5/28/08

SENATE MOVES TO SAVE SPECIES FROM GLOBAL WARMING

The recent listing of the polar bear as threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has shone a light on the destruction of its habitat by global warming.

More importantly, the polar bears are not the only animals that will be and are already being harmed by global warming. Every living thing on this planet (including human beings) will be affected.

California’s forests, now suffering through one of the most intense droughts in recent decades, will only endure more frequent and destructive wildfires, insect infestations, and other stresses as global warming mounts in the years ahead.

A bill now in the U.S. Congress would help focus attention on the problems that wildlife are facing due to global warming.

Introduced in 2007 by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), the Global Warming Wildlife Survival Act (S. 2204) would establish a national strategy for helping wildlife adapt to the impacts of global warming.

The act would set up an advisory board to consider wildlife and habitat issues in light of global warming. It also would establish the National Global Warming and Wildlife Center within the U.S. Geological Survey, and help fund states, tribes, and local communities working to help wildlife adapt to a changing climate.

The polar bears of the Arctic cannot wait much longer. Scientists estimate that within 40 years the northern polar icecap will be gone, and polar bears will have vanished from Alaska. They—and by extension all the ecosystems and inhabitants of Earth—need action to combat global warming’s worst effects now.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

The Global Warming Wildlife Survival Act is now being debated in the Senate. The bill will die at the end of the current session of Congress if it is not acted upon. California Sen. Barbara Boxer (D) is already a co-sponsor of the bill.

Please write to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and ask her to support the Global Warming Wildlife Survival Act today!

Sen. Dianne Feinstein
One Post Street, Suite 2450
San Francisco, CA 94104
Phone (415) 393-0707
Fax (415) 393-0710