Nature Conservancy Commends Advance of the
Lieberman-Warner Bill
Arlington, VA— November 1, 2007 — The Nature Conservancy commends the Environment and Public Works Committee Subcommittee Private Sector and Consumer Solutions to Global Warming and Wildlife Protection on reporting S. 2191, America’s Climate Security Act. The bill passed the subcommittee today by a margin of 4-3.
“Today’s action is an important next step on the road to passing critically needed legislation to reduce the emissions that are causing global warming”, said Stephanie Meeks, acting president and CEO of The Nature Conservancy. “We are pleased that Senators Baucus and Lautenberg have joined Senators Lieberman and Warner in supporting this bill. We thank Senator Sanders for his efforts to ensure strong, science-based long-term targets. We call on the full Environment and Public Works Committee to work together to report a strong, bipartisan bill to the full Senate this year.”
The bill contains landmark funding for efforts to protect wildlife and habitats that are placed at serious risk by climate change, dedicating 20 percent of the expected revenues from the sale of emissions allowances towards conservation. These revenues represent an estimated $3 billion or more per year in the early years of the program, increasing over time to keep pace with growing climate change impacts.
Conservation has a critical role to play in addressing the climate crisis, from reducing emissions from deforestation to finding ways for people and wildlife to adapt to a changing world. The bill contains a commitment to fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund, recognizing the need to increase land acquisition and easement investments for long-term species and ecosystem landscape conservation and management in a changing climate.
“Senator Baucus’ leadership on this issue has helped ensure that our nation’s most significant land conservation program will receive the investments necessary for lands and the species that depend on them for survival to adapt to a changing climate,” said Meeks.
Rising sea levels and shifting climate zones, coupled with existing stresses such as development pressures, invasive species, and altered fire regimes, will have dramatic effects on our nation’s species and the natural resources on which they depend. Climate change is forcing natural resource managers – on public and privately-held lands – to face the challenging reality of how to ensure the long-term survival of the plants, fish and wildlife that they have worked to protect. Through land acquisition and easement programs, government agencies and private landowners will be better able to manage landscapes for their long-term needs, including species corridors to alleviate pressures on species as they inevitably move and adapt to new climates.
Forest CarbonGlobally, deforestation and forest degradation account for close to 20 percent or more of carbon dioxide emissions, with a significant portion happening in tropical forests. Protecting forests and reforesting once-forested areas as part of U.S. emissions reductions legislation makes not just good conservation sense, it also makes good economic sense and good foreign policy sense. In addition to reducing emissions, forest conservation and restoration unleash a host of climate change, biodiversity, and other environmental, social and economic benefits. The potential for reducing emissions through carefully documented forest carbon storage and emission reduction activities is very large, highly cost-effective and as yet untapped.
The bill reported today by the subcommittee would grant forest and land-use activities in the U.S. access to the carbon market provided that they can demonstrate real emission reductions or carbon storage. We are encouraged by the bill’s recognition of the important role these activities can play. As the bill advances, it will be critical to ensure that the U.S. fully leverages the power of its carbon market to conserve forests in those parts of the world where the greatest emissions are occurring. International forest carbon credits can also play an important role in reducing the overall costs of the program while benefiting the environment.
International ActionSwift action by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee could offer a strong signal to international climate talks in Bali in early December by highlighting the growing momentum in the U.S. for passage of comprehensive climate legislation. A key element of the Bali discussions is to initiate a negotiating process that will result in a next round of international agreements on climate change that are acceptable to all major emitters.
“If a bipartisan bill is sent to the Senate floor in time for the Bali talks, it would signal that the U.S. is prepared to undertake meaningful action, which is essential to catalyzing meaningful action in developing countries,” said Rebecca Patton, Chief Conservation Strategies Officer of The Nature Conservancy.
The bill was reported by the Subcommittee on Private Sector and Consumer Solutions to Global Warming and Wildlife Protection.
Click here for more information on the Conservancy’s climate change efforts.
The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.
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