Department of Interior Makes Climate Change Top Priority

September 14, 2009 -- Washington, DC – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today issued a Secretarial Order launching a new strategy to address current and future impacts of climate change on America’s wildlife and natural resources. The strategy calls for the development of a Climate Change Response Council, eight DOI regional Climate Change Response Centers, and a network of Landscape Conservation Cooperatives. Combined, these initiatives will create a framework through which Department of the Interior bureaus will coordinate climate change science and resource management strategies.

John Kostyack, Executive Director of Wildlife Conservation and Global Warming at the National Wildlife Federation had this to say:

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“Today our country has turned a corner. We applaud Secretary Salazar for his bold decision to take climate change off the back burner and put it front and center where it belongs.

“From coast to coast, forests to wetlands, Americans are witnessing the impacts of climate change. The unprecedented threat of climate change requires a response equal in scale. Today marks a first big step in meeting the challenge before us.

“It is encouraging to know we will soon have every bureau at the Department of the Interior working in unison toward a common goal. This level of cooperation is needed at every level of government, with participation from every state and tribe as well as farmers, ranchers and forest land owners. Everyone must do their part to ensure future generations of Americans have the same opportunities and benefits that we enjoy today.

“As the Department of Interior works to address the effects of climate change on wildlife and natural resources, we must not forget the urgent need to address the cause. To get the whole job done, Congress must pass comprehensive climate and energy legislation that reduces global warming pollution and dedicates funding to safeguard America’s wildlife, lands and waters from the worst impacts of climate change.”

Source: National Wildlife Federation