Chicago (July 31) – At the 2009 National Urban League Conference, the discussion is focusing on how investments in the emerging green economy represent a rare opportunity for all Americans to prosper.

“The new, clean energy economy can recharge America by unlocking a new generation of jobs,” said Marc Littlejohn, manager of Diversity Partnerships, National Wildlife Federation. “The emerging clean energy sector offers Americans in many economically hard-hit communities new employment prospects and a more secure economic future.”

Recent federal stimulus investments have provided distressed communities with a chance to improve their future prospects. The clean energy jobs plan that is moving in Congress will accelerate America’s economic recovery by expanding investments to hasten the clean energy jobs revolution.

“We recognize the economic benefits the clean energy jobs plan will bring to communities struggling to provide employment opportunities and attract new business,” said Jerome Ringo, past chairman of the National Wildlife Federation Board of Directors and president of the Apollo Alliance. “Now is the time to build a coalition of Americans who share common values and seek common solutions to our most pressing problems — to simultaneously nourish America’s appetite for clean energy and meet people’s needs for a safe, healthy environment.”

National Wildlife Federation recognizes the importance of engaging Americans from all walks of life around issues of sustainability and conservation. “We need to protect low-income Americans,” Littlejohn added, “who spend a much larger share of income on energy-related expenses.”

Passage of the American Clean Energy & Security Act in the U.S. House has provided a breakthrough to move legislation to the President’s desk this year. The White House and Congressional leaders are committed to making clean energy a priority. Now, we need to keep the clean energy bill moving in the Senate – and make it even stronger. Clean energy is the path to begin cutting the pollution that is already affecting our communities and natural world, reinvest in our economy, and help families and workers.

For more information about National Wildlife Federation’s work to promote policies that empower underserved communities to cope with climate change impacts and advocate for fair and equitable solutions, please visit www.fairclimateproject.org.

National Wildlife Federation is America’s conservation organization inspiring Americans to protect wildlife for our children’s future.

To Support New Energy Economy and Combat Climate Change

New York (July 14) – The ranks of clean energy advocates now includes the NAACP, signaling that Americans from all walks of life support taking action to combat global warming and recharge America’s economy. Today the NAACP approved a historic resolution addressing climate change for the first time in the organization’s history.

During the legislative session of the NAACP Centennial Convention, delegates ratified a climate change resolution “to work with the National Wildlife Federation” to support legislation that curbs global warming pollution. Calling on our nation’s elected leaders, the NAACP resolution pledges to “ensure that the response to climate change can take a higher ground than business as usual – one that ensures that we capture the real public benefits from the new energy economy.”

“At its Centennial Convention, the NAACP has opened a new front in the fight for clean energy,” said Jerome Ringo, past chairman of the National Wildlife Federation Board of Directors and president of the Apollo Alliance. “When the United States negotiates an international treaty in Copenhagen this year, Americans must be united in our commitment to curb global warming pollution. NAACP is signaling that unity will include the African American grassroots.”

“This is a breakthrough moment on the path to our clean energy future,” said John Grant, National Wildlife Federation Board of Directors and CEO of 100 Black Men of Atlanta. “Clean energy is the key that will unlock millions of jobs, and the NAACP’s support is vital to ensuring that those jobs help to rebuild urban areas.”

“Although everyone feels its effects, the impacts of global warming are disproportionately severe among communities of color,” said Marc Littlejohn, manager of Diversity Partnerships, National Wildlife Federation. “We need to protect low-income Americans, who spend a much larger share of income on energy-related expenses. We need to help Americans working in carbon-intensive industries transition to clean energy jobs.”

Passage of the American Clean Energy & Security Act in the U.S. House has provided a major opportunity to move legislation to the President’s desk this year. The White House and Congressional leaders are committed to making clean energy a priority. Now, we need to keep the clean energy bill moving in the Senate – and make it even stronger. Clean energy will allow us to begin cutting the pollution that is already affecting our communities and natural world, reinvest in our economy, and help families and workers.

National Wildlife Federation is America’s conservation organization inspiring Americans to protect wildlife for our children’s future.

