Ron Johnson said climate change could be good for Wisconsin. Experts disagree.
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U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson again questioned whether climate change is as bad as researchers are saying — this time during a Senate Budget Committee hearing.
The Wednesday afternoon hearing featured a number of climate change researchers, who talked about the impacts of climate change and, in particular, how rising temperatures could harm people worldwide.
But Johnson countered the researchers, saying it seemed climate change was a good thing if it raised cold winter temperatures in Wisconsin.
Here's what to know:
What did Johnson say during the hearing?
Johnson, who has a history of making controversial statements regarding climate change, started his questions by saying he isn't saying climate change doesn't exist.
"I'm not a climate change denier. I'm just not a climate change alarmist," Johnson said.
He took issue in particular with a study published last year in The Quarterly Journal of Economics that showed the mortality risk for the world based on different levels of climate change mitigation.
The study — authored in part by Michael Greenstone, a professor in economics and director of the Becker Friedman Institute and the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago — showed that, without changes, rising temperatures will likely cause more deaths globally.
Johnson cast doubt on the study and said climate change might be good for Wisconsin and surrounding areas. While many countries around the world were negatively impacted by climate change based on the research, Wisconsin would have fewer deaths due to freezing temperatures in the winter.
"In terms of excess deaths, a warming globe is actually beneficial. ...," Johnson said. "Why wouldn't we take comfort in that?"
Greenstone, who testified at the hearing, said that the effects of climate change will be disproportionate, meaning that, while places like Wisconsin may have smaller impacts, others will be much more affected by heat.
Johnson responded: "According to your study, you're concerned if you're in the really hot region of Africa, but in terms of the United States and most of Europe, we're in pretty good shape."
When asked for comment on Johnson's Wednesday testimony, his office sent a lengthy document, which said climate change is not a "settled" conclusion.
"Without global warming, my state of Wisconsin would still be mostly covered by a 1-2-mile thick glacier," the statement said. "We should also stop scaring our children — and all of society for that matter — by predicting the world is about to end. It's not."
Democratic Wisconsin lawmakers respond
Democratic U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan said in an interview that the remarks "truly dumbfounded" him and likened them to something from a "Saturday Night Live" skit.
"(Climate change) is a threat to the entire planet, not just Wisconsin, but it certainly will have an impact in Wisconsin," Pocan said.
"It's kind of like saying if you happen to get COVID, you'll maybe lose some weight. I mean, I guess you could try to put a good spin on anything, but at some point, people do look at it as pretty ridiculous."
Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, in a statement, called for action on climate change in response to Johnson's remarks.
“I stand with the overwhelming majority of Wisconsinites who know climate change is real and are already feeling the impacts — extreme weather like flooding destroying our homes and washing out roads, drought crushing our farmers’ crops and livestock, and rising temperatures endangering the habitats that our recreation economy depends on," she said.
"Acting on climate change is not just morally the right thing to do, but is also an amazing opportunity to create good-paying jobs in the clean energy economy, lower energy costs for families and preserve our Wisconsin way of life.”
There's more to the study Johnson commented on
Both the study and the statements at the congressional hearing don’t give the full picture, said Steve Vavrus, assistant director at the Center for Climatic Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the interim state climatologist.
For instance, the study only considers deaths due to warm or cold temperatures. It doesn’t take into account deaths from other weather events, like extreme rainfall, flooding and hurricanes, Vavrus said.
Their findings are also based on the assumption that measures have been taken to adapt and become more resilient to climate change, he said.
The study also doesn’t account for the effects of humidity, which is a big deal for regions, like the eastern half of the U.S.
"When the Midwest has deadly heat waves, for example, it’s often the high humidity that plays a major role,” he said.
Wisconsinites are worried about climate change
As much as 90% of Americans underestimate how much people care about climate change, according to a study published last year in the journal Nature Communications. This misperception was common across all states, demographics and political parties.
In Wisconsin, for instance, 62% worry about climate change and support policies to address it, but they believe they're in the minority, thinking that far less share the same concerns. And this was true in every county in the state.
According to the researchers, these misperceptions may stop people from speaking up about their concerns and cause policymakers to misperceive how much their constituents care.
