Congress Puts Energy into Global Warming Debate

Wind turbines kill tens of thousands of birds each year and as this technology grows that could number increase unless measures are taken to mitigate impacts and locate wind farms away from important bird areas and migratory routes. Photo: Dr. Michael Fry.

One of the top priorities for Congress this year is to address the threat of global warming. The Administration and Democratic congressional leaders are hoping to finalize legislation by the end of this year that would establish a program to boost energy conservation, the use of alternative energy sources, and to establish a mandatory cap on greenhouse gas emissions.

While this legislation is absolutely necessary to curb global warming which threatens all wildlife, it may create new challenges for conservationists to ensure that birds are not harmed. If drafted well, however, it has the potential to create new opportunities to advance bird conservation.

House Democrats began the process of passing a bill with a marathon series of hearings in April, featuring high-ranking Obama Administration officials, an array of environment and industry experts, and Nobel Laureate and former Vice President Al Gore, who said, “This year, a number of groups…released the U.S. State of the Birds report showing that nearly a third of the nation’s 800 bird species are endangered, threatened or in significant decline due to habitat loss, invasive species and other threats including climate change. The major shift attributed to the climate crisis related to the migratory patterns and a large shift northward among a vast range of bird species in the U.S.”

Witnesses discussed a draft bill proposed by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Energy and Environment Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey (D-MA). The draft Waxman-Markey bill would create the first federal requirements to boost energy efficiency and ensure that 25% of the nation’s electricity comes from renewable sources. This provision likely will lead to a major expansion in the use of wind turbines which could threaten migratory birds.

Another significant new program created by the bill would provide billions of dollars over a decade to speed commercial deployment of carbon capture and storage technologies that could help attract support from lawmakers in coal states. The program would create a ten-year, $1 billion annual fund to help accelerate the commercial-scale use of this newly developing technology, allowing the continued use of coal while simultaneously cutting emissions from the carbon-heavy fuel.

The bill includes language concerning the need to prevent tropical deforestation. Five percent of the funds the government receives from selling carbon credits will be allocated for that purpose, along with an unspecified percentage of funding to be set aside to help pay for wildlife and forest adaptation. This could be a major source of additional revenue for programs benefitting birds, such as the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act and the Joint Ventures.

The bill also includes a provision to permit offsets for reforestation efforts, which would initially account for 30% of the total carbon emissions reduction. These offsets, which are purchased by buyers in need of carbon credits, have the potential to fund forest reserves, shade coffee plantations, and other projects that can store carbon while benefiting birds in Latin America and the United States.

The draft House bill omits support for programs that help maintain existing forest cover and reduce carbon emissions from logging. Funding for this type of activity has been included in other global warming bills, but the Committee said the decision wasn’t final, and that if enough groups and particularly members of Congress ask for this funding, it could be included. This would support programs to help forest owners keep their land as forests, rather than developing it, and to provide incentives for longer rotation forestry which maximizes carbon storage and benefits wildlife.