NWF on Animal Planet tomorrow!
Tuesday, April 2 at 10 a.m. eastern/pacific
Don't miss an appearance by NWF naturalist David Mizejewski in a special Animal Planet program called "Nim's Island Our World: A Reel Thinking Event."  The special, hosted by Jeff Corwin, focuses on the wildlife that appears in the new major motion picture Nim's Island and explores how kids can make a difference protecting wildlife and our environment in real life just like the title character does in the movie (which premieres nationwide on April 4th
David talks with Jeff about how NWF helps kids experience nature and make a difference for wildlife.  With reference to NWF's award-winning magazines for kids and programs such as Wildlife Watch and Certified Wildlife Habitat, the special will provide millions of impressions for NWF and our work.

Some other highlights of the special include:

--Interviews with the cast of the movie (Jodie Foster, Abigail Breslin, Gerard Butler)
--Contest to find a "reel life Nim" - find out more here

--The commercial-free special will also be broadcast directly to schools across the country in partnership with Cable in the Classroom from the National Cable Television Association.

Bats in the Northeast have died in massive numbers over the last few months and no one knows why.  There are over 1,000 bat species globally and these flying mammals are important players in their respective ecosystems.  Northeastern bat species feed on insects and play a role in controlling insect populations.  Some of the species affected include the little brown bat, the small-footed bat and the endangered Indiana bat.  Let's hope we find a cause and cure for this mysterious epidemic soon.

Another packed meeting room for a session on climate change here at the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference.

This time the meeting was for natural resource managers working at military bases. Among "conservation-reliant species" (those that require conservation management plans to stay healthy), 80% are on military land, according to one speaker. The audience was told that global warming is "pulling the rug out from under species" and "no species is safe"  from global warming.

Another speaker talked about why military and natural resource managers should care about alternative energy, saying, "climate change is happening." He also noted that the energy consumption of the federal government is more than that of 61 countries.

At the Energy and Climate Policy Committee, the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies released findings from a survey of state agencies, including specific questions on the impacts of climate change in their state.  Lack of funding, information/research and political support were all cited by various states as factors inhibiting agency ability to prepare for climate change over the next decade. 

The lack of funding and information/research responses underscore the importance of the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act now before Congress.  With dedicated funding for the protection and restoration of natural resources, new investments can be made to incorporate climate change in wildlife management plans.   

Natural resource managers aren't debating any more about if global warming is real -- they are now focused on what can be done to ensure all the work to protect our wildlife heritage isn't compromised in a warming world.  Lieberman-Warner gives these agencies a fighting chance at conserving wildlife for our children's future.   

Here at the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference in Phoenix, National Wildlife Federation's Senior Wildlife Biologist Doug Inkley was an invited speaker for an all day workshop on climate change impacts on wildlife, fisheries and outdoor recreation.

Expecting about 20-30 people, the room was packed with more than 250 professionals in natural resource conservation. As one participant mentioned to me, "everyone was really listening. It wasn't about does global warming exist, instead people wanted to know what are we going to do about it."

The attendees are looking for management solutions and what can be done to minimize and avoid impacts on fish and wildlife, and the habitats they need to survive. They were grateful for the National Wildlife Federation's and The Wildlife Society's persistence to raise awareness about global warming impacts and the need to find solutions that help wildlife. Many natural resource managers now realize they have to put climate change at the front and center on their agenda if they expect to be successful in conserving fish and wildlife.

Getting this kind of traction in the natural resource community is significant! As I get myself ready for today's sessions on energy and wildlife policy, I'm listening to Senator McCain's foreign policy address at the World Affairs conference. He calls for the need for U.S. leadership on global warming, including a cap and trade mechanism:

We and the other nations of the world must get serious about substantially reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years or we will hand off a much-diminished world to our grandchildren. We need a successor to the Kyoto Treaty, a cap-and-trade system that delivers the necessary environmental impact in an economically responsible manner. We Americans must lead by example and encourage the participation of the rest of the world, including most importantly, the developing economic powerhouses of China and India.

