NWF: Keystone XL Tar Sands Vote a Test of Climate Commitment

March 22-The U.S. Senate is set to vote today on what’s known as the Hoeven amendment, a non-binding amendment that expresses support for building the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline regardless of its impacts on wildlife, climate change, and clean water.

Larry Schweiger, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, said today:

“We’re coming off America’s hottest year on record as the cleanup from climate-fueled superstorm Sandy is still ongoing, and what’s the Senate hard at work on? Earning its low approval rating by capitulating to polluting special interests with a meaningless vote on the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

Check out more on Keystone XL

Westerners Praise Salazar Plan to Protect Water from Costly Oil Shale Speculation

March 22-Westerners praised the Salazar oil shale plan released by the Interior Department today for its smart approach to protecting water and local communities from costly oil shale speculation.

“We commend Secretary Salazar for developing a commonsense plan that makes public land available for research but requires results and environmental safeguards before any commercial leasing can proceed,’’ said Michael Saul, attorney with the National Wildlife Federation. “This new plan aims to ensure that we won’t risk precious water, air quality, fish, wildlife and the regional economies that depend on those resources on a gamble that might never pay off.”

The plan requires that companies conduct successful research operations of oil shale and prove oil shale’s economic viability before the Bureau of Land Management will consider commercial development. Companies will also be required to put proper safeguards in place to protect water supplies, land, wildlife, air quality and local economies.

For more on Carbon Pollution, visit  Stopping Carbon Pollution

Recently, tribal leaders, landowners, hunters, anglers, conservationists, business owners and government leaders gathered in Washington, D.C. for the White House Conservation Conference. Tourism and outdoor recreation, coastal conservation, river restoration and hunting and fishing were important topics of discussion, as well as other key conservation issues. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsak, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar also attended the event.

President Barack Obama addressed the crowd, stating that, “effective conservation is about more than protecting the environment, it’s about strengthening the economy.” The President also highlighted the historic significance of conservation within the United States. He spoke about the value of  protecting “the incredible bounty we’ve been blessed with” for current and future generations of Americans by placing conservation at the forefront of the national agenda. You can hear more of President Obama’s thoughts on conservation by watching the conference video above.

La. 2012 Coastal Master Plan Must Be Visionary, Groups Say

January 12 – As the state of Louisiana released its draft 2012 Coastal Master Plan Thursday, conservation groups urged state officials to ensure that the final master plan utilizes the best available science to create a bold, clear vision for the future of Louisiana’s wetlands and communities.

“The disappearance of Louisiana’s wetlands – at about a football field per hour – puts Louisiana’s people, communities and economy at greater and greater risk each year,” said a joint statement from the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, Environmental Defense Fund, Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, Louisiana Wildlife Federation, National Audubon Society, National Wildlife Federation and The Nature Conservancy.

Protection of One Million Acres Near the Grand Canyon is a Victory for Wildlife, Sportsmen and Jobs

January 9 – The National Wildlife Federation applauds Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and the Obama administration for recognizing the critical importance of one of our country’s most cherished places, the Grand Canyon. Today, the administration announced a 20-year ban on new mining claims near this great national treasure. The move protects over one million acres near the site, as well as wildlife, water and jobs.

“Increased mining for uranium so close to  the Grand Canyon could very well have undermined water resources in the region, leading to the devastation of wildlife and habitat,” said Todd Keller, senior manager for public lands campaigns at the National Wildlife Federation.

And here are highlights from NWF in the News:

• The Buffalo News: Report raises alert on Asian carp
• Greenwire: Battle over Keystone XL deepens ahead of U.S. Chamber’s push
• National Journal: Chamber Opponents Prebut Donohue Address
• The Hill: Business groups, Republicans launch onslaught on president over Keystone

For more, visit www.nwf.org/News

Department of the Interior

•  The approval of this Administration’s 24^th and 25^th big renewable energy projects on public lands, the Sonoran Solar Energy Project (Arizona) and the Tule Wind Project (California), which together will provide 486 MW of clean electricity.
• The kickoff of a public comment period to collect information about the proposed route and environmental and commercial interest issues for the Atlantic Wind Connection, an undersea transmission line that has been proposed from New Jersey down to Virginia, with the goal of removing a key barrier to offshore wind energy generation far off our coasts.

It will be a huge challenge to replace fossil-energy sources at a both a large enough scale and at a fast enough pace to protect the wildlife and habitat we love from irreversible global warming impacts. We know that large-scale wind and solar energy projects, on both public and private lands and waters, will have to contribute to the solution, along with energy efficiency, solar roofs, and other actions.  So National Wildlife Federation has called on President Obama to have the courage to rapidly pursue big clean energy projects while simultaneously requiring wildlife-friendly approaches to development, preventing development in sensitive habitat, and driving clean energy to the lowest conflict locations.

