118 Sportsmen’s and Conservation Groups Urge Congress to Extend Wind Tax Credits

December 04-Congress should extend critical tax incentives that encourage renewable energy production and energy efficiency, 118 sportsmen’s, business and conservation groups from all over the U.S. urged in a letter to Congress today. The letter, with a list of sponsors, also appears as an ad in Politico today.

“Investment and growth in properly-sited, wildlife-friendly clean energy and conservation are the best ways to combat climate change, sustain communities, create American jobs, and promote economic growth across the country,” they wrote.

The letter asks Congress to continue the Production Tax Credit (PTC) and Investment Tax Credit (ITC), tax incentives that will expire this year if Congress does not reauthorize them. The letter is consistent with a September poll of sportsmen that found 72 percent of hunters and anglers back renewable energy solutions.

For more, check out the following blog post:

• Sportsmen’s and Conservation Groups Letter to Congress (pdf)

Report Warns Planned Tar Sands Pipelines a North American Menace

December 06-Inviting an unprecedented expansion of tar sands pipelines in the U.S. and Canada would commit the countries to decades of doing business with companies that have a long record of disregard for the environment, human health and landowner rights, says a new report. The report release comes just a short time before the Obama Administration is slated to make an historic decision on the controversial Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

A tally of the new capacity, over 9,000 miles of pipe, finds the vast majority would be overseen by Canadian pipeline giants TransCanada and Enbridge. The report documents the two companies’ history of bullying landowners, influence peddling, wildlife deaths, oil spills and other bad acts that led the authors to name the report, “Crude Behavior: TransCanada, Enbridge, and the Tar Sand Industry’s Tarnished Legacy.”

While voters in the U.S. just rebuked an unprecedented fossil fuel industry effort to defeat President Barack Obama, who received widespread support from conservationists during his campaign, his administration will face an early test on the direction of its second-term climate and energy policy when it issues a final decision on TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline. Defeated challenger Mitt Romney had promised to approve Keystone XL on his first day in office.

“Politicians cannot be serious about addressing extreme weather and slowing global warming if they ignore the pollution, wildlife, and property rights impacts of Keystone XL,” said Joe Mendelson, National Wildlife Federation’s director of climate and energy policy. “The carbon pollution math simply does not add up.”

For more on the report, check out the following blog post:

• Pipeline Companies’ Crude Behavior Exposed

For the full “Crude Behavior” report, check out:

• www.nwf.org/crudebehavior

Ranger Rick Goes Digital! Introduces the First Truly Interactive Magazine for Kids

December 05-Ranger Rick, everyone’s favorite raccoon, is introducing a new, highly interactive magazine app called Ranger Rick’s Tree House. The National Wildlife Federation, publisher of Ranger Rick magazine, and also Ranger Rick’s Tree House, has entertained and educated generations of children about the wonders of animals and nature for 50 years. Like the print magazine, all educational content within the magazine app is aligned to national curriculum standards and meets the fun-factor that Ranger Rick readers have grown to know and love.

“This product totally re-envisions how children ages 7-12 read and consume magazine-like content on digital devices,” says Mary Dalheim, Editorial Director of Ranger Rick Publications.  “No other digital children’s magazine is more innovative, interactive, or just plain fun.”

For more on Ranger Rick’s Goes Digital, check out:

• Ranger Rick’s Tree House
• Ranger Rick Goes High Tech (blog post)

Win a Pass for a Private Screening of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

December 04-National Wildlife Federation (NWF) is teaming up with Warner Bros. Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM) and New Line Cinema for the Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the first in a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly popular novel The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.

The film opens in theaters and IMAX® 3D December 14. As the education partner for the film, the National Wildlife Federation is providing online resources to help students, educators, parents and individuals start their own unexpected journey outdoors and is hosting a sweepstakes for a complimentary private screening of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The sweepstakes deadline is 11:59 p.m. on December 13. Enter on NWF’s website www.nwf.org/thehobbit

Report: Crude Behavior

December 06-Up north of the border, past Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta, the planet’s biggest carbon bomb is ticking. It’s called the tar sands region, and it represents both incredible feats of industry and incredible hubris —– and potentially the last blow to the fight against global climate change.

Tar sands are sludge. A sticky, viscous, tarry material that literally oozes from the ground in certain areas of northern Canada and other places like Russia, Venezuela, and even right here in the US. Technically called “bitumen,” tar sands can be processed into gasoline and other petroleum products, though it takes more effort and causes a lot more pollution than conventional oil, the liquid we’re used to seeing drilled up by rigs in Texas or Saudi Arabia. The cornerstone of the argument against tar sands is that because it requires so much energy to turn from sludge into gasoline, it produces a significantly greater amount of the carbon dioxide which is turning our atmosphere into a heat-trapping blanket and fundamentally altering nearly every ecosystem on Earth. About 100 trillion gallons of tar sands have been discovered so far, enough to fill 160 million Olympic swimming pools. The vast majority is in Canada, which holds around three quarters of the world total.