Time is runing out, but at least we are now talking about solutions and not wasting precious time debating the science.

Disturbing news from the California coast:

Federal fisheries managers on Friday took the initial step toward imposing what could be the strictest limits ever on West Coast salmon fishing amid a precipitous drop in fish returning to California's Sacramento Valley.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council unanimously adopted three options for sport and commercial fishing off the Pacific Coast, including an unprecedented complete shutdown of fishing off California and Oregon.

"This is a major disaster. We've never had one ever like this," council chairman Donald Hansen said after the vote. "It will have a major impact on California commercial fisheries for salmon, recreational fisheries, California charters."

This year's troubles are blamed on several factors, including poor water quality and unusual weather patterns. But long-term, salmon face an even larger threat - global warming. Because they need cold water, even small temperature increases can lead to widespread loss of salmon habitat. Rising sea levels are also bringing changes to water salinity where streams and rivers meet the ocean.

To learn more, read our recent report on sea level rise and the Pacific Northwest.

Even Peter Cottontail would approve of the facts below, I think. Here's some information on our little furry friends....

The Easter Bunny is getting ready for his big day this Sunday, but did you know that the original "bunny" was actually a hare? Hares are a close relative of rabbits but have a few key differences:

• There are many species of rabbits and hares, but generally, hares tend to have longer legs and larger ears and are generally bigger than rabbits. The snowshoe hare is an exception with its small ears that help prevent heat loss. Large ears have more surface area and lose more heat.

• Hares are incredibly swift and run from predators, while rabbits typically hide first, relying on camouflage, and only run as a last resort.

• Hares give birth to precocial young which means their babies are born covered in fur, have open eyes, and are ready to run shortly after birth. Rabbit babies are furless, blind and helpless at birth.

Jackrabbits are actually a type of hare. Find out more amazing Easter Bunny trivia and rabbit facts at enature.com.

The Associated Press has a great roundup the local impacts of a delayed spring thanks to climate change:

The capital's famous cherry trees are primed to burst out in a perfect pink peak about the end of this month. Thirty years ago, the trees usually waited to bloom till around April 5.

In central California, the first of the field skipper sachem, a drab little butterfly, was fluttering about on March 12. Just 25 years ago, that creature predictably emerged there anywhere from mid-April to mid-May.

And sneezes are coming earlier in Philadelphia. On March 9, when allergist Dr. Donald Dvorin set up his monitor, maple pollen was already heavy in the air. Less than two decades ago, that pollen couldn't be measured until late April.

Pollen is bursting. Critters are stirring. Buds are swelling. Biologists are worrying.

"The alarm clock that all the plants and animals are listening to is running too fast," Stanford University biologist Terry Root said.

Blame global warming.

And here's where it gets even more interesting:

What's happening is so noticeable that scientists can track it from space. Satellites measuring when land turns green found that spring "green-up" is arriving eight hours earlier every year on average since 1982 north of the Mason-Dixon line.

The key message in all this is that when you're talking to your friends about climate change, avoid talking about icebergs, glaciers and polar bears. Yes, those are all critical impacts of climate change, but they're all very far from home (apologies to our Alaskan and Canadian readers ... this is me looking north, waving hello).

Instead, try to focus on the impacts in your community:

• If you're in Seattle, talk about how global warming is making the water too warm for salmon (a major food source for orcas)
• If you're in Minnesota, talk about how global warming has devastated moose populations
• If you're in Florida, talk about coral bleaching and the ripple effects on all the species sustained by reefs

NWF.org makes it easy for you to learn more about how your community's climate is changing. Check out our state fact sheets!

Species extinction is a natural phenomenon with one to five species going extinct each year. But, presently this rate has accelerated, with dozens of species lost each day.