Secretary Salazar’s announcements hold evidence that we can continue to be both smart and swift with clean energy.  An offshore transmission backbone should allow offshore wind energy to reach more of the public, and building the line far offshore will them make it more cost effective to place wind projects well clear of known migratory bird pathways much closer to shore.  Meanwhile, the environmental review process for the Sonoran Solar Project resulted in suggestions from local stakeholders and led the project proponent to reduce the project’s footprint by 1,600 acres and reduce the project’s water consumption by 98%!

Sea turtles off the Atlantic coast and our cherished Western landscapes are threatened by the increasingly intense impacts of climate change.  With wind and solar energy making up only around 3 percent of the nation’s overall electricity generation, NWF will keep leaning on decision-makers to protect our wildlife and habitat from carbon pollution by taking bold steps forward on clean energy.  And we’ll keep demanding the strongest standards and smartest planning to avoid negative impacts of clean energy development.

Help protect bighorn sheep by sending a message to the Department of Interior, urging it to move forward with wildlife-friendly solar energy development.

Sue Brown hiking Hanging Lake Trail

On June 15^th, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar named western Colorado’s Hanging Lake a National Natural Landmark—and I completely agree.

Over Memorial Day weekend, I hiked the Hanging Lake trail outside Glenwood Springs, Colorado, and it is an amazing natural landmark. Since it is my husband’s favorite hike, I really appreciated getting a chance to finally experience it for myself.

Given the large snow pack and recent warm weather, the water levels were amazingly high at Hanging Lake and the falls were flowing. There is a large water log and weathered fallen tree jutting into the lake—a tree, that in fact, has been there ever since my husband can remember (that is the staying power of nature for you!).

I was also able to enjoy the benefits of clear alpine waters.  Nearby at Spouting Rock, the water cascaded over the cliff showering cold clear water on hikers. According to my hiking pal, the amount of water was unlike any he had ever seen —making a hike that he has enjoyed for years come alive in a whole new way.

Ah…the benefits of nature. Thanks to Secretary Salazar for naming Hanging Lake a National Natural Landmark – hope you all get a chance to visit soon!

Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Interior, was scheduled for a pay adjustment that would bring his salary in line with the other Cabinet secretaries; before he joined the White House, Salazar was a member of the US Senate and therefore ineligible for the higher-paying Cabinet salary. But Sen. Vitter, a champion for his state’s oil and gas industry, accused Salazar of stifling production in the Gulf of Mexico and vowed to block the raise until the Interior Department meets his demands.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar helps volunteers clean up oil damage to beach at Gulf Islands National Seashore (photo: Tami A. Heilmann-DOI)

From TheHill.com:

“Given the completely unsatisfactory pace of your department’s issuance of new deepwater exploratory permits in the Gulf, I cannot possibly give my assent,” Vitter said in a letter to Salazar. […]

Vitter said he would agree to Salazar’s pay increase once BOEMRE begins issuing deepwater permits for new exploratory wells in the Gulf at a rate of six per month.

Politico’s David Rogers writes that Sen. Vitter’s tactics may cross the line on Congressional ethics rules:

It was Washington politics at its rawest, but Vitter’s actions also tread close to federal statutes which make it a crime to offer anything of value to a public official “to influence any official act.”

“It reads like the bribery statute,” said a Washington defense attorney with long experience dealing with such cases. And in a letter provided Tuesday to Capitol newspapers including POLITICO, Salazar— a former state attorney general in Colorado— asked that the pay bill be withdrawn rather than give in to what he saw as Vitter’s “attempted coercion of public acts here at the Department.”

Vitter has been working closely with his Democratic counterpart, Mary Landrieu, on legislation to restore the Gulf’s damaged ecosystem, but it’s not the first time he’s taken on the Administration over drilling decisions—Vitter has also blocked Senate confirmation of the the US Fish & Wildlife Service director until 15 new deepwater permits have been issued for the Gulf. The Interior Department has already issued 14 permits this year, and President Obama recently announced plans to accelerate drilling in the Arctic and off the Atlantic coast.

The Deepwater Horizon rig burns (photo: Anthony Posey/flickr)

Congress remains starkly divided on the issue—last week the Senate rejected a bill that would have opened new areas to offshore drilling, sped up the permitting process and removed important environmental safeguards. The House passed three similar measures earlier this month, drawing fire from worker safety advocates and environmental groups who pointed out that Congress still hasn’t passed legislation responding to the Deepwater Horizon tragedy.