Contact: Aileo Weinmann, Communications Manager, 202-538-5038, weinmanna [at] nwf [dot]org

Life and Death in the Climate Change Debate
As we push Congress to pass a climate bill, let’s not forget the grass roots.

Courtney E. Martin | July 6, 2009 |

Elisa Young brushed her feathery blond hair back from her face, and her eyes grew teary as she looked at the panel of environmental activists and asked, “How do you keep up the fight under such difficult circumstances?” Young, who describes herself as a “survivalist, not an environmentalist” is a seventh-generation Appalachian and has been fighting coal-plant proposals in Meigs County, Ohio, for years.

LaDonna Redmond, a statuesque African American woman from Chicago, responded immediately, “You just keep fighting. What else are you going to do?” She recalled her own struggle with neighborhood gang-bangers who didn’t want her to open an organic food market in their area. She concluded with one of her trademark sayings: “Every community has the intellect to heal itself.”

Read the full article here…

NWF/NAACP JOINT RESOLUTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE

WHEREAS, the impacts of climate change disproportionately impacts the communities of color; and

WHEREAS, globally, climate change is likely to cause damage in excess of $600 billion per year, with particularly negative effects in Africa

WHEREAS, about 160,000 people die every year worldwide from side-effects of global warming ranging from malaria to malnutrition and reduction of agricultural output in many poorer countries; and

WHEREAS, an additional 80-90 million poor people could be at risk of hunger and malnutrition later in the 21st century and poorer countries are much less able to withstand the devastation caused by extreme weather events, and climate change is likely to increase such events; and

WHEREAS, over 70 percent of African Americans live in counties in violation of federal air pollution standards; and

WHEREAS, in every one of the 44 major metropolitan areas in the U.S., African Americans are more likely than Whites to be exposed to higher air toxic concentrations. As a result, African Americans are nearly three times as likely to be hospitalized or killed by asthma.

WHEREAS, solving the climate crisis can create 5 million ‘green’ jobs that will be in places where they are needed most

WHEREAS, a new energy policy can reduce the burden of low and moderate-income households spending a larger share of their budgets on energy and other basic costs of living than better-off households; and

WHEREAS, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports that the average surface temperature of the earth increased nearly 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit in the 20th century, due primarily to human caused climate change.

WHEREAS, scientists project an increase of 3.2-7.2 degrees Fahrenheit in the 21st century, depending upon the extent to which climate change pollution is reduced.

WHEREAS, we have an opportunity to end energy policies that drain jobs from our economy, put our communities at risk of heat waves and flooding, and drag America into conflicts over energy resources overseas; and

WHEREAS, meaningful climate change policy can create real public benefits including millions of good green-collar jobs and build an inclusive green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty; and

WHEREAS, energy prices are already rising dramatically as the world’s supply of fossil fuels to keep pace with increasing demand

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED THAT, the NAACP will call on our nation’s elected leaders to ensure that the response to climate change can take a higher ground than business as usual – one that ensures that we capture real public benefits from the new energy economy; and

BE IT THEREFORE FURTHER RESOLVED THAT,  the NAACP supports climate change policy that will build a new generation of good jobs, rebuild urban areas and support rural areas, and protect families, communities and public health, and help elevate our nation as a world leader

BE IT THEREFORE FINALLY RESOLVED THAT, the NAACP resolves to work with the National Wildlife Federation and will urge all of its units to support legislation and other efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions, reverse the process of climate change and promote the new green economy

Video: Connecting the Dots: Southeast Drought

The Southeast should take the following actions to plan for increasing variability in water supply:

• Reduce global warming pollution to prevent the worst impacts of climate change and limit the impacts on communities and wildlife
• Improve water-use efficiency and conservation
• Consider sea-level rise in managing coastal freshwater resources
• Take global warming into account when choosing water management strategies to meet multiple demands
• Maintain and restore natural forest and wetland systems that absorb flood waters and provide efficient water storage

Rapidly expanding population, irrigation and power generation have increased water demands.

• Since 1960, the Southeast region’s population double.
• The Southeast is home to 58 of the 100 fastest growing counties in the nation.
• From 1960 – 2000 water use for municipalities, irrigation and thermoelectric power more than tripled.

