{"id":427433,"date":"2026-02-22T18:06:42","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T17:06:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=427433"},"modified":"2026-02-22T18:06:44","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T17:06:44","slug":"states-claiming-climate-crisis-cant-prove-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=427433","title":{"rendered":"States Claiming Climate Crisis Can\u2019t Prove\u00a0It"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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From Science Matters<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By\u00a0Ron Clutz<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Andrew Weiss explains the cascading effects upon climate obsessed politicians in his Real Clear Energy article After the Endangerment Finding, States Must Prove CO2 Harms. Wisconsin Can\u2019t.<\/strong><\/a>.  Excerpts in italics with my bolds and added images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The EPA\u2019s revocation of the 2009 endangerment finding shifts the burden of proof from federal agencies to state capitals.<\/strong> Governors who declared climate emergencies must now demonstrate with regional data that rising carbon dioxide (CO2) endangers their residents<\/strong>. Wisconsin cannot meet that burden.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2019, Wisconsin declared<\/strong> climate change a crisis requiring the state\u2019s electricity to be carbon-free by 2050<\/strong>, citing worsening extreme weather as justification. Since then, the state has spent $6 billion on renewable infrastructure while residents pay 15% more for electricity<\/strong> than the Midwest average.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A\u00a0new report<\/a>\u00a0by the Weiss Energy Policy Institute\u00a0analyzed 130 years of Wisconsin climate data<\/strong>\u00a0and found that as atmospheric\u00a0CO2 rose 45%,<\/strong>\u00a0Wisconsin experienced\u00a063% fewer days over 90\u00b0F,<\/strong>\u00a0heatwaves 71% shorter<\/strong>\u00a0in duration, powerful\u00a0tornadoes down 70%<\/strong>, and significant\u00a0drought decline since 1894.<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This isn\u2019t just absence of evidence, it\u2019s negative correlation.
As CO2\u00a0<\/sub>increased, climate extremes decreased.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In addition to the improving climate, the report also notably found that\u00a0rural Wisconsin\u2019s average temperature has not changed since 1894.<\/strong>\u00a0Urban areas, on the other hand, have warmed about\u00a02.2\u00b0F<\/strong>\u00a0since the late nineteenth century. The report finds that this\u00a0urban warming<\/strong>\u00a0is nearly entirely due to the Urban Heat Island effect\u00a0from concrete and development, not CO2.<\/strong>\u00a0In many measurable ways,\u00a0Wisconsin\u2019s climate has become more conducive to human flourishing over the past century.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Even if CO2 were causing harm, Wisconsin\u2019s ability to adapt
to climate change far surpasses its ability to influence it.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Badger State\u2019s 2023 carbon emissions were 22% below<\/a> i<\/strong>ts peak of 110 million metric tons in 2005.<\/strong> Despite its reduction, annual global emissions have increased <\/strong>by over 100 times<\/strong><\/a> Wisconsin\u2019s entire annual emissions over the same period. In fact, in 2023, Wisconsin\u2019s carbon emissions<\/strong> made up less than 0.25% of the global total<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While CO2 has not endangered residents of Wisconsin,
the climate-based policies have.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Residential electricity prices continue climbing<\/strong> even as household consumption falls. In fact, Xcel Energy and Alliant Energy have requested cumulative rate hikes approaching 19% over the next two years.<\/strong> Some in Waukesha County are already facing \u201cdramatically higher<\/a>\u201d energy bills, double from just months earlier. Under Wisconsin\u2019s current policies, this is sure to continue. In fact, Wisconsin is hurtling toward an energy crisis.<\/strong> The latest long term reliability assessment<\/a> projects the state will enter \u201chigh-risk\u201d<\/strong> territory for blackouts by 2028.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This economic burden stems from poor energy policies.<\/strong> Current leadership has forced coal plants<\/strong> into early retirement<\/strong>, blocked<\/strong> critical natural gas infrastructure,<\/strong> mandated carbon targets over grid reliability, vetoed consumer protections against appliance bans,<\/strong> and weaponized the permitting process to strangle traditional energy development.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, the state\u2019s climate policies prevented a gas-fired plant<\/strong> that would have brought $1 million in annual tax revenue and 350 construction jobs to northern Wisconsin last year. Its initial permits expired while waiting for more permits<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In the face of unprecedented new energy demand, Wisconsin\u2019s grid might have been able to absorb the new data centers and industrial growth if it weren\u2019t already stressed by climate policy. But\u00a0solar cannot replace coal megawatt-for-megawatt.<\/strong>\u00a0In order to replace reliable coal with solar, while maintaining the same reliability, nearly\u00a0\u00a0twenty times the capacity<\/a>\u00a0must be installed. That means ratepayers pay to build and maintain thousands of acres of solar panels\u00a0and\u00a0pay to keep backup plants<\/strong>\u00a0on standby for when those panels underperform.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Even overturning the carbon mandate won\u2019t be enough to save the grid, because the current regulatory system was not built to accommodate surging industrial demand without punishing ratepayers<\/strong>. Wisconsin lawmakers need to save residents from footing the bill for data center infrastructure by utilizing free markets and private capital rather than heavy-handed subsidies.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This market-oriented solution for Wisconsin is called Consumer-Regulated Electricity (CRE)<\/strong>. It allows privately financed utilities to generate and sell power directly to large customers through voluntary contracts, operating independent of the regulated grid. This creates a parallel pathway for new industrial demand,<\/strong> protecting residential ratepayers while giving Wisconsin a competitive advantage over other Midwest states. It attracts industrial capital without subsidies or forcing costs onto families.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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The revoked endangerment finding forces a reckoning:<\/strong> will Wisconsin continue its expensive and dangerous energy transition, or will it examine the actual data? New evidence suggests the state should:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2666  rescind its zero-carbon mandate,<\/em>
\u2666  restore reliable baseload power to the legacy grid, and<\/em>
\u2666  pass Consumer-Regulated Electricity legislation to let private capital serve new industrial demand without burdening ratepayers.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Combined with removing carbon mandates from the legacy grid,
these reforms position Wisconsin a bright energy future.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 21st century, affordable and reliable power separates flourishing societies from struggling ones.<\/strong> Wisconsin cannot prove CO2 harms, but its climate policies are already bringing on an energy crisis.<\/strong> Other states that built climate mandates on the endangerment finding should audit their climate data. The burden of proof has shifted to state capitals, and the evidence may not support the mandates.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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See<\/em>\u00a0also:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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No Climate Crisis in Texas<\/a><\/blockquote>