It is believed that primary reasons to blame for this rapid extinction stem from human activities like overhunting, urbanization, over-exploitation, and pollution and disease. These have led to the loss of natural habitats of several organisms.

Climate change is also considered as a threat to many species. According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Red List of threatened species, of all the organisms found on earth 40% are estimated to be threatened. Some of the key organisms which face serious risk of extinction include African lions, Siberian tigers, marine turtles, great apes and panda bears. A great number of conservation efforts by several organizations are underway to protect endangered species.

Vancouver Island marmot (Marmota vancouverensis) is one of the world's rarest mammals, and is listed on the IUCN Red List of threatened species: Only 252 Vancouver Island marmots were found across Canada at last count. It is found only in the high mountainous regions of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. It is herbivorous, lives in small colonies in underground burrows, hibernates for 8 months in a year, mates in early spring (usually May), and is the largest animal in the squirrel family.

Several efforts, which include captive-breeding programmes, are underway to protect this mammal from the risk of extinction. But, recently, Calgary researcher Diane Casimir adopted a unique and ingenious approach to further the endeavor of saving these organisms. She has created a computer program to select for the most potential mates, and that would bear young ones. She has based her software on several factors like the period for which the mates were kept together, the age, previous production of young ones, etc. These factors are combined with the genetics of marmots. The software on the basis of these attributes could predict marmots that are most likely to mate. Truly wonderful!

This greatly helps in planning the future breeding programmes of marmots, which would help increase the population of this endangered animal. This study could further be extended to other animals which are threatened, or endangered. Of course, factors taken into consideration would differ from animal to animal.

Diane Casimir is working with the Centre for Conservation Research and the University of Calgary on the reproductive behavior of the marmot.

Important Links:

Abstract of the research article

News piece published in The Vancouver Sun

At a recent Senate hearing, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) had this back-and-forth with EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson:

Feinstein, who chairs the Appropriations subcommittee that controls the EPA's budget, asked why Johnson had not yet complied with a Supreme Court ruling a year ago in Massachusetts v. EPA that required him to come up with ways to regulate greenhouse gases.

"I find this unbelievable on behalf of what is called an environmental protection agency," Feinstein said, "and there's a finding of the United States Supreme Court telling you to do something."

"Well, Madam Chairman," Johnson eloquently intoned, doing a spectacular imitation of Mr. Magoo wandering about in the smog, "I respectfully disagree that this is an easy decision. . . . I think Justice Scalia actually set it up as, in essence, a three-part test for me and this would be my brief summary, and that is: If the agency finds -- if I find that there's endangerment, then under the Clean Air Act I must regulate. If I find that there is not, that's test one. If I find that there is not endangerment, then I should not regulate. Or third, if there are other circumstances...."

If he finds there's endangerment? Did he read the reports his own EPA helped put out last week detailing the huge economic risks posed by even a modest sea level rise?

The multiagency reports cited the Port of Wilmington in Delaware as an example. The report says that if the sea level rises by two feet or even a bit less, 70 percent of port property will be affected.

Meanwhile, it says, such a rise in sea level would leave almost 2,200 miles of major roads and almost 900 miles of rail lines in Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and the District of Columbia “at risk for regular inundation.”

If that's not endangerment, what is?

Unfortunately, this administration has proven it won't recognize the risks of climate change until the Chesapeake Bay is lapping at the front steps of the White House.

More unsettling news on the climate front this week, as scientists say glaciers are now melting nearly twice as fast as they did just a decade ago:

Scientists measuring the health of almost 30 glaciers around the world found that ice loss reached record levels in 2006, the U.N. agency said.

[The U.N. Environment Program] warned that further ice loss could have dramatic consequences particularly in India, whose rivers are fed by Himalayan glaciers.

The west coast of North America, which gets much of its water from glaciers in mountain ranges such as the Rockies and Sierra Nevada, also would be affected, it said.

