Statements of the Society for Conservation Biology on Climate Change:
SCB to Continue Scrutiny of Tar Sands, Pipelines as Keystone XL Decision is Delayed
SCB President Paul Beier joined Policy Committee Member and Canadian scientist, Paul Paquet, in issuing the following statement: "SCB plans to continue its strong scrutiny of the entire tar sands process as well as any alternate routes for the Keystone XL and Enbridge Pipelines. It seems likely that any routes will still cause great harm to the whooping crane, several ecosystems in Canada and the United States, and the earth's climate."
U.S. to Delay Decision on Pipeline Until After Election
By JOHN M. BRODER and DAN FROSCH -- November 11, 2011
The White House is expected to delay a decision on the contested $7 billion Keystone XL pipeline for 12 to 18 months while it studies an alternate route, officials said on Thursday...
SCB Briefs Leaders on New Forest Findings, Climate Change and SCB Climate Policy Recommendations
Inspired by interest expressed by SCB leaders from around the world who attended our conference and climate-related workshops in Beijing in July of 2009, and propelled by new findings summarized in the Summer of 2009 in SCB’s Conservation Magazine, SCB’s policy staff, Policy Committee and others worked from late July into November distilling our previous testimony and incorporating new information into a short set of climate policy principles.
The basic message is that we now have evidence that whole rainforests can -- and in 2005 for one year, the Amazon did -- die faster than they grow, in response to climate driven drought and heat, in this case giving off more carbon dioxide than all of Europe and Japan. Because life as we know it relies upon the Amazon rain forest, and all forests, we do not have any significant room left for additional greenhouse gases and we must reduce them now. The climate policy principles offer ways forward and cite studies offering further details as well.
These principles and supporting notes are intended for climate negotiators, legislators, and executive agency decision-makers. Before the document’s release, and before the Committee reported its legislation to the Senate, SCB sent early drafts to Senate Environment Committee staff. SCB staff and senior members have briefed the Congressional Research Service, the staff of the Speaker of the House, the White House Council on Environmental Quality, and others. We have also shared the document with senior staff of the United Nations Environment Programme under whose auspices the climate negotiations are taking place.
SCB Urges Delegates to the UNFCCC negotiations in Cancun to
Account for Sequestration Services and Stresses of All Ecosystems' Due to Climate Change
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Read the SCB letter to Canun here
- For more on the surprising sequestration by temperate and boreal rainforests see Dr. DellaSala’s book and its policy recommendations that were inspired by SCB’s Climate Policy Statement to Copenhagen --www.islandpress.org/dellasala
Dominick DellaSala's testimony before the House subcommittee on national parks, forests, and public lands in a hearing on "combating global warming in public lands":Written Testimony , Oral Testimony
Taxes, Energy and Climate Change to the House Ways and Means Committee (5/1/2007)
SCB's Comments to the US House Natural Resources Comittee on Climate Change
Questions from the Committee on Energy and Commerce
SCB answers Questions from Energy and Commerce on options for climate change legislation (April 2007)
Natural Resources Committee approves Energy Reform Legislation (H.R. 2337)
SCB's Comments on H.R.2337 (pdf) - May 31, 2007
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Timing:
Cities and states in the United States are making commitments to reduce greenhouse gases. Committees in Congress have begun holding hearings and are proceeding with the intention of approving bills in Committees in the House by June of 2007.
In addition to a tighter cap and trade system, the EU is considering increased GHG taxes and import tariffs to reflect costs avoided by exporters without comparable controls.
The Secretary General of the UNFCCC and the UK Government are pressing for a May 2007 meeting of the G8+5 to adopt the outline for a post-Kyoto, post-2012 regime of cap and trade provisions. The Conference of the Parties does not meet until late in 2007 and may not make decisions on post Kyoto plans until after that.
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Issues:
How to fully incorporate biological functions and restoration into the climate change control legal and economic program:
a) How to ensure that the risks, costs, and benefits of energy and agricultural demand and supply options most beneficial to conservation of living natural resources are well considered by major decision-makers. For example, to what extent could pollution taxes and tariffs discourage waste and pollution and fund restorative work in conservation biology to complement caps? How can we best estimate or verify GHG and ecosystem baselines and changes in them for GHG credits or support via spending or tax incentives?
b) How to highlight and set examples to create the best process for informing government and non-government decision-makers going forward and ensure the best adaptive management regimes are implemented. |
Resources:
Offices, Treaties and Institutions
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
Research Papers
Carbon Sequestration in Forests, Ross Gorte, Congressional Research Service, March 2007
Climate Change: Three Policy Perspectives, Larry Parker, John Blodgett, Congressional Research Service, Feb 2007
Evaluating the Role of Prices and R&D in Reducing Carbon Dioxide Emissions, Congressional Budget Office, Sept. 2006
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