Tribal Leaders Address Climate Impacts, Clean Energy Bill

PHOTO: (from left) Mike Williams, chairman of Alaska Inter-Tribal Council; Senator Tom Udall of New Mexico; Jerry Pardilla, executive director of the National Tribal Environmental Council; and John Echohawk, executive director of the Native American Rights Fund.

Sitting in the ballroom of the Renaissance Hotel, I was impressed to see dozens of powerful leaders from American Indian tribes all across the U.S. gathered together discussing the serious concerns they have about how climate change will impact tribal lands, as well as the great potential they see for how tribes can benefit from a clean energy economy that reduces carbon pollution.

NWF partnered with three major tribal organizations: the National Congress of American Indians, the National Tribal Environmental Council and the Native American Rights Fund to host a lunch meeting to discuss congressional action on climate change.

The tribal leaders are in town for the White House Tribal Nations Conference to discuss a host of issues important to Indian Country, but they took time out to convene on Wednesday to share perspectives on climate change’s impacts to tribes, climate legislation, tribal efforts to adapt to climate change impacts and how tribes are prepared to provide clean energy solutions.

Jacqueline Johnson-Pata, executive director of National Congress of American Indians said that renewable energy is one of the most significant economic development opportunities available to tribes during these difficult economic times, particularly tribes in remote areas, many of which have never experienced meaningful economic opportunities.

John Echohawk, executive director of the Native American Rights Fund, pointed out that Indigenous Peoples have contributed very little to the global carbon footprint, yet they are suffering disproportionately from the effects of climate change. And  Jerry Pardilla, executive director, National Tribal Environmental Council, said that it is incumbent upon the Obama Administration and Congress to include Indian tribes and their leaders in the development of policies and strategies to reverse these impacts.

The lunch meeting really highlighted how important the tribes are in finding solutions to climate change that also bring much-needed jobs and economic security to communities most vulnerable to its impacts.

For example, the Intertribal Council On Utility Policy estimates that the total tribal wind generation potential is about 14% of the total U.S. electric generation – based data from the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Greening Our Schools: The Challenge For NWF Eco-Schools USA

America's increasing focus on things that are "green" most certainly extends to our K-12 schools -- all 130,000 of them. The new NWF Eco-Schools USA program will help many U.S. schools to become more effective at educating and preparing students for new, greener, ways of thinking, working and living.    It offers a proven system for organizing people and priorities at a school for more energy efficiency, water efficiency, improved waste management, eco-landacaping, nature study, climate change study and more.

Importantly, Eco-Schools USA, like its counterparts in 46 other nations, teaches a participatory and democratic process for young people to address important environmental subjects and, in due course, to also learn to solve the problems of life.  The Eco-Schools USA system includes: 

* Seven core steps to complete school greening, 

* Eight exciting study, project and community servcice pathways, and

* Access to a diverse and growing international network of 30,000 existing ecoschools from around the world.

To learn more about Eco-Schools USA and how you and your schools can participate, please visit our Eco-Schools USA self-guiding website  

Senate Progress for Clean Energy & Climate Action

The Senate Environment & Public Works Committee passed the Clean Energy Jobs & American Power Act yesterday on an 11-1 vote. Committee Republicans boycotted the vote, but even if all had voted against it, the bill would've passed comfortably. Even the one Democrat who voted against the bill, Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), went out of his way to emphasize he hoped to vote for a final bill when the full Senate considers it.

Here's how National Wildlife Federation Senior VP Jeremy Symons reacted to the vote:

The bill’s success in committee today, combined with yesterday’s announcement by Senators Graham, Kerry and Lieberman of plans for a bipartisan bill, add up to a big boost for action in the Senate. A month ahead of the global climate talks in Copenhagen next month, Senators have sent a signal to the President and the nations of the world that Congress is getting closer to the finish line.

The National Wildlife Federation thanks Sen. Boxer for her unwavering leadership and the bill’s supporters for their commitment to clean energy jobs, energy security, and protecting America’s natural resources for our children and grandchildren. It’s unfortunate Senator Inhofe kept his team on the bench for today’s markup, proving once again he’s the oil industry’s biggest ally in Congress. But the focus now shifts to Senators Graham, Kerry and Lieberman as they work to deliver bipartisan clean energy and climate solutions.

Learn more about the Clean Energy Jobs & American Power Act in NWF's Climate Action Center!

Report from Barcelona UN Climate Talks

The following is a guest post from Eric Palola, senior director of the National Wildlife Federation's Forests for Wildlife program. It is cross-posted from NWF's Forest Justice.

The Mediterannean Sea is no more than a stone’s throw from the train whisking me north to Barcelona from the little port town of Sitges. I am a simple commuter this morning, joining thousands of Catalonians, some sleeping and some bantering in the heavy lisp of the Catalan dialect.

The train is the second stage of a commute that started with a bike ride and will finish with bus ride to the vast conference center holding the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) talks in a recently redeveloped industrial zone of Barcelona. Fabric billboards suspended from lampposts herald the talks as “securing a global deal on climate change”. But most of Spain seems ambivalent. Unemployment hovers near 20%, the highest within the European Union, and the country’s national daily El Pais is preoccupied with estimates that Spain may actually see negative growth in 2010.