"There are many canaries emerging in the climate change coal mine," UNEP's executive director Achim Steiner said in a statement. "The glaciers are perhaps among those making the most noise and it is absolutely essential that everyone sits up and takes notice."

We need Congress to act right now. Tell your Senator to support the Climate Security Act today!

The #1 thing us homo-sapiens can do to help wildlife today and here on out is reduce our global warming pollution. Knowing this, the National Wildlife Federation just introduced a pretty sweet new program to show you how easy it is to conserve energy in your own home. (It saves you money too!)

It's amazing to think that what light bulbs you choose may impact your favorite endangered species, but the interconnectedness of life knows no bounds.

Check out the Good Neighbor-hood...

The program is cool because it shows you what you may already be doing in your house and also gives you more things you can pledge to do. When you rack up a certain number of points based on these actions and commitments, you qualify to be a "Good Neighbor." What does that mean? A certificate of course, as well as some nifty other perks to keep you on the power-saving path. 

I signed up for the pledge the other day and am very happy about getting my reminder stickers for the light switches in my house. Sometimes it just takes a little reminder for me and my roommates to do something that seems so obvious.

Living as a Good Neighbor is an important step to being part of a community united to mitigate global warming. By taking the pledge you are agreeing to take steps to reduce your impact! Once you complete the pledge, NWF will reward you with our exclusive Good Neighbor Pledge Kit.  For just $15, you'll get some really "cool" benefits.

Top Five Easiest Things to Do to Conserve Energy

• Change the filter in your furnace: Keep heating and cooling systems running efficiently.

• Change to fluorescent light bulbs: They use far less energy than incandescents.

• Combine trips: Plan your errands to reduce transportation time.

• Lower the temperature on your water heater: You’ll still have hot water, but it means the heater uses less energy when you are not using hot water.

• Check your car’s tire pressure: Poorly inflated tires wastes gas and causes more pollution.

Have questions? Here's some background Information:

Every day, we make choices that affect the earth and the future of our world. From the cars that we drive, to the lights we use, to the things we keep plugged in, all of these choices have a direct and lasting impact on the environment. Many scientists agree that human created carbon pollution, like a coal-burning power plant or the exhaust from a car, is making global temperatures rise and causing climate change.

Scientists say that a temperature increase of just 2°F could result in the irreversible damage
to the environment, we need to act fast. Luckily we can avoid this end, because the
we just need to reduce carbon pollution by at least 2 percent every year or 30 percent
by the year 2020.

If you're still not convinced that making a few changes around the house will help check out these facts: 
Source

1. "The U.S. EPA ranks the major greenhouse gas contributing end-user sectors in the following order: industrial, transportation, residential, commercial and agricultural^[8]."

2. "Major sources of an individual's greenhouse gases include home heating and cooling, electricity consumption, and transportation."

3. "Corresponding conservation measures are improving home building insulation, compact fluorescent lamps and choosing high miles per gallon vehicles."

It's important to recognize the impact of lifestyle on the environment. Changing a few things within the home is a huge step toward being a good neighbor to wildlife and others.

On Capitol Hill today, the National Wildlife Federation showed its support for Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) in the fight for strong climate legislation. As chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Sen. Boxer has played a key role in bringing the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act to the Senate floor, where it’s expected to be debated in June.

National Wildlife Federation President Larry Schweiger joined with the heads of a dozen other conservation groups, pledging to work together to identify the best opportunities to strengthen the bill moving forward.

"Global warming is the single biggest threat to wildlife, and every year we wait to address it creates a bigger problem for our children and the future of America's natural resources," said Schweiger. "Congress must pass legislation that starts us on the path to cut global warming pollution by at least two percent a year, protects consumers as we transition to a new energy future and defends America's natural resources from the climate changes already underway."

