Natural Resources Bulletin
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
(National Wildlife Federation)
Natural Resources
Bulletin - July 14, 2009 Contents: 1. Climate
legislation timeline 2. Great Outdoors
America report 3. NWF flooding
report ________________________________________ 1. Climate
legislation timeline On the heels of the
American Clean Energy & Security Act
victory in the House of Representatives, Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has said he
and congressional Democrats intend to send
President Obama a comprehensive climate and
energy bill before U.N. climate negotiations
conclude this December in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Reid recently pushed back a deadline to all
Senate committees to mark-up their piece of the
bill to September 28th, giving committee
leaders time to build the broad support needed
among Senators to muster the 60 votes necessary
for a bill to end a filibuster from the
opposition. Environment and
Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
delayed her schedule for marking up a climate
bill until September, pushing back plans for a
markup before the August recess. Once a bill
makes it past the Senate, both houses of
Congress would need to negotiate a successful
conference agreement that can then pass both
chambers one more time before sending it to the
President for his signature.
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2. ORRG releases Great Outdoors America report
The Outdoor Resources Review Group, a bipartisan organization convened by Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), recently released its Great Outdoors America report, detailing the state of America's natural resources. According to the authors, "keeping outdoor resources high on the national agenda is critical. Even in a time of daunting challenges, the country's livability today and its prosperity tomorrow depend on it. At stake now, and for future generations, is the health of our people, our economy, our communities, and the lands and waters on which we depend."
Many of the authors' main proposals are similar to provisions in Subtitle E of the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES), which deals with climate change adaptation. Among them, the authors recommend including funding for natural resources adaptation in any national program to reduce greenhouse gases; strengthening regional and landscape-level conservation programs; building on existing partnerships between state, federal, and private stakeholders; and developing a mechanism for interagency coordination of these efforts.
Great Outdoors America makes clear that "immediate and bold action is necessary" to safeguard ecosystems from climate change and other threats. The report arrives at a critical time, with the Senate set to take up the debate on climate legislation in a matter of months. Natural resources are one of the few areas of bipartisan agreement in this issue, with a base of support across the political spectrum, and are a starting point to find common ground in a Senate bill.
You can download the report at: http://orrgroup.org/documents/July2009_Great-Outdoors-America-report.pdf
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3. National Wildlife Federation releases flood report
National Wildlife Federation has just issued its report Increased Flooding Risk: Global Warming's Wake-up Call For Riverfront Communities, which details the impacts of climate change on precipitation trends.
Many parts of the United States and areas around the globe have seen more and heavier rainfall, loss of glaciers and snowpack, and other alterations of the earth's hydrologic cycles. "Global warming is partly to blame for these heavy rainfall events," says Dr. Amanda Staudt, climate scientist for NWF and lead author of the paper. "Warmer air simply can hold more moisture, so heavier precipitation is expected in the years to come."
The report, which includes regional case studies, also focuses on America's over-reliance on levees and other poor flood management strategies; at-risk communities around the country; and strategies for reducing global warming impacts and helping these frontline communities adapt to inevitable threats.
Read the report at: http://www.nwf.org/nwfwebadmin/binaryVault/NWF_FloodReport_optimized1.pdf
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