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Natural Resources Bulletin - June 9, 2009

(National Wildlife Federation)Contents:
1. American Clean Energy and Security Act timeline and news
2. TAKE ACTION: Fax or email a letter to your Representative
3. White House and NOAA finalizing major report on climate change
 
1. ACES House timeline and news

House leadership has targeted the week of June 22nd to debate on the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES), and it may reach the floor for a vote by June 25th before the start of the July 4th Congressional recess.  Speaker Nancy Pelosi has set an ambitious schedule for the bill in order to take advantage of momentum and public support for climate legislation.  Eight House committees were originally planning to revise ACES, but many of those committees have decided not weigh in.  The Agriculture Committee (chaired by Rep. Collin Peterson) may be the only committee to offer significant changes -- Rep. Peterson in particular has voiced displeasure with certain elements of ACES including how it defines the greenhouse gas emissions of biomass .  House leadership has been trying to bridge this gap through intensive discussions with Peterson and others.  
 
A broad range of conservation, sporting and outdoor recreation groups are working to strengthen the bill and pass it.  According to Larry Schweiger, President and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, "Getting the bill out of the Energy and Commerce Committee was a significant achievement.  While this is not a perfect bill, it represents a very bold step forward for rapidly combating global warming.  In addition to the limits on carbon pollution, the bill contains a variety of other important provisions that will further accelerate carbon reductions, propel more clean energy investments, help wildlife survive a warming world, and create many new jobs."
 
For more information, visit the Energy & Commerce Committee's ACES website:
http://energycommerce.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1633&catid=155&Itemid=55
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2. Fax or Email a Letter to your Member of Congress
 
With ACES moving quickly, it's VERY important that you weigh in with your Member of Congress to support natural resource funding.  Please see attached letter, fill in your state specific information, and fax or email in to you Member's office.  (Fax? Really?  Yep - House offices still all have fax machines, and since they get so many emails, faxing a letter often stands out more.)  
 
At this point, the most important Members of Congress are the moderates, both Democrats and Republicans.  You can find your Member of Congress' contact information at www.house.gov, or by contacting Peter LaFontaine at lafontainep@nwf.org.
 
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3. White House and NOAA finalizing major report on climate change
 
The White House is finalizing a major report on climate change impacts in the United States, to be released next week.  The report will be a compilation of over 20 reports from NOAA and other federal agencies, the National Academy of Sciences, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.  It will go in-depth into the regional impacts of climate change on public health and ecosystem function.  While it focuses on impacts, the report will also go into some detail on the twin solutions of mitigation (reducing the levels of greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere) and adaptation (increasing the resiliency of ecosystems and human communities to climate change).

The White House/NOAA report will represent a sea change in the federal government's approach to reporting climate science, and will help raise public awareness about the catastrophic impacts of unchecked climate change across the country.  If you are interested in writing a letter to the editor of your local paper, please contact Peter LaFontaine (lafontainep@nwf.org) for a template or suggested talking points about how to protect natural resources in your state.