Defenders' Experts
Global Warming and Wildlife Legislative Priorities
The cost of inaction is great: scientists warn that 20-30% of plant and animal species will be on the brink of extinction if we do not act now to curb global warming.
Global warming poses one of the single greatest threats to wildlife and to the conservation efforts we have undertaken to date.
The impacts of global warming are changing, shrinking and destroying habitat, forcing wildlife to migrate or adapt. In many cases, global warming threatens animals' very existence.
Global warming threatens wildlife and the life-sustaining services that natural systems provide our communities, such as the water we drink, the air we breathe, the medicines we use, the food we eat and the forests and fisheries we depend on.
Defenders of Wildlife supports a two part national strategy for combating global warming and its impacts:
- First, Congress must enact legislation that takes immediate steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to address the root cause of climate change.
- Second, this legislation must also include the policy direction and long-term dedicated funding necessary to safeguard wildlife and ecosystems from global warming’s impacts.
With a President and the House and Senate leadership ready to take action, the opportunity has never been greater for climate legislation. Learn how you can help!
Safeguarding Wildlife and Ecosystems in a Warming World
We must act now to increase wildlife’s resiliency in the face of global warming’s complex threats, so wildlife will can survive, and thrive until the benefits of reductions in global warming emissions take effect. An effective policy response requires three main components:
Strong National and State Plans: Require the development of interagency science-based plans at the federal and state levels to develop the best adaptation tools and strategies and ensure these crosscutting challenges are addressed in a coordinated fashion.
Enhanced Scientific Capacity: Helping wildlife and ecosystems survive climate change will require better data on climate change’s impacts on species and habitats. This will ensure that management decisions are grounded in the best-available science and should build upon the Global Warming & Wildlife Science Center housed at the US Geological Survey.
Dedicated Federal Funding: A significant share of the value of the total emissions allowances generated by a federal carbon cap-and-trade program should be dedicated to federal, state and tribal natural resources agencies to support natural resource adaptation.
Read
Defenders’ report, Beyond Cutting
Emissions, which
elaborates on how best to conserve wildlife in a warming world and the policy
changes we need to implement this new conservation
paradigm.
Current Climate Change Legislation
The American Clean Energy & Security Act
The House of Representatives has approved comprehensive energy and climate legislation, the American Clean Energy & Security Act 2009 (H.R. 2454).
The bill, introduced by Representatives Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Edward Markey (D-MA), moves America closer to increasing our energy security and tackling global warming and also works to address the impacts of global climate change on wildlife and natural resources.
The bill includes language championed by Representatives Raul Grijalva, John Dingell, and Norm Dicks that provides safeguards for wildlife and natural resources in a warming world.
Additionally, it provides 1% of revenues from a cap and trade system to domestic natural resource adaptation over the next 10 years and increases the allocation to 4% by 2027.
The funding and language now in the bill will be absolutely critical to protect natural resources for people as well as fish and wildlife in an already warming world. However, ultimately, significantly more dedicated funding (5% of total allowance value from the bill) will be needed to address the impacts of global warming on our wildlife and natural resources.
The Senate will now begin its work on climate legislation to address the impacts of global warming.
Learn more about the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 [PDF].
The Global Warming Wildlife Survival Act
In 2007, the Global Warming Wildlife Survival Act was introduced in both the House and the Senate. The Act set forth a policy framework for how to best ensure wildlife and ecosystems can survive the climate impacts we have already set underway. Learn more >>
Combating the Root Cause of Global Warming
Congress must pass meaningful, aggressive legislation to immediately reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Legislation that moves us away from fossil fuels, the largest source of greenhouse gas pollution, is an important part of the solution. To move away from fossil fuels we must increase energy efficiency, use more renewable energy sources and design cars that run cleaner and go further on a gallon of gas.
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