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Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pillen admits he and other farmers ‘messed up,' expects new state agency to improve water management
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, center, shakes hands with State Sen. Tom Brandt of Plymouth, whom the governor worked with to merge two state agencies partly to focus more attention on the state's water resources. To the right is State Sen. Barry DeKay of Niobrara, chair of the Legislature's Agriculture Committee. At left are Matt Manning and Jesse Bradley, who will lead the new Nebraska Department of Water, Energy and Environment. May 7, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) LINCOLN — In marking the merger of two water-focused state agencies, Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen on Wednesday said he and other farmers 'messed up' in managing water resources. 'What's really, really important as we go forward, that we all just have the courage to say the way it is,' said Pillen, whose family runs a Columbus-based hog operation and who became the state's first farmer-governor in more than a century. Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen. Dec. 27, 2023. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) 'I'm a farmer. We don't want to admit that we messed up, but we did. We've over-applied fertilizer, we've over-applied water, and we drove nitrates down into the ground, and we have nitrates in groundwater.' Adding that it was time to 'stop talking about it,' Pillen said a motivation behind merging two state agencies focused on water resources was to lean on new technology and scientific advancements to 'educate all farmers in Nebraska so that we fix the problem and start having measurable breakthroughs.' With that, the governor signed into law Legislative Bill 317, which he pushed and State Sen. Tom Brandt of Plymouth helped carry over the finish line. The law combines the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy (DEE) and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) into the new Department of Water, Energy and Environment (DWEE). Familiar leaders Pillen, during the same Capitol news conference Wednesday, introduced two men already involved in the respective departments who will lead the combined agency. Jesse Bradley takes the reins as DWEE director and Matt Manning becomes 'chief water officer.' Both described themselves as lifelong Nebraskans. Jesse Bradley, newly appointed director of the soon-to-be Nebraska Department of Water, Energy and Environment. Bradley is currently interim director of the two agencies that will be merged in the next couple of months. May 7, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) Bradley, who most recently was interim director of both agencies, said he would stress collaboration with organizations across the state and building a good internal culture. He said the department's priorities include fulfilling the Perkins County Canal project and working with the new 'Water Quality and Quantity Task Force' Pillen is launching to help adopt solutions for water issues, especially in agriculture. Manning, most recently a DNR engineer responsible for the Perkins project, said he sees his task as building upon and improving what the two organizations already do. Also at the event was State Sen. Barry DeKay of Niobrara, chair of the Legislature's Agriculture Committee. 'Common sense' Asked about the potential for finding cost-savings, Pillen said he had no definitive projection or supportive data but said it made 'common sense' that efficiencies would result. During debate on the legislative floor in April, a few lawmakers noted the lack of a clear vision for any cost savings. State Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln said at the time it would be more accurate to call the merger a 'rebranding.' Matt Manning, a civil engineer in the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources who will soon serve as the state's new chief water officer. May 7, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) State and federal appropriations for the two departments totaled about $203 million, according to a recent legislative fiscal impact statement. It said that over time, efficiencies from a merger should result in savings. Pillen on Wednesday called water the second most important thing about Nebraska, behind its people. 'It's our lifeblood. It's like God's grace. You can't make it. You receive it, and we can take care of it,' he said. Pillen said the merger was 'timely and important' and noted that many take for granted 'our pot of gold' — the Ogallala Aquifer — which the governor said irrigates almost 11 million acres in the state. He said he has been meeting with local Natural Resources Districts over the past 18 months, and there will be a broader effort to preserve and improve water resources and to protect the aquifer. Today's technology and science, he said, allows the state to be proactive rather than reactive in managing water, and that's a mission of the newly merged team. 'Every drop of water' Pillen said power and water will be increasingly vital to future generations of Nebraskans. 'When you think about the production of hydrogen, you think about the advancement of biofuels, you think about all the biobased products and all that we're making out of ethanol from corn. You think about the animal processing, how our livestock industries exploded in the last 20 years.' In response to a reporter's question, Pillen said he would continue to push construction of the Perkins County Canal. 'We're gonna fight like heck to make sure that we get every drop of water that comes to Nebraska for us,' he said. State Sen. Tom Brandt of Plymouth. May 7, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) Some state lawmakers, during debate on how to close the state's budget deficit, have urged reducing funding earmarked for the western Nebraska canal, which would transport water from the Platte River in Colorado into Nebraska. The initiative has spurred water rights debates between the two states. Pillen, reiterating his hope to turn a page on water quality and quantity in Nebraska, noted that the room in which he holds news conferences used to be dark from people smoking in it. He said that is no longer the case. 'You know, we learn and we move forward, and it's time to get after it,' he said. 'That's what I'm excited about with this merger.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA's Curiosity rover finds major clue that Mars was once habitable
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. While slowly climbing the slopes of Mount Sharp — a towering peak inside Mars' Gale Crater — NASA's Curiosity rover made a remarkable discovery: large deposits of carbon locked away in carbonate minerals. That may sound a little dry at first, but in reality this find could be a major piece of the puzzle in our search for ancient life on the Red Planet. Carbonate minerals form when carbon dioxide interacts with water and rock, making them an important marker of past environmental conditions. Scientists have spotted these minerals before on Mars — by rovers on the ground, orbiters above, and even in Martian meteorites that fell to Earth — but Curiosity's latest data adds exciting new details. "It tells us that the planet was habitable and that the models for habitability are correct," said the study's lead author, Ben Tutolo, associate professor with the Department of Earth, Energy and Environment in the Faculty of Science at the University of Calgary, in a statement. The minerals found by the rover likely formed in extremely dry conditions through chemical reactions between water and rock followed by the process of evaporation. This process points to a time when Mars had a thick enough atmosphere, rich in carbon dioxide, to support liquid water on the surface. However, as the atmosphere thinned, that carbon dioxide would have begun turning into stone. One standout mineral in Curiosity's new discovery is siderite, an iron-rich carbonate found in surprisingly high amounts — between five and 10% by weight — alongside salts that dissolve easily in water. "The broader implications are the planet was habitable up until this time, but then, as the [carbon dioxide] that had been warming the planet started to precipitate as siderite, it likely impacted Mars' ability to stay warm," said Tutolo. What makes this find even more fascinating is the presence of iron oxyhydroxides in the same deposits. These minerals suggest Mars may have once also had a functioning carbon cycle — similar to Earth's — where some of the carbon dioxide locked in rocks eventually made its way back into the atmosphere. Related Stories: — NASA's Perseverance rover hits the Mars rock gold mine: 'It has been all we had hoped for and more' — Curiosity Mars rover discovers largest organic molecules ever seen on Red Planet — Curiosity rover rolls past 'Devil's Gate' on Mars: Space picture of the day By comparing Curiosity's findings with orbital data, scientists believe similar layers across the planet could have trapped up to 36 millibars' worth of atmospheric carbon dioxide — enough to dramatically change Mars' climate. This Martian discovery also ties in closely with work being done right here on Earth. Tutolo says he's been exploring ways to combat climate change by turning human-made carbon dioxide into stable carbonate minerals — essentially locking carbon away in rock. "What we're trying to do on Earth to fight climate change is something that nature may have already done on Mars," he said. "Learning about the mechanisms of making these minerals on Mars helps us to better understand how we can do it here. Studying the collapse of Mars' warm and wet early days also tells us that habitability is a very fragile thing."
