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109th Congress
Legislative Lookout New Jersey Edition March, 2005 The
109th Congress is well underway, presenting unprecedented challenges
in the fight to protect birds, other wildlife and our nation’s natural
treasures. Moments after last
year’s election results were official, powerful special interests were champing
at the bit for the start of the new Congress. After all, this is the year they think they will get it all:
drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and weakening of some of our
long-standing environmental protections, such as the Endangered Species
Act. Without a doubt, every single
vote on Audubon’s priority issues – from restoring and protecting our
great natural heritage, to securing funding for vital conservation programs,
and preserving key natural resource protections -- will come down to the wire,
and your lawmaker will play a critical role in the fight and may even cast the
deciding vote! Here is
quick summary of some of the major issues we'll be working on this year, and which New Jersey lawmakers are
positioned to cast deciding votes on the measures. PROTECTING
THE ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE: For over
20 years, Audubon has been a leading voice in protecting the Arctic
Refuge. The new Congress and
changes in the Administration in 2005 will demand nothing less. Just days into the 109th
Congress, the fight to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil and
gas drilling has heated up! Right
now, pro-drilling proponents are trying to attach drilling revenues to the FY06
budget resolution – the Congressional blueprint that sets overall funding
levels for government agencies for the upcoming fiscal year. Right now,
it appears that fight now lays in the Senate, as the Chairman of the House
Budget Committee (Jim Nussle – Iowa) has publicly stated he will not
include drilling revenues in the budget. Both New Jersey Senators oppose
drilling in the Arctic. Now if the
Senate does not include drilling revenues in their budget, there is still a
chance the House could do so!
House Budget Committee could leave it up the House Resources Committee,
where several members of the NJ delegation could be called on to cast deciding
votes. And if both chambers do not
include drilling revenues in the budget, you can bet the next fight will be to
include it in the Energy bill! The
Senate is expected to act on this (Budget resolution) as early as the week of
March 14th. But if the
pro-drillers don’t have the votes, you can bet they’ll push that back.
Critical
Votes - Budget: NJ Lawmakers on Budget Committee: Rep. Scott Garrett (R); Senate Budget Committee - Sen. Corzine; NJ Lawmakers on House Resources
Committee: Rep. Saxton (R), Rep.
Pallone (D)
Critical
Votes – Energy: NJ Lawmakers
on House Energy Committee: Rep. Pallone (D); Senate Energy Committee –
Sen. Corzine
SUPPORTERS LOOKING FOR
CLEAR SAILING FOR CLEAR SKIES: Legislation has been introduced in the
U.S. Congress that would substantially weaken public health and environmental
protections under the Clean Air Act. Dubbed the "Clear Skies"
initiative and introduced in the Senate as S. 131, this plan weakens some of
the most important provisions of the Clean Air Act, repeals protections for our
national parks, delays deadlines to meet the Act’s health standards, relaxes
pollution reduction requirements for power plants and other major pollution
sources and ignores global warming. Action on Clear
Skies began in the Senate before the Environment and Public Works Committee
last week. The good news is the Committee is deadlocked and did not vote the
measure out. The bad news is Clear Skies supporters aren’t giving up! Sen. Lautenberg is a member of this
Committee, and steadfastly opposes the Clear Skies initiative and any effort to
weaken the Clear Air Act. SAVING
THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT: The Endangered Species
Act (ESA) is in the crosshairs of a well-coordinated attack by special
interests and their congressional allies seeking to weaken the ESA. You read that correctly – weaken
the nation’s 30-plus year old law aimed at protecting birds and other wildlife
on the brink of extinction. Two
anti-ESA bills were introduced in the 108th Congress, one focusing
on reform of critical habitat and another aiming to add layers of bureaucratic
review of scientific decisions. Both
bills were stealth attacks on the ESA being pushed under the guise of “reform”
of a “broken” law that proponents claim is not achieving the goal of recovering
species threatened with extinction.
And both bills will undoubtedly be back in the 109th Congress.
Critical Votes: Action will take place in House
Resources Committee. Reps. Saxton
(R), and Pallone (D) are
on this Committee. If the Senate
takes any action (somewhat doubtful that they will) it would be in the
Environment & Public Works Committee. Sen. Lautenberg is a member of this
Committee.
MAINTAINING PROTECTIONS FOR CLEAN WATER: Clean water is vital to America. It
is essential for community drinking water, agriculture, fishing and swimming,
wildlife and a strong economy.
