NEBRASKA

With Nebraska residents paying more than ever for fuel and energy, the economy is hurting. Our dependence on non-renewable energy sources is also contributing to global warming. Facing the pressure of a slowing economy, we need solutions to climate change that will not reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, but also that will transform our economy and create jobs. In fact, our efforts to halt global warming would bring tremendous economic benefits. With a $300 billion investment over ten years, the US economy will see 3.3 million new jobs. (i)

As global warming brings a warmer, drier growing season, it threatens Nebraska’s agricultural economy. As summers become drier and hotter due to climate change, water shortages are likely to disrupt farming around the state and groundwater resources are likely to be depleted. (ii)

Reliance on fossil fuels lies at the root of both the economic and the environmental problems that Nebraska faces. Today Nebraska relies on the energy of the past - coal, nuclear - to generate about two thirds of its energy. (iii)

With a strong national commitment to clean, renewable energy, however, we can reverse the course of global warming and create new jobs.

Right now, Nebraska has the potential to generate nearly 62 times the amount energy it needs from clean technologies like wind and solar. (iv)

We just need strong leadership to get us started.

SOURCES:

i. http://www.apolloalliance.org/downloads/resources_ApolloReport_022404_122748.pdf

ii. http://www.nextgenerationearth.org/usstates/statelist/

iii. http://getenergyactive.org/fuel/state.htm

iv. http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/clean_energy/Plugging_In_Renewable_Energy.pdf