Guest column: Conservatives have the opportunity to lead on climate policy - Bozeman Daily Chronicle
Guest column: Conservatives have the opportunity to lead on climate policy | Guest Columnists | bozemandailychronicle.com
Historic drought conditions and weather extremes have hit the outdoor industry hard in Montana and other states throughout the West. Shorter winters, brought on by a changing climate, are driving these hard-hitting delays in the season.
“There’s definitely been a shift in the weather in the last ten years that we’ve noticed and it’s getting harder and harder for us to count on having that snow early on,” said Melissa Alder, co-owner of a local cross-country ski and bicycle store. Alder organizes the West Yellowstone Nordic Ski Festival. But, this year, for the second time since 2020, the West Yellowstone Nordic Ski Festival was canceled due to a lack of snow.
The Montana Wildlife Federation released a report that concluded Montana could potentially lose 8,800 outdoor recreation jobs, and $263 million in labor earnings annually by 2050 due to climate change.
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Hattie Hobart is the Western Regional Director for the American Conservation Coalition, a right-of-center grassroots youth environmental organization. Alex Amonette volunteers with Citizens’ Climate Lobby, a nonprofit, volunteer-powered advocacy organization.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”