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A Republican candidate for Wisconsin governor scoffed at the concerns of a Democratic state lawmaker regarding the climate crisis, following an atypical series of hail and tornado storms that hit the state last week.

On Tuesday, April 14, Wisconsin State Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski (D) shared a video of her watching a storm from the front deck of her home. Godlewski, who is running this fall to become the state lieutenant governor, described the storms (including the larger-than-normal hailstones that were falling in front of her) as likely caused, or made worse, by the climate crisis, faulting Republicans for failing to recognize the crisis as real.

“Republicans say we don’t have climate change. But this is golf ball-sized hail in my front yard,” Godlewski said in her Facebook video. “This is not normal, and we can’t keep ignoring our environment.”

Congressman Tom Tiffany, a Republican running for governor in the state this fall, shared Godlewski’s post on his X account, deriding the Democrat and claiming that renewable energy sources were harmful to Wisconsin.

“Democrats like [Godlewski] also think covering our beautiful Wisconsin farmland with industrial-scale solar and wind developments will somehow stop bad weather/hail,” Tiffany wrote in his post. “These people are cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.”

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Importantly, hailstorms like those seen last week are also a concern for farmers. While hail causes millions of dollars in property damage each year in Wisconsin, the vast majority of that damage is to farmers’ crops, making hail and other damaging weather patterns a critical issue in the agriculturally heavy state.

The following day, Godlewski shared a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article to her Facebook account, detailing that scientists in the state and elsewhere recognize that hailstorms and tornadoes are becoming more prevalent, and occurring earlier in the year than usual, due in large part to a changing global climate.

“Turns out climate change IS real!” Godlewski wrote, seemingly responding to critics of her previous post on the subject.

The Friday after Tiffany tried to use farmers to attack Godlewski’s views on the climate crisis, tornadoes struck the state again, destroying significant amounts of farmland in the small community of Cream, Wisconsin, and elsewhere in the state.

Research published last month by the National Center for Scientific Research in France demonstrates that the warming of the planet does indeed increase the likelihood and intensity of hailstorms.

Analyzing decades of research and comparing those numbers to specific storms observed in France and Germany last year, the researchers were able to demonstrate that the probability of hail being the larger sizes that they were in those storms was 30 percent more likely due to the climate crisis.

“Understanding how climate change amplifies these risks is essential for anticipating impacts and improving preparedness,” said study lead author Davide Faranda.

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Chris Walker is a news writer at Truthout, based in Madison, Wisconsin. Focusing on both national and local topics since the early 2000s, he has produced thousands of articles analyzing the issues of the day and their impact on people. He can be found on most social media platforms under the handle @thatchriswalker.

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