LINCOLN- Last Friday, nearly 150 college students filed into an event hall for the fifth annual Nebraska Youth Climate Summit, which is organized by Ken Winston, a climate change action activist and attorney, as well as Martha Durr, the Nebraska State Climatologist. The event also featured Louise Mabulo, an environmentalist from the Philippines, who won international acclaim for her Cacao Project, which teaches farmers and students how to build a sustainable, climate-resilient livelihood.

Mabulo told the crowd that much of the work in attaining such a livelihood includes planting a variety of crops that can withstand extreme weather and stop the rapid depletion of soil. "The fact is," Mabulo told the crowd, "sustainable farming has always existed. It has just been cast aside in pursuit of fast, easy, and cheap food."

Durr, who is soon to leave the state climatologist post, also spoke at the event, telling students that climate change is "real and here now." She continued by telling the crowd that if trends continue and efforts don't reduce carbon emissions, Nebraska's summer weather will be like southern Oklahoma's, with temperatures averaging 95 degrees. Nebraska recently applied for $3 million in federal Inflation Reduction Act funds to finance a state climate action plan, which is due next year, and the City of Omaha also announced plans to construct a similar plan, which is expected to cost $1 million.

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