1. Highlight of the Week: Showdown: Drill Bills vs. Billions in Tax Perks
2. Quote: Ken Salazar, Interior Secretary
3. Economic Story of the Week: Pain at the Pump, Who’s to Blame?
4. Editorial of the Week: The Return of ‘Drill, Baby, Drill’
5. Kids Sue Govt for Failing to Win the Future
6. Climate Crisis Fuels Historic Floods
7. MD To Sue Over Fracking Spill
8. Happening this Week

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Highlight of the Week

Showdown: Drill Bills vs. Billions in Tax Perks

Oil rig, Cromarty Firth, djmacphotography.co.uk

After weeks of debate over high gas prices, and just a year after the Gulf oil disaster, the House passed the first of a series of pro-offshore drilling bills that would drastically expand offshore drilling. H.R. 1230  forces the Department of the Interior to offer four new lease sales and removes basic environmental protections.

Additional votes are expected this week on HR 1229, which would give DOI no more than 60 days to review offshore drilling permits, and HR 1231 which would open waters off California, Alaska and much of the Atlantic Coast to drilling.

Senate leadership, however, are working to bring legislation to the floor that would eliminate billions in tax subsidies for the world’s five largest Big Oil companies.

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Quote:

via Flickr, DOI

“I don’t have amnesia, and neither does the president. And much of the legislation that I have seen being bandied around…is almost as if the Deepwater Horizon Macondo well incident never happened.”

--Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, on amnesia about the BP oil disaster.

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Economic Story of the Week

Pain at the Pump, Who’s to Blame?

Ohio is set to build the first offshore wind farm in the Great Lakes

A Washington Post-Pew Research Center poll released new data on where Americans feeling pain at the pump are pointing their finger. The nationwide average price of regular gasoline rose to within a penny and half of $4 a gallon, the highest it’s been this time of year since 1990.

About one in three blame the combination of greed, speculation and oil companies. One in five say prices have increased as a result of wars and unrest in the Middle East and North Africa. Nearly one in eight thinks it’s something political or policy-related. A similar proportion think it’s related to economic factors.

Clean energy initiatives across the country could reduce our dependence on gasoline. Cleveland-based Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation (LEEDCo) is ready to start construction on the first offshore wind farm in the Great Lakes. LEEDCo is hopeful that the demonstration will jump-start a freshwater wind industry across the Midwest while also bringing wind turbine manufacturing jobs to Ohio. The New York Power Authority is looking to follow their lead.

More on this story: Washington Post

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Editorial of the Week

The Return of ‘Drill, Baby, Drill’

(NY Times)

With the country again facing $4-a-gallon gasoline, the time would seem ripe for a grown-up conversation on energy. What we are getting instead is a mindless rerun of the drill-baby-drill operatics of the 2008 campaign….Then, as now, opportunistic politicians insisted that vastly expanded oil drilling would bring relief at the pump and reduced dependence on foreign oil. Then, as now, these arguments were bogus.

As President Obama observed in a March 30 address on energy issues, drilling alone cannot possibly ensure energy independence in a country that uses one-quarter of the world’s oil while owning only 2 percent of its reserves….Only coordinated measures — greater auto efficiency, alternative fuels, improved mass transit — can address these issues. (More…)

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Kids Sue Government for Failing to Win the Future

via iMatter March

Though they may be too young to vote, young climate activists are using their right to legal action to force federal and state governments to curb carbon pollution. In 52 lawsuits and petitions filed by attorneys representing children and teens across the country, a youth coalition called Our Children’s Trust invoke the public trust doctrine, which dates back to Roman times, claiming that key agencies failed in their duty to protect the earth’s atmosphere as a public trust for future generations.

The youth are also conducting a series of marches and demonstrations across the U.S. and internationally. The iMatter March and the folks behind it, make the point that today’s generation of leaders should act as trustees for future generations instead of largely ignoring the problem and simply passing it on to those who will have to live with the consequences.

These new suits are analogous to a current Supreme Court case that’s being revisited. Several states and land trusts filed ‘nuisance’ lawsuits against the five largest utility companies in the country, claiming the pollution generated are causing harm to people’s health and the environment. In both cases the plaintiffs are “trying to use all the available options in view of the failure of Congress” to act on carbon pollution, according to Columbia University’s Center for Climate Change Law director, Michael B. Gerrard.

More on this story: NY Times, Wildlife Promise

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Climate Crisis Fuels Historic Floods

via Flickr, Natalie Maynor

The Mississippi River is experiencing its second “500-year flood” since 1993. That’s no freak occurrence – it’s a result of man-made carbon pollution changing our climate. “All extreme weather events are now subject to human influence,” said Dr. Peter Gleick, a climate & water scientist and president of the Pacific Institute, at a Capitol Hill briefing on Monday organized by the American Meteorological Society.

Flooding like the Mississippi River is seeing in 2011 used to be considered extremely unusual. But thanks to the climate crisis, floods are becoming more frequent and more severe over much of the Mississippi River basin. Just this week it the river rose to its highest level in nearly 75 years, inundating neighborhoods and acres of farmland and evacuating about 1,350 homes.

