{"id":10756,"date":"2014-10-22T17:48:57","date_gmt":"2014-10-22T21:48:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/?p=10756"},"modified":"2014-10-22T17:48:57","modified_gmt":"2014-10-22T21:48:57","slug":"esa-policy-news-10-22-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/2014\/10\/22\/esa-policy-news-10-22-14\/","title":{"rendered":"ESA Policy News October 22: White House focuses on climate resiliency, NSF accepting Ebola research proposals, enviros sue to protect Wolverine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here are some highlights from the latest ESA Policy News by Policy Analyst Terence Houston. Read the full Policy News\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/em>\u00a0\"\"<\/a> WHITE HOUSE: NEW CLIMATE STRATEGY PROMOTES NATURAL RESOURCE RESILIENCY<\/strong><\/p>\n

The White House released a new resiliency-focused strategy to protect natural resources from threats posed by climate change. The \u201cClimate and Natural Resources Priority Agenda\u201d focuses on building climate change resilience through various means including enhancing US carbon sinks such as forests, grasslands, wetlands and coastal areas. The administration announced five executive actions and 16 public-private partnerships to complement this agenda. The overall strategy is the latest effort in the administration\u2019s Climate Action Plan.<\/p>\n

Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0for additional information.<\/p>\n

DEFENSE: PENTAGON REPORT NAMES CLIMATE CHANGE AS A THREAT MULTIPLIER<\/strong><\/p>\n

On Oct. 13, the Department of Defense released a 20-page report outlining the federal agency\u2019s efforts to address climate change. The report specifies how the military will prepare for the consequences of climate change and its impacts on national security.<\/p>\n

\u201cRising global temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, climbing sea levels, and more extreme weather events will intensify the challenges of global instability, hunger, poverty, and conflict. They will likely lead to food and water shortages, pandemic disease, disputes over refugees and resources, and destruction by natural disasters in regions across the globe, \u201c the report notes. \u201cIn our defense strategy, we refer to climate change as a \u2018threat multiplier\u2019 because it has the potential to exacerbate many of the challenges we are dealing with today \u2013 from infectious disease to terrorism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0to view the full report.<\/p>\n

ENDANGERED SPECIES: SENATORS REQUEST WITHDRAWAL OF CRITICAL HABITAT RULES<\/strong><\/p>\n

Four Republican Senators penned a letter to the Obama administration requesting the withdrawal of proposed rules intended to clarify the process of designating critical habitat for endangered and threatened species. The Senators are concerned that the new proposals will allow federal agencies to designate critical habitat for areas not currently used by endangered species.<\/p>\n

Proponents for endangered species agree that critical habitat is the key to survival. Critical habitat provides protections for listed species by prohibiting federal agencies from permitting, funding, or carrying out actions that \u201cadversely modify\u201d designated areas without first consulting the federal entity that designates and monitors the habitat.<\/p>\n

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Ranking Member David Vitter (R-LA) and Senate Commerce Science and Transportation Committee Ranking Member John Thune (R-SD) spearheaded the letter. Water and Wildlife Subcommittee Ranking Member John Boozman (R-AR) and Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard Ranking Member Marco Rubio (R-FL) also signed the letter.<\/p>\n

Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0to view the full letter.<\/p>\n

FWS: ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS FILE LAWSUIT TO PROTECT WOLVERINE<\/strong><\/p>\n

A coalition of eight environmental groups is suing the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to designate the North American wolverine (Gulo gulo luscus<\/em>) as \u201cthreatened\u201d under the Endangered Species Act. FWS proposed \u201clisting\u201d the wolverine in Feb. 2013 after federal biologists speculated that the animal\u2019s snowpack habitat used for denning females was suffering from warming temperatures.<\/p>\n

In August, however, FWS Director Dan Ashe announced that whether climate change was affecting wolverine populations was \u201cambiguous\u201d and formally withdrew the listing proposal. Led by Earthjustice, the advocacy organizations contend that FWS did not rely on \u201cthe best available science\u201d and did not fully analyze threats to the wolverine throughout a significant portion of its range.The groups contend that the agency is ignoring the findings of its scientists on how climate change has affected the species.<\/p>\n

Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0to view the Earthjustice complaint. Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0to view the Aug. 2014 FWS notice.<\/p>\n

EPA: REPORT FINDS CHEMICAL LINKED TO BEE DEATHS DOES NOT BENEFIT SOYBEAN PRODUCTION<\/strong><\/p>\n

A recent report from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concluded there is little benefit to using neonicotinoid pesticides in soybean production. Scientists have linked the insect pesticide to colony-collapse disorder in honeybees. A notice will be published in the Federal Register allowing the public to comment on the analysis.\u00a0Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0for additional information and updates.<\/p>\n

EPA: NEW REPORT MEASURES CLIMATE INDICATORS<\/strong><\/p>\n

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released the third edition of a report, \u201cClimate Change Indicators in the United States.\u201d The report pulls together research data measurements of ocean heat, ocean acidity, sea level, length of growing season and other indicators that demonstrate that climate change is already affecting the environment and human society. The report focuses on long-term trends for environmental measurements and was peer-reviewed by independent experts. Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0for additional information and to download the full report.<\/p>\n

UNITED NATIONS: REPORT FINDS OCEAN ACIDIFICATION IMPACTING MARINE ECOSYTEMS<\/strong><\/p>\n

This month, a United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity team of 30 international experts led by UK scientists issued \u201cAn Updated Synthesis of the Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Marine Biodiversity<\/a>.\u201d The report finds that ocean acidification has increased by around 26 per cent since pre-industrial times, and will continue to increase in the next 50 to 100 years, drastically affecting marine organisms and ecosystems as well as the $1 trillion annually in goods and services they provide.<\/p>\n

Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0to access the report.<\/p>\n

GAO: REPORT FINDS GOVERNMENT LACKING IN EFFORTS TO ADDRESS OCEAN ACIDIFICATION<\/strong><\/p>\n

A report from the independent Government Accountability Office (GAO) criticizes the federal government for not fully implementing a recent federal law to curb ocean acidification. Findings site a lack of coordination between task force agencies. It also faulted the task force for not laying out a budget estimates for its research and monitoring plan that would help federal agencies and lawmakers understand what specific amount of funding is necessary to address the issue. The report called upon the White House to be more specific in laying out each agency\u2019s responsibilities. GAO also suggested that establishing an independent ocean acidification program office might improve coordination between agencies. However, the interagency group has not reached a consensus on how to fund such an office.<\/p>\n

Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0to view the GAO report.<\/p>\n

DISEASE: NSF ACCEPTING RESEARCH PROPOSALS TO ADVANCE UNDERSTANDING OF EBOLA<\/strong><\/p>\n

In light of the Ebola virus\u2019s emergence in the United States, the National Science Foundation is seeking applicants for Rapid Response Research grant proposals to conduct non-medical, non-clinical research that advances understanding of spread of Ebola.<\/p>\n

Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0for additional information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are some highlights from the latest ESA Policy News by Policy Analyst Terence Houston. Read the full Policy News\u00a0here.\u00a0 WHITE HOUSE: NEW CLIMATE STRATEGY PROMOTES NATURAL RESOURCE RESILIENCY The White House released a new resiliency-focused strategy to protect natural resources from threats posed by climate change. The \u201cClimate and Natural Resources Priority Agenda\u201d focuses on building climate change resilience…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":10762,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,91],"tags":[60,125,63,66,67,70,313],"class_list":["post-10756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ecology-in-policy","category-policy-news","tag-climate-change","tag-disease","tag-endangered-species","tag-national-science-foundation","tag-nsf","tag-policy","tag-policy-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}