Seasons' End Talk Back

National Wildlife Federation analyzes wildlife provisions in Power Act

John Kostyack, executive director of the National Wildlife Federation’s Wildlife Conservation and Global Warming National Advocacy Center, presents a brief analysis of the Kerry-Lieberman bill. Kostyack remains positive about the strong wildlife and natural resources provisions in the bill but emphasizes the need and opportunity to close the funding gap in the coming weeks.

Kostyack explains that the draft legislation makes substantial funding available for natural resources adaptation if the Senate makes this issue a priority. For example, during the period in which natural resources adaptation receives no share of allowance value (2012 through 2018), the oil industry receives a share of allowance value ranging from 3.75 to 4.3 percent. If just half of this money were shifted to natural resources adaptation, roughly $10 billion would be available during this seven-year period for protecting threatened U.S. species and ecosystems rather than the oil industry. Read complete bill.

Climate Change Adaptation Task Force progress report

The Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force, representing more than 20 federal agencies, has issued an interim report on their work to develop federal recommendations for adapting to climate change impacts both domestically and internationally. The components of their recommended strategy are:

• Integration of Science into Adaptation Decisions and Policy
• Communications and Capacity-building
• Coordination and Collaboration
• Prioritization
• A Flexible Framework for Agencies
• Evaluation

Sportsmen Stress concerns over Senate energy, climate change bill

WASHINGTON - May 12 – The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership today welcomed the introduction in the U.S. Senate of the American Power Act, energy and climate legislation that takes the first step toward better safeguarding public fish and wildlife resources in the face of increased energy development and accelerating global climate change.

“Today, our Senate leaders took unprecedented action in addressing the profound impacts that climate change and energy development activities can have on our natural resources and fish and wildlife,” said William Geer, director of the TRCP Center for Western Lands. “We appreciate their dedication to issues of crucial importance to American sportsmen and look forward to working further with them to assure dedicated funding for the future of our nation’s cherished outdoor heritage.”

The TRCP and its partners in the sportsmen-conservation community have established a longstanding record of involvement in promoting public policy that sustains fish and game populations and public hunting and fishing opportunities.

Today’s bill introduction by Sens. John Kerry and Joseph Lieberman represents the culmination of dedicated efforts by hunters and anglers to assure that natural resources conservation is adequately considered in congressional action addressing energy and climate change.

American Power Act introduced

Senators Kerry and Leiberman have introduced the 987-page bill  that includes provisions for fostering adaptation and resilience of wildlife and habitat to climate change while attempting to limit emissions, reduce oil imports and create millions of new energy-related jobs. See Title VI, page 933.

Climate change is the true crisis

"West Virginia's mining disaster and the Gulf of Mexico oil spill were disastrous and investigations are justified, but the real threat is much worse."

That's the point made by the Los Angeles Times editorial page this week in a column that notes how adept the American political system is at dealing with one-time disasters like hurricanes, oil spills and mine disasters, but the slow drip of climate change and it's effect on natural systems isn't so simple to respond to.

The editorial concludes:

"Congress and the Obama administration are wasting no time investigating the mining and drilling disasters. Meanwhile, a comprehensive climate bill is hopelessly stalled in the Senate, and its prospects of approval in an election year are dim. It's no more likely to progress in 2011 either, because the Democratic majority is expected to shrink.

Lawmakers today aren't seeing the forest for the trees; that will change when the forest has burned or been destroyed by bark beetles, but by then it will be too late."

Read the full editorial.

Gulf Coast Scientists, "Oil Is Bad For Everything"

The Wonk Room’s Brad Johnson, is reporting that Gulf Coast marine scientists agree that the unfolding oil disaster could mean devastation beyond human comprehension

According to Johnson, "In an exclusive interview with the Wonk Room, scientists from the University of Southern Mississippi’s Gulf Coast Research Laboratory in Ocean Springs, MS, discussed the ecological impacts of a three-month blowout from the BP-Halliburton Deepwater Horizon exploratory rig, described as the expected timeline for “ultimate relief” of the leak by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. None of the scientists even wanted to attempt to imagine the coming devastation, because, as ichthyologist Jeff Hoffmayer said, “oil is bad for everything” that lives in the ocean.

"If the leak continues for three months, about 100 million gallons of oil will have flooded into the Gulf during the peak spawning season of the region and the start of the hurricane season. Dr. Bill Hawkins, director of the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, summarized the scenario starkly: "All bets are off."

Watch the discussion:

For the full story, visit the Wonk Room.

Energy Information Administration reports sharp drop in carbon dioxide emissions

According to a new report by the Energy Information Adminstration,  U.S. energy-related carbon dioxide emissions in 2009 saw their largest absolute and percentage decline (405 million metric tons or 7.0 percent) since EIA’s comprehensive record of annual energy data began in 1949. 

How much of the recent decline has been related to lower economic growth?