Clean water is a legacy we all hope to deliver to our children and
grandchildren for their future enjoyment and health. Despite the 30 plus years of the Clean Water Act successes,
long considered one of the most successful environmental laws in the country,
enormous water quality challenges still remain. Even though these water quality challenges remain there are
efforts to undermine the Act, such as weakening its programs designed to clean
up the most polluted waterways, reducing funding for critical water quality programs,
and removing protections for important wetlands. Our lawmakers need to do more to protect our precious waters
that we all – people, birds and other wildlife – rely on for
survival Action on Clean
Water Act issues is more likely to happen through the regulatory process,
rather than the U.S. Congress. If
there is action, we may see it via the House Resources Committee – Reps.
Saxton and Pallone are members, or via the Transportation and Infrastructure
Committee. Reps. LoBiondo (R),
Pascrell (D) and Menendez (D) are all members of this Committee. If the Senate takes any action on this,
it would be via the Environment and Public Works Committee, of which Sen.
Lautenberg is a member. DOING
MORE FOR MIGRATORY SONGBIRDS: In 2000, the U.S Congress passed, and President Clinton
signed into law, the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (NMBCA)–
our nation’s first law aimed directly at protecting songbirds by helping to
restore and to conserve their wintering habitat, ensuring the keep coming back
to our backyards in the spring.
Now, it’s time for Congress to reauthorize the five-year program, and
outline how the program will function in the future. Audubon seeks to enhance and expand the NMBCA so that more
funding is available for more programs, so more people and more countries can
participate in this program aimed at saving Neotropical migrants, including
some of the most endangered birds in North America such as the Kirtland's
Warbler, Hermit Thrush, Black-capped Vireo, and Kentucky Warbler. This will undoubtedly be one of our top
priorities in 2005. Critical
Votes: Action will begin in House Appropriations Interior Subcommittee –
no NJ members – them move to full Committee. NJ lawmakers on Appropriations Committee: Reps. Frelinghuysen (R), and Rothman
(D). Neither NJ Senator is on the
Senate Appropriations Committee. GET CONGRESS MOVING ON CLIMATE CHANGE: Our planet is getting hotter. Records show that the 1990s was the warmest decade in more
than a century, with 1998 boasting the highest average global temperatures ever
recorded. 2002 followed as a close
second, and 2001 a close third.
These steady increases in temperatures can have a devastating impact on
the environment, causing greater air pollution, more droughts and crop failures,
more wildfires, heavier rains and flooding, more intense heat waves and killer
storms, rising sea levels, melting tundra and widespread loss of bird and other
wildlife habitat. The good news is
we know what is causing the increased greenhouse gas levels, and what’s more is
we have the technologies to reduce it.
The bad news is these technologies – which are readily available
and far from cost prohibitive – are not being advocated and encouraged! From new approaches to transportation,
to energy efficient structures and machinery to carbon sequestration in forests
and wetlands we must improve the incentives for expanded use. Fortunately, a good number of our
Senators and Representatives want to change this and are determined to pass
legislation to change our nation’s present course, since every year Congress
does not take action, the problems grow harder to solve. Action on this issue will happen in either the House
Science Committee (no New Jersey members on that Committee at this time) or the
Transportation & Infrastructure Committee. Two NJ lawmakers are on the T&I Committee: Rep. Pascrell
(D), and Rep. Menendez (D) If the Senate takes this up, it would be a vote on
the Senate floor. Both Senators supported efforts in the past to address this
issue. NO MORE
CUTBACKS FOR NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGES: Without a
doubt the closest thing America has to bird heaven is our National Wildlife
Refuge System. Over 530 national
wildlife refuges that span 50 states, host more than 700 bird species, and are
the primary habitat for about 250 threatened and endangered species. These refuges are critical for
protecting the majority of our country's threatened and endangered bird and
wildlife populations. Yet, in
spite of their important role, they are in dire need of care, and many are
facing incompatible activities on and near refuge lands, such as inadequate
water supplies, and invasive species.
Moreover, the Refuge system is suffering from insufficient budgets for
operations, maintenance and new land acquisition. Last year, Congress actually reduced funding for our Refuge
system, and we need to ensure they do not do so again! Audubon and our conservation partners
are committed to protecting refuges and the National Wildlife Refuge
system. We’ll continue to work
with the Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement (CARE) toward increased
funding for refuge operations and maintenance, and will again work with Audubon
chapters and state offices to identify and pursue Land and Water Conservation
Fund priorities within the Refuge System.
