Audubon Endorses Bipartisan Bill to Encourage Climate Innovation

NEW YORK — “America needs bipartisan approaches to climate change like investing in clean energy technology,” said David Yarnold (@david_yarnold), president and CEO of the National Audubon Society after a new climate innovation bill was introduced in Congress.

“Our changing climate is the biggest threat facing America’s birds and people. We don’t have time to waste, and we can’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. It’s time to start with meaningful solutions like this legislation,” Yarnold added.

Led by Congressmen Dan Lipinski (D-IL) and John Faso (R-NY), the Challenges and Prizes for Climate Act of 2018 takes advantage of existing federal prize authority to spur innovation to combat our changing climate.

Joining Reps. Lipinski and Faso on this important legislation are Climate Solutions Caucus members Reps. Crist, Curbelo, Murphy, and Ros-Lehtinen.  In keeping with the bipartisan spirit of the Caucus, the bill has an equal number of Democratic and Republican cosponsors.

Recently, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) published a report detailing the record-breaking costs of weather and climate-related disasters in the United States in 2017. The US experienced 16 such disasters with losses exceeding $1 billion, and total costs for the year climbed past $300 billion—a new annual record.

In 2014, Audubon published its Birds and Climate Change Report. The study shows that more than half of the bird species in North America could lose at least half of their current ranges by 2080 due to rising temperatures. These species include the Bald Eagle, the American Kestrel and the Northern Harrier.

Given the urgent threat climate change poses to birds and people, Audubon supports common-sense, bipartisan solutions that reduce carbon pollution at the speed and scale necessary to protect birds and the places they need. 

To learn more about Audubon’s Climate Initiative, including how members and supporters can take steps to help birds in a changing climate, please visit www.audubon.org/climate. To read about solar options in your state and why solar energy is good for birds, please click here.

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 how to help at www.audubon.organd follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @audubonsociety.

Contact: Nicolas Gonzalez, ngonzalez@audubon.org, (212) 979-3068.

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