"People in Wisconsin should care about climate change because it is affecting us here in Wisconsin, and it's a fallacy to say otherwise," said Chelsea Chandler, climate, energy and air program director at Clean Wisconsin.
"I also think people in Wisconsin should care about climate change because it affects people all across our state, our country and the world," she said.
Warmer winters upend ecosystems, trouble tourism
While many see the Great Lakes region as a climate haven, a study from First Street Foundation published last summer found that southeast Wisconsin will be a part of an “extreme heat belt” where the temperature will hit 125 degrees at least one day a year by 2053.
Winter is the fastest-warming season in the Great Lakes region, and it's warming faster here than in other regions in the country, according to an analysis from Climate Central.
Since 1970, winters have warmed 6 degrees in Milwaukee, more than 5 degrees in Green Bay, more than 4 degrees in Madison and La Crosse, and more than 3 degrees in Wausau.
Over the past 50 years, warmer winters have caused the Great Lakes to lose ice cover, a trend that scientists say will continue. In the last 25 years, 64% of winters had below-average ice, with the steepest declines in the north, such as Lake Superior, northern Lake Michigan and Huron, and in nearshore areas.
Not only does this affect Wisconsin's beloved cold-weather sports, but it causes dangerous conditions on the water and upends the lakes' ecosystems.
More: It's mid-January and the Great Lakes are virtually ice-free. That's a problem.
Ice tempers waves, so when there's low ice cover, waves can be much larger, leading to lakeshore flooding and erosion. More water also evaporates off the lake when there's low ice, which can cause dangerous lake-effect snowstorms, as was seen late last year in Buffalo, N.Y., on the shores of Lake Erie.
Ice acts a shield, protecting eggs that are incubating after fish, like lake whitefish and walleye, spawn in nearshore areas. When ice isn't there, strong winds and waves stir up the sediment, decreasing the number of fish that hatch in the spring.
Scientists also say that warmer waters caused by climate change are likely the cause of blue-green algae blooms cropping up for the first time in Lake Superior over the past decade.
Wisconsin is wetter, with more extreme rain events
A warmer atmosphere holds onto more water, supercharging the water cycle and bringing heavier rainfall events. This extreme rainfall that brings more rain faster can cause flash flooding, landslides and erosion, which can damage crops, shorelines and infrastructure as well as expose people to hazardous health conditions.
Rainfall has already increased 17% on average across the state, and with it comes more extreme rain events, according to an analysis by the Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts.
Southern Wisconsin has had the biggest increases in rainfall, putting infrastructure like roads, bridges and storm water structures at risk. Flooding in the Driftless Area will likely affect agriculture. Near Lakes Superior and Michigan, rapid swings in water levels, along with extreme storms, can increase shoreline erosion, putting homes and roads at risk.
Along the Mississippi River, flooding from extreme rain events is affecting wildlife corridors and transportation, hitting the agricultural sector hard.
More: What's the state of the Great Lakes? Successful cleanups tempered by new threats from climate change
Communities of color, farmers face major burdens
Extreme heat and flooding brought on by climate change disproportionately affect communities of color and low-resourced communities.
A national study from 2020 showed that historically redlined communities were more exposed to extreme heat. And a Milwaukee-based report from 2020 from the Urban Systems Lab showed that Black residents were more likely to live in flood-prone neighborhoods.
Communities of color and low-resourced communities deal with higher pollution levels, live in urban heat islands and don't have resources or a safety net to be resilient to climate change, Clean Wisconsin's Chandler said.
More: Interactive map pinpoints Milwaukee areas most at risk for flooding, related health risks
Farmers are also already feeling the weight of climate change, Chandler said, seeing more damage to crops and the need for more irrigation.
Wetter conditions also make it harder to plant in the spring and harvest in the fall, Chandler said. And while some crops may benefit from warmer temperatures and a longer growing season, more pests and diseases are overwintering and causing more damage, she said.
Laura Schulte can be reached at leschulte@jrn.com and on Twitter at @SchulteLaura. Caitlin Looby can be reached at clooby@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @caitlooby.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ron Johnson said climate change could be good for Wisconsin. Experts disagree.