Audubon also will continue our efforts to secure funds to remove
invasive species from priority bird habitat areas within the Refuge System. Critical
Votes: Action will begin in House Appropriations Interior Subcommittee –
no NJ members – them move to full Committee. NJ lawmakers on Appropriations Committee: Reps. Frelinghuysen (R), and Rothman
(D). Neither New Jersey Senator is on the Senate Appropriations Committee. TACKLING
THE GROWING PROBLEM OF INVASIVE SPECIES: Invasive, non-native species -- like the northern
snakehead fish -- that choke out, devour and destroy native wildlife and their
habitat have infested more than 100 million acres of the American landscape and
have caused $130 billion worth of damage to the American economy every
year. The problem is spreading and
multiplying fast. Each year in
America, more than 14 million acres are lost to invasive weeds -- an area
equal to a strip of land seven miles wide stretching from coast to coast. Invasive weeds and non-native animals
also present one of the most critical threats to the nation’s declining bird
populations. More than one-third
of all imperiled bird species in America are threatened. Invasive trees and weeds like
bufflegrass and salt cedar are destroying habitat needed by critically
imperiled birds such as Costa’s Hummingbird, Curve-billed Thrasher, Seaside
Sparrow, and the Elf Owl. In the
coming months, Audubon’s Public Policy office will launch an effort to control
and contain invasive species “Hot Spots.” Audubon will focus on those areas
where the threat is significant and growing, where the nation’s most valuable
bird and wildlife habitat is at risk, and where America’s most imperiled bird
populations are declining. Critical Votes: Action will take place in House
Resources Committee. NJ lawmakers
on Resources Committee: Reps.
Saxton (R), and Pallone (D) In the
Senate, action would take place in the Environment and Public Works Committee,
where Sen. Lautenberg is a member. RESTORING
AMERICA’S SPECIAL PLACES: Many of our nation’s most unique natural resources
are in jeopardy. These diverse and
ecologically sensitive ecosystems are literally losing critical ground every
day! Pollution, development,
invasive species – just to name a few -- are destroying these habitats
that are not only critical for the survival of endangered and threatened
species, but the public’s health as well.
Congress can help by passing legislation that will restore and protect
these special places – habitats that are known the world over, like the
one-of-a-kind Everglades, the mighty Mississippi River, America’s
unique and diverse wetlands along the Louisiana coast, the historic
and ecologically significant Rio Grande, and the majestic Long Island
Sound. These truly
unique habitats belong to all Americans, not just those who live nearby. Critical
Votes: Initial action on these
primarily funding issues will begin in the Energy & Water Development
Subcommittee of the House Interior Appropriations Committee. NJ Lawmakers on that Committee: Rep.
Frelinghuysen (R). Then onto the
full Appropriations Committee, where both Reps Frelinghuysen and Rothman (D)
are members. Neither NJ Senator is
on the Senate Appropriations Committee. ADDRESSING
POPULATION & THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT: Human population growth is the most pressing
environmental problem facing the U.S. and the world. Population expansion
over the last 50 years has exacerbated many environmental problems, including
air and water pollution, loss of birds, other wildlife and their habitat,
fisheries depletion, and climate change acceleration. These are global
problems that transcend national boundaries. The U.S. Congress can
help. Each and every year, the U.S. Congress dedicates funding
to international family planning programs, which provide education and
voluntary health care services, train health workers and
supply contraceptive commodities. International family planning
improves the ability of people to manage their lives and their natural
resources in a more sustainable fashion, which in turn helps protect birds,
other wildlife and our environment. Last year, Congress increased its
funding for international family planning by a modest amount. This
year, we’ll be back to fighting for an even bigger increase. Initial
work on this will begin in the Foreign Operations Subcommittee of the House
Appropriations Committee. NJ
Lawmakers on this Committee: Rep. Rothman. The bill would then move onto the full Appropriations
Committee, where Reps . Frelinghuysen and Rep. Rothman are members. Neither NJ Senator is on the Senate
Appropriations Committee. WE’LL
ALSO BE WORKING to encourage Congress to fund Audubon’s Land & Water Conservation Fund site priorities, pushing
Congress to keep its commitment to the beauty and health of our public lands by
expanding these dwindling natural habitats – particularly those important
for America’s declining avian species. We’ll be monitoring legislation and
regulations impacting our National Forests, including recent rule changes for Forest Service
NEPA compliance and planning for wildlife populations. We will make every attempt to ensure
our forests stay healthy to support birds and other wildlife. Audubon will continue to make
protection of Alaska’s public lands a priority, and you can count on Audubon to continue in its
effort to increase our nation’s commitment to local protection of species and
critical habitat through the State Wildlife Grants program. Funding
for LWCF and State Wildlife Grants will be debated and decided by the Interior
Appropriations Subcommittee, and then the full Appropriations Committee. Reps.
Frelinghuysen and Rothman are members. |