Video: Hear the full Story from Amanda Saudt, NWF Scientist

Full Report: Increasing Vulnerability to Hurricanes: Global Warming’s Wake-Up Call for the U.S. Gulf and Atlantic Coasts

We must get at the root of the problem and reduce the global warming pollution that fuels stronger storms and leads to increasing sea level.

How can we prepare for future hurricanes and reduce the risk?

* Reduce global warming pollution to minimize future hurricane risk
* Restore and increase protection for coastal wetlands, lowlands, and barrier islands
* Take global warming into account when choosing where to build
* Take global warming into account when choosing how to build
* Global warming must be factored into hurricane and coastal planning: Over this century, maximum windspeeds could increase 13
* percent and rainfall could increase 31 percent.

Global warming must be factored into hurricane and coastal planning: Over this century, maximum windspeeds could increase 13 percent and rainfall could increase 31 percent.

Washington, DC (July 9) – The United States is getting more heavy storms and major floods these days, detailed in a new report from the National Wildlife Federation.

Full Report: NWF Flood Report

“Global warming is partly to blame for these heavy rainfall events,” said Dr. Amanda Staudt, climate scientist, National Wildlife Federation. “Warmer air simply can hold more moisture, so heavier precipitation is expected in the years to come.”
To explain the bigger picture and provide recommendations for how to cope with projected changes and how to avoid the worst impacts of global warming, National Wildlife Federation’s mini-report Increased Flooding Risk: Global Warming’s Wake-Up Call for Riverfront Communities details:

• How global warming has caused more heavy rainfall events
• America’s over-reliance on levees and other strategies for taming rivers
• Communities that are on the front lines
• What must be done to confront the realities of global warming

In the Midwest and Northeast, big storms that historically would only be seen once every 20 years are projected to happen as much as every 4 to 6 years by the end of the 21st century. At the same time, shifts in snowfall patterns, the onset of spring, and river-ice melting may all exacerbate flooding risks. In the Pacific Northwest, snow melt discharge occurs 5 to 20 days earlier than it did 50 years ago, and it could be an additional 30 to 40 days earlier by the end of the 21st century if global warming pollution is not curbed.

The last year has been no exception:

• In June 2008, the rain-swollen Cedar, Illinois, Missouri and Mississippi Rivers and their tributaries topped their banks and levees, leaving hundreds of thousands of people displaced across the Midwest. Over $15 billion of agricultural and property losses were racked up and 24 people lost their lives.
• In January 2009, floods in the Pacific Northwest caused $125 million of damage, evacuations of more than 30,000 people, and shutdown of major roads and rail service.
• And, March brought record-high levels to the Red River bordering North Dakota and Minnesota, following an unusually wet fall and winter. Fargo narrowly averted a major disaster through a massive effort to build temporary sandbag levees and to evacuate thousands of people.

Many of our attempts to control rivers and our choices to live and farm in floodplains only serve to compound the risk of flood-related damages. The realization that the future will bring more flooding risk means that we need to make better choices about how we manage the landscape in flood-prone areas.
Grand Forks, North Dakota has done just that. Following devastating floods in 1997, the city took the bold action of buying out hundreds of properties in the floodplain and converting the land to parks, public recreation and habitat areas. They installed new grass covered levees and removable flood walls well back from the river’s edge, thereby allowing more space for the river to swell as it would under natural conditions. Grand Forks has absolutely reaped the benefits of these investments. None of the major floods in recent years have caused significant damages to the city.
“Now is the time to confront the realities of global warming, including the increasing frequency and intensity of heavy rainfall events across the country,” said Dr. Staudt. “We must aggressively move toward a cleaner energy future and reduce global warming pollution, thereby ensuring that we avoid the worst impacts.”
Important steps to reduce the risks to riverfront communities include discouraging development in flood-prone areas and protecting the natural systems, such as wetlands, that help to buffer against floods.

In order to provide input to an ongoing dialogue among producers, traders and retailers interested in sustainably produced commodities, NWF produces a Climate Change, Deforestation and Agriculture Report that summarized the dialogue at the dinner

This is part of a multi-year initiative aiming to present innovative solutions to reduce the impact of agriculture on tropical deforestation.