August 16, 2019

 

Senator Corey Booker (D-NJ) will introduce legislation to fund and otherwise encourage the use of Nature Based Solutions to confront climate change, extreme weather and sequester greenhouse gasses, his office has announced.

 

The Climate Stewardship Act would authorize up to $25 billion a year for federal agencies to hire new workers and expand grant programs that encourage farmers to reduce carbon emissions through climate friendly practices that sequester carbon. The bill will be formally introduced when the Senate returns in September.

 

In addition, the Act would support the conservation and restoration of 2 million acres of coastal wetlands by 2030, and the planting of 15 billion trees by mid-century, including 100 million in urban low-income communities and communities of color.

 

The bill follows a series of alarming reports by the United Nations and the scientific community documenting the rapidly accelerating destruction of Earth’s climate, biological diversity and life-support systems. They call for sweeping and profound changes to the management of land, water, food production, and urban landscapes.  In particular, they urge large scale restoration, expansion and conservation of native plant communities and ecosystems. These actions are urgently needed to combat famine, drought, extreme weather and other disastrous byproducts of climate change and mass extinction.

 

Unfortunately, the Trump administration is not heeding these calls to action. On the contrary, it recently released new regulations which significantly weaken the Federal Endangered Species Act and so reduce protections for the most imperiled plants and animals. The new regulations will be the subject of an upcoming NPCC News.

 

Photos: Mangroves being grown for restoration and coastal protection (c) Emily B. Roberson; Slide from NPCC Nature Based Solutions powerpoint presentation showing benefits of native plants for the protection of coasta and riverbanks (c) Native Plant Conservation Campaign