Other organizations joining today's event:

• Center for International Law
• Clean Water Action
• Environment America
• Environmental Defense
• League of Conservation Voters
• Natural Resources Defense Council
• Pew Environment Group
• Physicians for Social Responsibility
• Sierra Club
• Union of Concerned Scientists
• The Wilderness Society

While I'm blogging from inside the Heartland Institute's global warming denier conference today, I spent the first two hours of the event on the outside looking in.

When I went to register on Friday, the event's website said that the conference was full and registration was closed. I emailed the Heartland Institute's events manager asking, "Is there any way to participate in the event or am I out of luck?" Her response:

I am so sorry but we are sold out, I have no extra space, in fact I am over my limit hoping some people will cancel. The entire conference will be on our website about two weeks after the event.

Sorry.

I thought I'd stop by the conference anyway in case there were opportunities to participate without being registered. But security agents (on the left in the photo) were posted at each main conference entrance checking badges.

I set up my laptop in the lobby by an elevator and started writing my first blog post of the day. Eventually, a couple of reporters noticed me and wanted to interview me about not being allowed inside.

As a crew from the BBC was talking to me, the Heartland Institute's events manager approached us with a security agent by her side. I asked the events manager if there was a problem. The crew continued to film as she told us that due to increased security with the president of the Czech Republic in attendance, only registered participants were allowed on the conference floors.

I thought it was pretty extreme that they were about to have security escort me out. "I don't to cause any trouble. If you want me to leave, that's fine, I'll go" I said. "But am I really a security risk?"

The events manager turned to the camera and put her hand up. "Stop filming!" she said.

The BBC cameraman was taken aback, but since the Marriott is private property, he had to do as asked.

The events manager turned back to me and said, "I never said you couldn't register. I said you could register as media."

I told her that sounded great and picked up a press credential. I've been inside the conference ever since.

Later, I bumped into the BBC crew and we all shared a laugh. It's amazing what can happen when the cameras are rolling. Press credentials appear out of thin air!

Elected officials spotted in attendance at the Heartland Institute's global warming denier conference:

Connecticut State Rep. John Harkins
Minnesota State Sen. Mike Jungbauer
Montanta State Rep. John Sinrud 

I went to a session yesterday called "Climate Change Politics." Guess what didn't come up until the Q&A? Politics.

So what did the panelists talk about? Those reliable conservative bogeymen, the liberal media, pop culture and Hollywood elites.

They all started with one liners Al Gore, Leonardo DiCaprio and Barbra Streisand. The audience ate it up.

In fact, the communications director for Sen. James Inhofe spent virtually his entire presentation mocking celebrities and journalists who'd expressed support for or reported on climate action.

Then panelists moved on to attacking that liberal media for reporting all that science from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. For some reason, a favorite target was Ann Curry. I mean, I expected the potshots at MSNBC's Keith Olbermann and CNN's Miles O'Brien, but even Ann Curry is controversial to these people?

The more I've listened to these speakers, the more I've realized that for most of these deniers, it's not about the science. They can only see the world in terms of left and right, so they've absorbed global warming into that broader paradigm of partisan politics and culture wars.

But as National Wildlife Federation President Larry Schweiger says, "Confronting global warming is not an issue of left and right. It's a matter of right and wrong." We have a moral responsibility to confront climate change now to protect our children's future.

Fortunately, while attacking the liberal media, pop culture, and Hollywood elites may play well on Rush Limbaugh, it's falling flat in the halls of Congress. U.S. Senators like John Warner, Norm Coleman, and Elizabeth Dole recognize that climate action is not a partisan issue. They're joining a bipartisan coalition supporting the Climate Security Act, a bill that would establish a cap-and-trade system to cut our carbon emissions.

And while President Bush has stonewalled on climate action, every one of the leading presidential contenders has expressed support for mandatory cuts in carbon emissions.

So maybe the deniers should keep playing to Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. Pretty soon, those may be the only allies they'll have left.

Desperately underfunded and hopelessly outgunned.

There's a real underdog in this climate fight. Think 1980 US hockey team. Think Rocky.

