Contact: Sean Cooley, Communications Manager, 850-999-1030, scooley@audubon.org
MIAMI (March 15, 2017) — Today, 17 Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced a resolution to “create and support” bipartisan solutions to study and address the causes and effects of a changing climate. In response to this resolution, the National Audubon Society issued the following statement:
“These leaders understand that there’s a Republican climate solution and that America’s birds and people don’t have time for more political trench warfare,” said David Yarnold (@david_yarnold), Audubon’s president and CEO.
“We need bipartisan solutions to our changing climate, and we need them now. It took guts for these Republicans to step forward today, and we welcome their ideas.
“Climate change threatens the birds we love, the places they and we need, and the legacy we’ll leave our kids—all values that lead us to say that conservation doesn’t have a party.”
Eric Draper, executive director of Audubon Florida said, “This is great. We thank Representatives Carlos Curbelo, Brian Mast, and Illeana Ros-Lehtinen for acknowledging the serious threat climate change poses. Responsible stewardship of natural resources requires voices on both sides of the political aisle.”
Former Republican Congressman and current Audubon Board Member Jim Greenwood added: "I applaud these Republicans in the House of Representatives for supporting the resolution. Addressing our changing climate with fiscally-smart and economically-viable solutions requires a balanced, bipartisan approach. Together they acknowledge responsible environmental stewardship is a fundamentally conservative issue and requires their voices when finding common ground on our changing climate. That's noteworthy progress for our work to protect the places birds and families need to thrive for generations to come."
Audubon’s Birds and Climate Change Report found that 314 species of birds in North America are at risk because their habitats are shifting and shrinking due to climate change. The study shows that more than half of the bird species in North America, including the Florida Scrub-Jay, could lose at least 50 percent of their current ranges by 2080 due to rising temperatures. Given this urgent threat, Audubon supports advancing common-sense, bipartisan and fiscally-responsible solutions that address the causes and effects of a changing climate at the speed and scale birds and people need.
To learn more about Audubon’s Climate Initiative visit www.audubon.org/climate.
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Downloadable Photo: Florida Scrub-Jay by Terry Godbey
The National Audubon Society protects birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow, throughout the Americas using science, advocacy, education and on-the-ground conservation. Audubon’s state programs, nature centers, chapters and partners have an unparalleled wingspan that reaches millions of people each year to inform, inspire and unite diverse communities in conservation action. Since 1905, Audubon’s vision has been a world in which people and wildlife thrive. Audubon is a nonprofit conservation organization. Learn more at www.audubon.org and @audubonsociety.