Some of the decline can be attributed to the recession, but the EIA looked at that posibility and concluded that emissions would have grown by 0.6 to 0.7 percent annually had the proportional relationship between economic growth and emissions growth remained the same as during the 1990s.    

What factors caused the large drop in 2009 emissions?

Changes in carbon dioxide emissions can be assigned to changes in four major factors: population, per capita GDP, energy intensity of the economy, and carbon intensity of the energy supply*. Except for population, all of these fell in 2009; population grew 0.9 percent.** The downturn of the economy caused per capita GDP to fall (3.3 percent), resulting in a total GDP decline of 2.4 percent.  Energy intensity and the carbon intensity of the energy supply both fell more than 2 percent.  These three factors (GDP, energy intensity and carbon intensity) combined in roughly equal proportions to cause emissions to fall by 7.0 percent. 

Assessing the implications of the decline, the EIA reports says, "Total emissions of energy-related carbon dioxide fell across all end-use sectors in 2009, with the drop especially pronounced in the industrial sector.  As the economy recovers, the structure of that recovery will be important to the future emissions profile of the United States.  If energy-intensive industries lead the economic recovery, emissions would increase faster than if service industries or light manufacturing play the leading role.   If coal, which was more heavily impacted by the recent economic downturn than other energy sources, rebounds disproportionately, the carbon intensity of the energy supply could rise above the 2009 level.  However, longer-term trends continue to suggest decline in both the amount of energy used per unit of economic output and the carbon intensity of our energy supply, which both work to restrain emissions."

Read the entire report here.

Beyond Seasons' End report released

The Wildlife Management Institute(WMI) and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP), joined by nine  of the nation’s leading hunting and fishing organizations, have released a report – Beyond Seasons' End –  that identifies the challenges and solutions to the predicted impact of climate change on fish and wildlife habitat in the United States.

The report was compiled and edited by the Wildlife Management Institute and TRCP, based on analysis done by Ducks Unlimited, Trout Unlimited, BASS/ESPN, Izaak Walton League of America,  Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, Coastal Conservation Association, American Sportfishing Association, Boone and Crockett Club, and Pheasants Forever. The groups were joined by retired United States Senator John Warner of Virginia at a press conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to release the report. The report is funded by the Bipartisan Policy Center, whose projects include the National Commission on Energy Policy.

“How we respond to the repercussions of climate change will determine the condition of the environment that we pass on to our children; it is our duty to our country and our descendants to protect and preserve the wildlife and wild places that prior generations have bequeathed to us,” said Steve Williams, president of the WMI.

Order a free copy of Beyond Seasons' End or download it as a pdf.

Pew Center on Global Climate Change calls for federal leadership

A new report from the Pew Center on Global Climate Change has recommended creating a national adaptation program.

The report, Adapting to Climate Change: A Call for Federal Leadership, recommends the federal program include three main components:

• An Adaptation Strategic Planning Initiative to provide overarching program goals, objectives, and priorities
• A National Climate Service to provide stakeholders (including state and local governments and private sector entities) with much-needed information on climate impacts and adaptation options
• An Adaptation Research Program to ensure that adaptation research receives appropriate emphasis as part of the larger federal climate research effort.

“There is an urgent need to reduce carbon emissions and adapt to the unavoidable impacts of climate change,” said Eileen Claussen, president of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change. “This report actually offers the federal government concrete recommendations for adaptation preparedness. By putting in place today the appropriate infrastructure, we will be far better equipped to limit future damages and their associated costs.”

While recognizing the critical importance of local, state, and international adaptation efforts, this report focuses on the federal government’s role in implementing an effective, coordinated U.S. adaptation approach. The federal government’s role is significant for several key reasons, including: federally-owned land and infrastructure are at risk; federal guidelines, standards, and regulations influence virtually all sectors of the economy; and federal technical support is critical for addressing climate impacts. The report calls for “mainstreaming” climate change adaptation within and across the federal government.

“Adaptation is no longer an option, it is a necessity,” said Claussen. “Coordination at the federal level is critical to reduce the vulnerability and strengthen the resiliency of our economy and natural resources in the face of our changing climate.”

EPA report presents 24 key indicators of climate change

In its report, "Climate Change Indicators in the United States," released April 27, the U.S. EPA presents 24 indicators that describe trends related to the causes and effects of climate change. The report focuses on the United States, but global trends are presented in some cases to provide context or a basis for comparison.

The list of indicators includes wildlife migrations, drought, bird wintering ranges, ocean acidity, plant hardiness zones, heat-related deaths, storms, changing sea levels, glaciers.

The agency said it will use the indicators to collect data and generate analyses to monitor the effects/impacts of climate change in the U.S., assist decision–makers on the best use of policymaking and program resources to respond to climate change and to assist EPA and its constituents in evaluating the success of their climate change efforts.