It's ExxonMobil. That's the consensus here at the Heartland Institute's global warming denier conference.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am not making this up. They would have you believe the most profitable company in the history of Planet Earth is as helpless as a newborn doe against those bullies Al Gore and James Hansen.

Don't believe me? Peep this:

[I]n this David and Goliath battle, it is American industry that is the David and the environmental activists, with their vast resources, who are the Goliath.

Keep in mind they're saying all this in a conference that's sprawled over parts of half a dozen floors of the Marriott Grand Marquis Times Square, where martinis in the lounge start at $15. There's big money behind this event.

ExxonSecrets.org reports it's found data linking $7.5 Million in Exxon funding from 1998-2006 to the Heartland Institute and many of the event's cosponsors. This year, the coal industry alone plans to drop $35 million on a campaign to stop climate action, namely the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act.

Look, you don't need me to detail how silly it is to call ExxonMobil an underdog. But it's a reflection on the credibility of this conference that speaker after speaker can say it without getting laughed out of the room.

And we're back! It's the second and final day of sessions here at the Heartland Institute's global warming denial conference. You can check out all the posts from day one at Wildlife Promise. I'm just getting settled in here at the first session at the ginormous Marriott Grand Marquis Times Square. Given that I'm used to going to sportsmen's meetings at the Holiday Inn Harrisburg, this is quite a different experience.

While I get warmed up, check out Andy Revkin's write-up of the event in this morning's New York Times. He saves the best for last:

The meeting was largely framed around science, but after the luncheon, when an organizer made an announcement asking all of the scientists in the large hall to move to the front for a group picture, 19 men did so.

There are nearly 600 conference attendees.

Global warming deniers spare no expense. The Heartland Institute's "2008 International Conference on Climate Change" is being held at the Marriott Grand Marquis Times Square. The seminars are spread over several floors and there are two sprawling suites reserved for media on the 44th floor. Here's a look at one media suite:

Where does all the money come from? While the Heartland Institute no longer discloses its funders, ExxonSecrets.org reports Heartland received $561,500 (unadjusted for inflation) from ExxonMobil between 1998 and 2005. Sourcewatch also reports Heartland receives major funding from the tobacco industry, receiving $240,000 from Philip Morris (a.k.a. Altria) from 1993-1998 alone.

DeSmogBlog reports the global warming denier-tobacco connections don't stop there. Click through their exhaustive research on the conference's speakers and you'll find plenty of tobacco ties.

Tobacco campaigns paid off doctors and scientists, successfully confusing the public for decades. Now the energy industry is trying to muddy the waters on global warming.

Don't let them get away with it again. Learn the facts on global warming and tell your member of Congress you want them to support strong climate action.

Talking to speakers here at the Heartland Institute's "2008 International Conference on Climate Change," I'm finding they're loosely sorted into three categories based on their views:

1. Those who say global warming is not happening at all
2. Those who say global warming is happening, but it's not due to human activity
3. Those who say global warming is happening and it is due to human activity, but climate action will surely destroy our economy

The one thing everyone here agrees on is that we must not do anything to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions. Quite convenient for the oil industry, which has provided major funding to the conference's organizer. But it's not exactly a positive, forward-looking message, is it?

Experts at the National Wildlife Federation have a different view. They tell us the best climate scientists in the world not only believe global warming is happening and it's due to human activity, but that there's a way to curb its worst effects before it's too late. In fact, they believe it's inaction that's the biggest risk.

It's called the 2% Solution. It provides a safe, sensible path to reduce carbon emissions 80% by 2050, the amount scientists say is needed to avoid the most devastating impacts of global warming. Along the way, many of the same solutions that will ease our planet's fever -- renewable energy, more efficient vehicles, green homes and offices -- will create millions of green collar jobs, make America more energy independent, and clean our air and water.

With prices at the pump expected to push towards $4 a gallon this summer, it's a solution whose time has come.