Campaign Updates from The Wilderness Society

Losing our best weapon against climate change

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 03:24:40 +0000

Did you know that the loss of forests accounts for the release of more heat-trapping pollution than the world’s entire transportation sector?

This is an incredible statistic and yet, according to the U.S. Forest Service, the United States continues to lose about 6,000 acres of open space a day as natural ecosystems are developed for urban, agricultural and industrial uses.

With more than 20 percent of green house gas emissions worldwide stemming from deforestation and land conversion, wise forest management has never been more important.

U.S. re-emerges at international climate change talks

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 20:12:35 +0000

After eight years of denial and delay under the Bush Administration, the U.S. government is beginning to engage in international climate talks and staking out a leadership role - something many believe is essential to reaching a global accord on combating global warming.

At a gathering of United Nations delegates in Bonn, Germany on March 29, Todd Stern, the State Department’s new climate policy envoy signaled a strong shift toward action and leadership by pledging to move forward on U.S. initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Congress introduces global warming bill

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:24:41 +0000

Today, the 111th Congress introduced its first bill that would tackle the challenge of global warming. Efforts to pass global warming legislation during President George W. Bush's two terms focused almost exclusively on the Senate, to no avail. Reps. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Edward Markey (D-MA) hope to break this stalemate and today’s effort marks the beginning of an approach that has broad support across the nation and within Congress.

We strongly support this legislative effort and commented on it here.

Calling all citizen scientists! Help track climate change in your back yard

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 18:30:43 +0000

Here in the mid-Atlantic where I live, both the calendar and the things I see from my kitchen window confirm that spring has officially sprung. The cherry tree outside my house is decked in pale pink blossoms. The goldfinches at my feeders are changing their drab winter plumage to the bright yellow of breeding season. Daffodils are blooming in my front yard. Every morning, my blue car is coated with a fine pale-green dusting of tree pollen — the same stuff that tells my smarting eyes that spring is here. Soon the lilacs will bud and bloom. Butterflies will emerge from their cocoons.