Against this backdrop thousands of delegates and observers have converged to set the stage for a Copenhagen climate deal. The talks are struggling but there a still several days to go. As seems typical of these meetings, the most affluent and influential countries, the ones who hold all the cards in terms of needed greenhouse gas reductions and future climate financing are being non-committal. Maybe it is just a diplomatic game, but the developing countries are furious.

Alongside the big issues of future targets and timetables for emissions reduction, one of the key fault lines in the negotiations for REDDs – the acronym for Reduced Emissions for Deforestation and Degradation. (Check out NWF's REDD fact sheet [PDF].)

Emissions from poor land use, especially from forest loss and conversion have risen to the top of the agenda in the post 2012 commitment period. At issue is how the tremendous rates of deforestation occurring in many tropical regions, some 13-15 million hectares per year, can be slowed if not stopped altogether. The stickiest issues involve what forms of payment to developing countries will provide enough incentive to leave forests standing, and in turn, what assurances the international community can extract to confirm their money wasn’t simply wasted on graft and corruption and those forests are in fact still standing.

REDDs is a hot topic here. At least a dozen formal “side meetings” touch on the subject covering the nuances of financing schemes, deforestation monitoring and verification systems, determination of deforestation baselines and trends, and the development of “multi-stakeholder and transparent” forest governance systems. Acronyms fly like butterflies on the wind: RIL (reduced impact logging) MRV (monitoring, reporting and verification) or IFM (independent forest monitoring). The negotiation of REDDs has generated it own vernacular. Yet, a strong underlying concern is how valuing forests purely for their carbon may trump other social and environmental aspects, especially in forest regions with strong cultural histories of indigenous forest peoples.

Later tonight, after many REDD meetings, I’ll do my bus, walk, train, and bike commute in reverse. My Catalonian hosts have noticed the string of dry days and unusually warm weather. They’re worried about global warming, but just as worried about local water quality. I’m told that beach erosion is high on the town’s list of concerns. The signs of global warming are everywhere, yet the signs in Barcelona are still mixed despite the euphoria of the billboards.

Photo via Flickr's adoptanegotiator

Save Ice Cream! #HelpHoneyBees

Häagen-Dazs knows the importance of honeybees to ice cream. Pollination is "essential for ingredients in nearly 50 percent of our all-natural superpremium flavors," according to their website, HelptheHoneyBees.com.

In an effort to raise awareness for the decline in honeybee populations around the world, they are helping fund research for scientists to learn more about the problem and find solutions. Over the last three years, one in three honeybee colonies has died. Scientists are calling the phenomenon CCD for Colony Collapse Disorder. In CCD cases, all of the bees in a colony abruptly disappear, deserting the hive.

Fast Honeybee Facts:

• One of every three bites the average American eats is directly attributed to honey bee pollination.

• Honey bees are responsible for the pollination of more than 100 crops, including fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds.

• They provide 80 percent of the country's pollination services.

• Without honey bee pollination, one-third of our food supply would be in jeopardy.

How You Can Help Honeybees:

• Tweet using #helphoneybees: For every tweet between Nov. 5-11 that includes #HelpHoneyBees, Häagen-Dazs will donate $1 to the University of California at Davis, which is doing great research into Colony Collapse Disorder. The donations are capped at a maximum of $500 for each of the 7 days (a total of $3,500). Find out more...
  
  For easy copying and pasting:
  

  Häagen-Dazs to donate $1 for every #HelpHoneyBees tweet Nov. 5-11 to fund Colony Collapse Disorder research http://su.pr/5oMnCY (via @NWF)

  
  ** UPDATE FROM TWITCAUSE ** "Following our extremely successful first day of #HelpHoneyBees, Häagen-Dazs has generously decided to DOUBLE their maximum daily donation, from the initial $500 to a new maximum of $1,000 per day (for a new grand total of $7,000)! We're super excited with the news and want to send a special thank you to all of you that have been tweeting! Keep it up!"
   

• Learn more about Häagen-Dazs' efforts to "Help the Honeybees": Not only can you spark donations through Twitter, but also with your "bee built" ice cream purchases. They even created a special flavor as a tribute: Vanilla Honey Bee.

• Turn your garden into a Certified Wildlife Habitat™: Provide habitat suitable for bees, birds, butterflies and other pollinators.

More Honeybee info:

"The Buzz on Native Pollinators" - National Wildlife® magazine: As European honeybees decline, indigenous bees and other pollinating animals can provide a backup--with a little help from their human friends.

"Busy with Bees" - National Wildlife® magazine: In Bavaria, a team of industrious scientists uses high-tech tools to study the secret lives of honeybees--work that could shed light on the pollinators' mysterious disappearances.

Three Ways to Plant for Pollinators

Get more tips from this National Wildlife® magazine web exclusive.

1. Select plants that provide a lot of nectar and pollen. Many ornamentals have been specifically bred to produce little or none of these essential foods.

2. Plant a diversity of species so your yard will provide bees, butterflies and other animals with nectar and pollen from spring through fall. To attract bats and nocturnal moths, consider night-blooming plants in addition to day-bloomers.

