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Climate Capsule: Week of May 26

(National Wildlife Federation)

Momentum Peaking Ahead of Climate Security Act Vote in Senate

If it becomes law, the Climate Security Act will cut global warming pollution by setting up a cap-and-trade system to limit the emissions that cause global warming. The Senate is scheduled to begin floor debate on the legislation Monday, when Congress returns from Memorial Day recess.

Revenues from the program would be used to promote the development of new low -emissions and efficient technologies, helping low - and middle-income families with energy costs, and preserving America’s natural resources.

Activities across the country are proof positive of the surging momentum for urgent climate action to recharge America’s economy by investing in a clean energy future:

• On Wednesday, leaders from the business, faith, health, and sportsmen communities gathered in Portland, Oregon to urge the U.S. Senate to strengthen and pass the Climate Security Act.

• Also on Wednesday, New Hampshire businesses are demonstrating the next generation of technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, generate clean energy, and power local job growth as America moves towards a low-carbon economy. 

• On Thursday, a broad cross section of Pennsylvanians will gather at Love Park in downtown Philadelphia, to press Senator Arlen Specter to support the Climate Security Act.

To find out more about any of these activities or arrange an interview with a spokesperson, please contact Aileo Weinmann at 202-797-6801 or weinmanna@nwf.org.

Boxer Substitute CSA Bill (S. 3036) Keeps Critical Investment in Natural Resources

As part of Sen. Barbara Boxer's substitute bill (a.k.a. the manager's amendment) for the Climate Security Act, the Natural Resources Adaptation title has been significantly re-worked, but the bill continues to make major investments in helping natural resources survive global warming.

The bill's continued investment in natural resources is evidence of the growing support in Congress behind protecting wildlife and our natural world as part of climate change legislation. Overall, natural resources receive 5 percent of the total share of allowances. 

In short, one natural resource adaptation title has been split into two titles: one that dedicates a share of allowances to state wildlife agencies and the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), and a second that dedicates a share of allowances to firefighting, federal and tribal natural resource adaptation. You can read the full bill here. (The state natural resources title starts on page 84 and the federal natural resources title starts on page 112.)

As support builds for the Climate Security Act, the National Wildlife Federation is pleased to see a strong commitment from Senate leadership to invest in protecting America’s natural resources from global warming.

Quote:  “You can’t really assume anymore that climate is going to be familiar or similar to what we’ve seen over the 20th century...We’re moving into new territory.” 

-- Anthony C. Janetos, director of the Joint Global Change Research Institute of the University of Maryland, one of the lead authors of a report issued by the federal government, which says global warming is already affecting the nation’s forests, water resources, farmland and wildlife.

Plans to Cut Climate Disinformation Funding

ExxonMobil says it intends to cut funds to several groups that “divert attention” from the need to find new sources of clean energy.

Prominent shareholders including the Rockefeller family will urge ExxonMobil to take global warming more seriously at the firm’s annual meeting.

Critics charge that ExxonMobil has funded a “climate denial industry” over the last decade, with $23 million handed over to groups that play down the risks of burning fossil fuels.

“In 2008 we will discontinue contributions to several public policy research groups whose position on climate change could divert attention from the important discussion on how the world will secure the energy required for economic growth in an environmentally responsible manner,” the company’s report says.
 

Global Warming Changing the Face of Chesapeake Bay

As global warming accelerates sea-level rise and drastically alters the region’s coastline, more than half of the Chesapeake Bay region’s beaches hang in the balance, according to a new study by National Wildlife Federation.

“Our region’s national treasure and the economy it supports may be unrecognizable within the lifetime of a child born today,” said Larry Schweiger, president and CEO, National Wildlife Federation.

National Wildlife Federation’s new study, “Sea-Level Rise and Coastal Habitats of the Chesapeake Bay,” maps in vivid detail the dramatic effects of sea-level rise on the nation’s largest estuary, which sustains more than 3,600 species of plants, fish, and animals including great blue herons and sea turtles.

If global warming continues unabated, projected rising sea levels will significantly reshape the region’s coastal landscape, threatening waterfowl hunting and recreational saltwater fishing vital to the region’s economy.

“We’ve spent years working to save the bay, but unless we address global warming, it could all be lost,” added Schweiger. “No single silver bullet will save the bay from the effects of global warming. We need action at all levels of government.”

The most imperiled places are also the most valuable for fishing, waterfowl hunting, bird watching and playing on the shore: Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, the barrier islands of Tangier Sound, and Virginia’s Eastern Shore and the Lower Tidewater region, including Norfolk and Virginia Beach.

The study also projects that more than 415 square miles of open water will replace undeveloped dry land and marshes – an area roughly equivalent to Fairfax County (Virginia), – based on a global sea-level rise of just over two feet (well within the range projected this century).

Florida could, and should, take specific steps immediately to deal with the anticipated – and the already occurring – effects of global climate change on beaches and marine life, a group of nationally and internationally recognized environmental organizations urged in a report issued today.

The state is in a unique position to set an example for the rest of the nation and world by following the recommendations set forth in “Preparing for a Sea Change in Florida: A Strategy to Cope with the Impacts of Global Warming on the State’s Coastal and Marine Systems,” said members of the Florida Coastal and Ocean Coalition, which prepared the report.

The coalition – whose scientists and experts are active in global warming issues in Florida and around the globe – includes the Caribbean Conservation Corporation, Environmental Defense Fund, Gulf Restoration Network, Natural Resources Defense Council, National Wildlife Federation, Ocean Conservancy, Reef Relief, and The Surfrider Foundation.

“Warmer ocean waters kill coral and harm fish populations,” explained Patty Glick, the report’s primary author and Senior Global Warming Specialist with the National Wildlife Federation.

The Great Lakes can lessen the impact of global warming or become global warming’s victim — it all depends on Congress, according to a new report from the Healing Our Waters^®-Great Lakes Coalition. The authors urged Congress to enact a comprehensive plan to restore the health of the Great Lakes.

“Climate change is already affecting the Great Lakes, and no matter what we do now, the those impacts will increase in the future,” said Donald Scavia, Ph.D., report co-author and professor of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan. “But we can counter those impacts by restoring the Great Lakes to make them more resilient. At the same time, we need strong national efforts to cut greenhouse gas pollution so that the impacts don’t become so severe that they overwhelm the Great Lakes.”