

Cap-and-trade is a flexible environmental system that sets an overall limit on emissions but allows companies that can reduce emissions easily to sell credits to other companies for which reductions would be difficult. The cap ensures that emissions will not exceed a desired amount.

Federal and state efforts to stimulate the economy should include boosting clean-energy programs, Environment Ohio said.

The eco-group also called on Ohio to get more involved in fighting global warming. It should do more to promote energy conservation and join other states to develop a regional plan to reduce global warming pollution in the Midwest, the report says.

''Our carbon pollution problems are not all gloom and doom,'' Gomberg said. ''The tools to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions are at our fingertips.''

The report is available at http://www.environmentohio.org.

Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.