3. Be a "messy" gardener: Leave some patches of unmulched soil and brush piles that bees, birds and other animals can use to construct nests. Consider building or purchasing a bee house for wood-nesting wasps and bees.

Chamber Softening Anti-Clean Energy Stance?

Republicans on the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee are continuing their boycott today, refusing to work on amendments to the Clean Energy Jobs & American Power Act. But the bill's supporters got some good news late yesterday:

The prospects of enacting a Senate bill got a tiny boost Tuesday when R. Bruce Josten, the chief lobbyist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, sent a letter to Boxer and the committee's ranking Republican, James M. Inhofe (Okla.), suggesting that a bipartisan approach along the lines of the compromise Kerry is trying to forge with Graham might work.

"The challenge of drafting comprehensive climate legislation is not 'whether' to do something, but 'how,' " Josten wrote.

It remains unclear whether the missive will translate into a shift in the trade association's policy, however. Jeremy Symons, senior vice president of the National Wildlife Federation, said he remains "cautious," given the chamber's historic opposition to mandatory limits on greenhouse gases.

Is the Chamber getting serious on clean energy & climate action? Will they support a cap on global warming pollution that holds polluters accountable for their emissions? We'll find out.

Katie Couric Interviews Al Gore

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Help Whet Kids' Appetite for Watershed Conservation

When students in my suburban hometown entered seventh grade, we took a trip to explore the ecosystem of the Fox River -- the tributary that divided our town in half.

Children that grew up in the area knew how the wildlife that lived along the river were endangered by toxins in the watershed.

With help from our science teacher, we also learned how whole chains of animals thrived because of this river--from the mayflies and crawfish to small mammals.

After trudging home full of river mud, we felt compelled to revitalize our river and assure that the water would be cleaner for the next generation of students.

Teaching children about the watershed in their area helps them understand the importance of caring for their local water supply.

Whether they can walk alongside a prominent river or if they must venture out to see a small creek, they must understand water does not begin and end in their faucet.

Currently, U.S. representatives are working on a bill to promote environmental literacy on watersheds. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has already implemented the Bay-Watershed Education and Training and Environmental Literacy Grant programs, but it needs support to reach more youth.

So, please take a moment today to urge your representative to support this bill to increase environmental education programs in communities across the nation.

By Kolleen Kawa, National Wildlife Federation

Sen. Inhofe: Big Oil's MVP

Did you know the American Petroleum Institute puts out a legislative scorecard and voter guide? I didn't ... until it was uncovered by National Wildlife Federation researchers. Turns out Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) got a perfect score.

That goes a long way towards explaining why Sen. Inhofe is organizing a rare boycott today as the top Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee. Sen. Inhofe must be concerned that Republicans outside of his committee may be willing to craft a bipartisan compromise on energy legislation. Basically, Sen. Inhofe has decided his committee members will take their ball and go home, organizing the Republican members of his committee to skip out on this week’s markup of the Clean Energy Jobs & American Power Act and obstruct the overall legislative process.

“Senator Inhofe has taken his team off the field before the real action has even started. Behind the scenes, you can be sure Big Oil is giving Sen. Inhofe a standing ovation,” said Jeremy Symons, senior vice president of the National Wildlife Federation. “The oil industry has led a multi-million dollar assault on clean energy legislation to protect its profits at the expense of America’s energy security. Now, Sen. Inhofe is once again coming through in the clutch for Big Oil.”

To commemorate Sen. Inhofe’s status as Big Oil's MVP, the National Wildlife Federation has issued a limited-edition trading card with some of Sen. Inhofe’s career milestones. Check it out:

Among the highlights:

• Sen. Inhofe and his leadership PAC have received $2,182,631 from the oil & gas industries since 1998, according to OpenSecrets.org. During that time, America’s foreign oil imports have increased 21 percent.

• Sen. Inhofe has increased his oil & gas industry contribution yield each campaign cycle, finishing among the Senate league leaders in 2008.

• Sen. Inhofe took to the Senate floor in 2003 to call global warming “the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people.”

“The Clean Energy Jobs Act will ease our dependency on oil, create new jobs by investing in made-in-America clean energy, and reduce pollution to protect our children’s future,” said Jeremy Symons. “Senators should roll up their sleeves and show up to work on the energy reform America needs now.”

Boxer Reaches Out to Republicans on Clean Energy Bill

Via Talking Points Memo, late breaking news on the Clean Energy Jobs Act:

Faced with the GOP plan, [Senate Environment & Public Works Committee Chair Barbara] Boxer said the Democrat majority on the committee decided to "reach our hand across the aisle" and accommodate some of the GOP concerns.

Boxer will begin the markup as planned Tuesday, but will extend the deadline for amendments until "the close of business" that day, allowing Republicans who have boycotted the process to participate past the original deadline.

In addition, Boxer said she'll pause the markup process tomorrow afternoon and invite an EPA official to come before the committee and answer any and all remaining questions about the cap-and-trade bill Republicans may have.

Now that Boxer has addressed their concerns, will Republicans come to the table to negotiate the real reform America has been waiting for? We'll find out on Tuesday.