From the Lincoln Journal Star editorial board:
By withdrawing from the international Paris agreement to curb global warming worldwide, the United States landed in less-than-inspiring company on climate change.
The only two other countries in the world not participating in the accord are Nicaragua (which actually pushed for more stringent efforts) and Syria (whose president is committing atrocities against his own people). This is the company Americans now keep.
President Donald Trump claimed growing the U.S. economy and protecting American jobs were the primary reasons for the exit. However, those claims aren’t backed by the overwhelming negative reaction by American businesses – and the mountains of scientific evidence and an ever-warming Earth that threatens cities and economies, including Nebraska’s.
Though rising sea levels won’t directly threaten the Cornhusker State, climatologists at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln have seen a spike in severe precipitation events in recent years. Nebraska Game and Parks biologists warn of dangers to native species and increased spread of invasive species and pathogens.
Forecasts call for more than two weeks a year of 100-plus-degree weather and decreased river volume for drinking and irrigation. More extreme shifts, including floods and droughts, are predicted in the coming decades.
These will affect all Nebraskans, regardless of location and employment.