Dr. Gleick told the AMS briefing that increasing temperatures aren’t necessarily leading to more frequent rainfall events, but the climate crisis IS leading to more intense rainfall events. We’re seeing the same number of storms, but the ones we do see are more likely to be the kind that cause severe flooding. And that’s pushing our flood control system to a breaking point.

More on this story: WSJ, Wildlife Promise

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MD To Sue Over Fracking Spill

Maryland State Attorney General Douglas Gansler announced plans to sue the company whose gas well ruptured in Pennsylvania, spilling fracking fluids into a fresh water tributary that feeds the Susquehanna River and eventually the Chesapeake Bay.

While a company spokesman claims the April 19 spill had limited environmental impact, Gansler plans to sue Chesapeake Energy Corp for violating federal anti-pollution laws.

Meanwhile, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu has appointed a panel to study hydraulic fracturing, the fast-growing method of natural gas extraction to make recommendations on how it can be done more cleanly and safely.

More on this story: CBS Baltimore, NY Times

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Happening this Week

Tuesday, May 10

Hearing: “to receive testimony on new developments in upstream oil and gas technologies,” Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, SD-366

Wednesday, May 11

Hearing: Hydraulic Fracturing Technology, House Science Committee, 10AM-2PM, 2318 Rayburn

Thursday, May 12

“Oil and Gas Tax Incentives and Rising Energy Prices”, Senate Committee on Finance, 10AM, 215 Dirksen

Hearing: to receive testimony on carbon capture and sequestration, Senate Energy and Natural Resources, 9:30 AM Dirksen 366

Hearing on Hydropower, House Subcommittee on Water and Power, 10AM, 1334 Longworth

Friday, May 13

The House Energy and Commerce Committee meets to review legislation that would streamline Clean Air Act permitting for offshore drilling operations. Rayburn 2322 at 9 a.m.

The House Natural Resources Committee questions Interior Department officials on “roadblocks” to wind and solar development on federal lands and waters. Longworth 1324 at 10 a.m.

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For more global warming news on Wildlife Promise click here.

Yesterday, the Interior Department announced its approval of Cape Wind, America’s first offshore wind farm, after a nine-year battle:

“The approval of Cape Wind is a great victory for area residents,” said Curtis Fisher, Regional Executive Director of National Wildlife Federation’s Northeastern Regional Center. “Offshore wind power will mean more jobs, increased energy independence and reduced carbon pollution.”

Wind power developer First Wind shared pictures on its Facebook page of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar visiting a new wind farm in Utah this week. Thought it was pretty cool because Salazar didn’t just do a quick walk-around — he actually went up into the turbine. Check it out:

You can follow First Wind on Twitter or on Facebook.

NWF spent the morning on Washington, D.C.’s National Mall, along with Secretary Ken Salazar and Park Service Director Jon Jarvis. Local students and Interior employee children attended ‘take a child to work day’—outdoors—and oh man were the kids excited to see Ranger Rick.

Today’s inaugural Buddy Bison Earth Day Celebration was an educational event designed to engage kids in environmental stewardship, promote outdoor activities and health, and celebrate our national parks.

Studies show that outside of organized sports, kids spend an average of just four to seven minutes per day playing outside, compared with more than seven and a half hours each day in front of electronic media.

This imbalance—too much screen time, not enough ‘green’ time—costs some children their health and puts the future of conservation at risk.

Click here to view NWF’s full Buddy Bison Earth Day Celebration press release and statement by Patrick Fitzgerald.

Looking for some Earth Day, everyday activities? Click here to read Ashleigh Poff’s 8 Ways to Get Outside, Reduce Your Waste, and Have Fun!

Watch National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis and Ranger Rick speak to the importance of getting outdoors:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today transmitted a set of final recommendations on how to minimize the impacts of land-based wind farms on wildlife and its habitat to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar.

These recommendations represent the agreement of the 22 diverse members of the Wind Turbine Guidelines Federal Advisory Committee and were reached during a process of more than two years.

Secretary Salazar plans to review the recommendations and take them under advisement over the next year as he directs the Service to develop guidelines for evaluating wind energy development on public and private lands.

The document contains both policy recommendations and recommended voluntary guidelines for siting and operating wind energy projects in order to avoid or minimize potential impacts to wildlife and habitat.

Highlights of the Committee’s recommendations include:
-A decision-making framework that guides all stages of wind energy development;
-Reliance on the best available science when assessing renewable energy projects and their potential environmental impact; and
-Use of landscape-scaled planning that recognizes the need to think long-term about protecting our nation’s economic and natural resources.

You can read the recommendations here.