LINCOLN- Nebraska could leverage more federal funds and better coordinate its efforts to combat climate change by creating a dedicated office to focus on that area, a state legislative committee was told Thursday. State Sen. Ashlei Spivey, who represents northeast and northwest Omaha, pitched her plan to create an “Office of Climate Action” to the Legislature’s Natural Resources Committee as a way to help the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy (NDEE) implement a climate action plan that helped secured a $307 million federal grant for the state last summer.

Spivey, who was elected in November, said the office would act “as a quarterback” to coordinate the state’s climate initiatives and would help Nebraska attract “tens of millions” in additional federal grants, as well as create jobs. Seven other senators — all Democrats in the nonpartisan Unicameral — co-sponsored the measure. “This bill does not impose mandates or regulate behavior,” Spivey said. “It just builds on what the (NDEE) is already doing.”

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