For more on Tar Sands, check out the following blog post:

• Pipeline Companies’ Crude Behavior Exposed

For more on the oil industry, check out the following blog post:

• The Push for Oil Shale: News Ripped from Last Century’s Headlines

And now here are highlights from NWF in the news:

• E&E Greenwire: Enviros Blast Pipeline Companies Ahead of Obama’s Decision
• Public News Service: Tar Sands Pipeline Project “Slinking Forward” Towards Maine
• Public News Service: Tar Sands Pipeline Project “Slinkning Forward” Into New England
• The Pittsburgh Press:  Aviary’s birds prep for national TV spot
• About.com: The Hobbit Private Screening Contest Details
• Mother Nature Network:  New magazine brings wildlife wonder to little adventurers
• Public News Service:  Ohio Hunters and Anglers Back Clean Wind Energy
• The New York Times: A New Wildlife Magazine Aimed at the Very Young
• Wicked Local Lexington: Lexington backyard certified as wildlife habitat

For more visit www.nwf.org/news

As part of our partnership we would like to thank and invite you, your family and friends to an all NWF exclusive advance screening of the film before it hits theaters on February 10th.

You are invited to a FREE  private advanced screening!

• Date: Saturday, February 4
• Time: 4:00PM
• Theatre: Regal Atlantic Station
• RSVP: Tickets are limited.
• Email lucyb@nwf.org to reserve your tickets today!

All attendees will receive an Atlantic Station discount card good at over 40 restaurants, retailers and more!

Hey Kids, Parents and Teachers! You and your family can be adventurous too!

Watch the trailer and visit the official film website
Download the official Journey 2 The Mysterious Island poster
Download the official Journey 2 The Mysterious Island activity poster in Spanish

A new series of films tries to change that and, in the process, shows how smart and creative young people can be in helping to tackle the immense challenge of global warming.

Author and illustrator Lynne Cherry is well-known for her children’s books, including her popular rainforest classic, The Great Kapok Tree.  But she has also assembled a powerful and effective series of short films featuring young people using science and practical information to reduce the carbon footprint of their homes, schools, communities.  The series is called Young Voices on Climate Change and includes success stories  in a way that allows young people to be heard in their own voice and through their own special perspectives.

The Young Voices on Climate Change films were inspired a highly praised book Lynne wrote with photojournalist Gary Braasch, How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate: Scientists and Kids Explore Global Warming.

You can view the trailer that has statements from many of the young people whose accomplishments are featured in the Young Voices on Climate Change films. Or you can visit their website to see the series.

This part amphibian, part reptile creature is featured in the new movie, Yogi Bear, as an almost extinct species that inhabits Yogi Bear’s home, Jellystone Park. When the corrupt Mayor Brown threatens to shut down Jellystone and sell the land, Yogi Bear and his pal, Boo Boo, team up to save the turtle–and the park.

So is the frog-mouthed turtle real?

Sorry Yogi, but the frog-mouthed turtle is as fictional as Jellystone Park.

There actually is such a thing as a turtle frog. Native to Australia, this species is one of the only head-first burrowing frogs. Another characteristic is that their young skip the tadpole stage. They develop entirely within their egg and emerge as frogs.

Turtle or No, Protecting Habitat Does Protect Wildlife

Yogi Bear does however have the right idea when it comes to making sure habitat for endangered species is taken care of. The Endangered Species Act was enacted by Congress in 1973, and requires the federal government to protect:

• Endangered Species – species likely to become extinct throughout all or a large portion of their range.
• Threatened Species – species that are likely to become endangered in the near future.
• Critical habitat – habitat vital to the survival of endangered or threatened species.

Currently in the United States, more than 1,350 real plants and animals are listed as threatened or endangered.

Yogi Bear is Connected to Nature–Are You?

National Wildlife Federation teamed up with the film Yogi Bear to extend the movie’s lessons and inspire kids and families to learn about wildlife and to get outside in their own neighborhood or favorite park.

Because Yogi and Boo Boo spend their days outdoors in Jellystone, they lead the charge to save the park.

This connection happens for people too–especially kids. The more connected children are to outdoor spaces, the more they connect with the importance of helping the environment. This is the core of National Wildlife Federation’s Be Out There campaign.

National Wildlife Federation put together a special Yogi Bear Outdoor Activity Guide for parents and teachers with some great ideas for kids.

Yogi Bear: On the Big Screen

For more about Yogi Bear, visit www.nwf.org/yogibear. Or test your knowledge of REAL bears with Ranger Rick’s online game Be Bear Aware.

The film follows Soren, a young barn owl enthralled by his father’s epic stories of the Guardians of Ga’Hoole, a mythic band of winged warriors who had fought a great battle to save all of owlkind from the evil Pure Ones.

As education partner, NWF created a fun owl activity book for kids and families, a poster (see photo to the right for the front and here for the back, which is filled with owl facts), and an educator’s guide to help teachers and parents use the film as an education tool.  Through NWF you can also symbolically adopt several of the owl species featured in the film, including a barn owl, a great horned owl, a great gray owl and a snowy owl.  Each adoption supports our work protecting owls and other wildlife.

NWF also participated in the media events to promote the film. I spent most of this week out in Los Angeles hanging out with some beautiful barn owls and doing media interviews.  I got to see an advance screening of the film too, and I can say it’s an action-packed, family-friendly adventure.  The animation is amazing and while it’s purely a fantasy film, the owls look incredibly realistic.  As a naturalist, I was impressed.   The movie opens in theaters TODAY (Friday, September 24th) so be sure to check it out.

Also, you can find out more about the amazing adaptations of owls over on my Animal Planet blog “Animal Oddities.”

Here’s the official trailer:

Click here to view the embedded video.

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David Mizejewski is NWF’s naturalist and media personality.
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Also this week — updates on tar sands, heat waves & a climate denier’s flip-flop. Watch this week’s NWF Climate Capsule! (Don’t worry if you haven’t seen Inception yet, no spoilers. In fact, if you watch the Capsule, you’ll probably be even more confused about what Inception is all about.)

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