Care for Land, Sea and Air – Talking Points

Artic Indicator: Climate Change at the Poles

(Taken from Impacts of a Warming Artic, published by Cambridge University, www.cambridge.org )

· The Artic is extremely vulnerable to observed and projected climate change and its impacts – it is now experiencing the most rapid and severe climate change on earth. With anticipated acceleration over the next 100 years, climate change will contribute to major physical, ecological social and economic changes.

· In Alaska and Western Canada, winter temperatures are rising more rapidly than summer – and increase a much as 5-7° Fahrenheit in the past 50 years.

· Over the last 30 years, Artic sea ice has decreased about 8% or over 300,000 square miles – that’s an area the size of Texas and Arizona combined.

For more information on Artic Melt and Climate Change visit the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment website at http://www.acia.uaf.edu/

New York Times Articles on the Arctic Climate Assessment Report by Andrew Revkin at http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/29/science/earth/29cnd-arctic.html (subscription)

Effects of Climate Change?

· 19 of the 20 warmest years on record have occurred since 1980.

· Melting polar ice is affecting wildlife that depend on it for survival: Polar bears that rely on dense ice shelves to hunt seals and traverse the artic seas find their hunting grounds reduced by melting ice and some penguin populations have dropped by half due to disappearing ice and snow.

· In the western states, the snow line rises 500 feet higher for every 1.8 degree increase in temperature – by 2050 the water content in critical snow pack will be less than half of today’s total

· The heat wave that hit central and southern Europe last year killed 20,000 people – anticipated temperature increase due to climate change will cause more heat waves and floods.

Current Administration Programs

· According to the Congressional General Accounting Office, President Bush’s 2002 goal to reduce emissions by 18% over the next ten years, would reduce overall emissions by only 2% of what would be achieved with no federal program at all.

· A quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions come from the U.S.

· Currently $1.7 billion dollars a year is spent on climate research – while the administration continues to ignore existing research examining climate change, including a 2001 report done at the request of Congress which was highly lauded by scientists for its independent peer review.

American Opinion on the Environment

· 70% of Americans polled believe global warming is a very serious or somewhat serious problem – just 20% believe global warming does not represent a serious issue.

· 84% of Americans polled said the Unites States should enact stricter emissions and pollution standards for business and industry.

· 67% of American soled say the US government does not do enough about the environment and should do more.

The Roadless Area Conservation Rule….

(from “Protecting America’s National Forests, Saving the Last Wild 30%” Revised Edition)

Issued in January 2001 the Roadless Area Conservation Rule protects 58.5 million acres of wild national forest land from most commercial logging and road-building. It:

· ...Protects 58.5 million acres of national forest land in 39 states, including intact old-growth temperate Rainforests in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest

· ...Maintains current public access and recreational opportunities, including hiking, camping, hunting and fishing

· ...Preserves critical habitat for fish and wildlife, including more than 1,600 threatened, endangered, or sensitive plant and animal species

· ...Safeguards clean water from forest headwaters and streams, the source of drinking water for more than 60 million Americans

· ...Allows for actively managing lands, when necessary, to restore ecological processes, provide habitat for endangered species, or avert catastrophic wildfire

· ...Maintains access to state and private property within national forests

· The Roadless Area Conservation Rule resulted from the most inclusive public rulemaking process ever involving the input of seven Federal agencies, more than 180 Native American tribes, over 600 public meetings held nationwide, half a million public comments on the initial proposal and 1.1 million comments on the final proposal – 95% of which supported the proposal – and seven separate hearings held before the US House and Senate committees and subcommittees.

Impact of eliminating the Roadless Area Rule

· Increased public subsides to private industry: Private timber companies already receive tens of millions of dollars each year to build more forest roads at taxpayer expense, and use those roads to access timber purchased below market prices. Cost of Forest Service timber program to American taxpayers from 1992-1997: $2 billion.

· Increased roads only adds to a road maintenance backlog: The Forest Service cannot adequately maintain the existing 430,000 miles of currently existing roads. Cost of the maintenance backlog with new roads: $10 billion.

· The existing Forest Service’s accountability problem would not be solved: The Government Accountability Office concluded in 2003 that the Forest Service has, “not been able to provide Congress and the public with a clear understanding of what its 30,000 employees accomplish with the approximately $5billion it receives each year.”

For more on the Roadless Area Rule, its protections and impact of elimination see: http://www.ourforests.org/fact/

The proposed rule change is available at:

http://roadless.fs.fed.us/documents/id_07/2004_07_12_state_petition_proposed_rule.html

The period for public comment on the proposed rule began in July and has been extended to Nov. 15, 2004.

Send your comments to: Content Analysis Team, ATTN: Roadless State Petitions, USDA Forest Service, P.O. Box 221090, Salt Lake City, UT 84122 Fax: (801) 517-1014 E-mail: statepetitionroadless@fs.fed.us.

Comments also may be submitted from: http://www.regulations.gov