Government Relations & Environmental Policy

Today, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) announced the results of a telephone town hall meeting convened by the conservation organization late last week for many of their 55,000 Illinois members.

Today, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) launched a targeted radio ad highlighting the importance of the tiny sliver of the federal budget that is dedicated to addressing conservation, global poverty and health.

A key World Trade Organization negotiating body released a a long-awaited report which underscores the urgent need to halt government-subsidized overfishing.

America’s conservation heritage took a major hit in the reckless budget plan that passed the House of Representatives, including many programs intended to protect the health of our children and the natural world that we all depend on, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said today. The budget proposal strips away funding to save the world’s forests, fisheries and disappearing wildlife. It would also take unprecedented steps to prevent the stewards of our air, water and public lands from doing their jobs, leaving millions of Americans in harms way.  Many of the proposed cuts would slash funding by 30 percent or more, and some programs to maintain America’s parks, protect tropical rainforests and to address the causes and consequences of climate change would be eliminated entirely.

Until America fully transitions to clean energy sources, oil and gas development must be done safely with science-based decisions that are made in the context of the full suite of potential uses of ocean resources, including fishing and tourism, as well as the maintenance of overall ecosystem health, World Wildlife Fund President and CEO Carter Roberts said today.

World Wildlife Fund’s long campaign to protect Alaska’s Arctic seas and coastlines from oil and gas development won a major victory last night when a federal court put a hold on recent leases that would have opened up the Chukchi Sea to new drilling.

An interagency task force within the Obama administration today issued final recommendations for a national ocean policy that would for the first time establish a coordinated system for managing America’s oceans, coasts and Great Lakes.  The recommendations are expected to be formalized by President Obama in an Executive Order as soon as today. Implementing such a policy has long been a top priority for World Wildlife Fund.

China, Europe, India, Brazil and dozens of other developed and developing countries announced specific steps to fight climate change, meeting yesterday’s deadline to submit such commitments under the Copenhagen Accord.  While yesterday was the official deadline for submitting targets, countries may continue to sign on and associate themselves with the agreement.

World Wildlife Fund today issued the following statement today from WWF President and CEO Carter Roberts in response to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s speech before the UN Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen:

World Wildlife Fund today issued the following statement today from WWF President and CEO Carter Roberts in response to Senator John F. Kerry’s (D-Mass.) speech before the UN Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen:

As the lights were turned back on at the conclusion of the special Earth Hour Hopenhagen, UN Chef de Cabinet, Vijay Nambiar, told the city that Copenhagen could usher in a new era of hope.

World Wildlife Fund today issued the following statement from WWF President and CEO Carter Roberts in Washington DC, following President Obama’s awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize.

A trio of Senate leaders today outlined the framework of a bi-partisan climate change bill that could pass the chamber early next year.  The announcement is expected to bolster the climate talks underway in Copenhagen, where US legislation is universally regarded as a critical element of any global agreement.

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) issued the following statement from Keya Chatterjee, Acting Director of Climate Change for WWF, in reaction to remarks today by President Obama and President Hu Jintao on prospects for the upcoming climate negotiations in Copenhagen:

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA, November 16, 2009 – World Wildlife Fund this week launched a 10-day TV advertising campaign in Alaska, urging voters to contact Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Mark Begich (D-Alaska) and ask them to support climate legislation. Alaska is feeling the impacts of climate change more than any other state, and its Senators could play a key role in reaching a bipartisan solution on the issue.

Landmark legislation that would address climate change and lay the foundation for a new clean energy economy advanced closer to final passage today.

World Wildlife Fund has launched a national public awareness campaign urging voters to contact their Senators in support of legislation that would help protect the nation and the world from potentially devastating impacts of climate change.

After years of the U.S. failing to address the climate crisis under the previous administration, China, Brazil and other emerging economies are moving forward, setting ambitious emissions targets and disproving the conventional wisdom in Washington that says they do not take climate change seriously and are unwilling to take action, World Wildlife Fund CEO Carter Roberts told Congress today.  As the Obama Administration and Congress reclaim U.S. leadership on the critical issue of climate change, they will find willing allies in the developing world, Roberts said.

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) officials today praised Senator Barbara Boxer’s (D-CA) announcement of the key principles for upcoming legislation to address climate change.

The Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act (S. 3036) today failed to garner a 60 vote supermajority necessary to advance the legislation in the U.S. Senate. However, the 48-36 vote in favor of proceeding marked a significant shift in political support for addressing climate change, said Dr. Richard Moss, vice president of climate change at World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

Legislation to protect endangered and iconic animals, including leopards, cheetahs and African wild dogs, passed the U.S. House of Representatives today.  World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) chief scientist testified in support of the bill at a hearing in September.

Washington - World Wildlife Fund officials today offered strong praise for the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in approving S. 2020, a bill that reauthorizes the Tropical Forest Conservation Act (TFCA).

WASHINGTON DC - Senior officials from the State and Defense Departments testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in favor of a proposal under which the United States would join the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention, a major treaty governing shipping, commerce and trade across the world’s oceans.

WASHINGTON – The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee has approved the re-authorization for an additional five years of  conservation programs for African elephants, Asian elephants, rhinos and tigers. The Senate Committee adopted H.R. 465 and H.R. 50, which were passed by the House of Representatives on July 23. There were no amendments and the two bills are expected to be adopted by the Senate by unanimous consent and then head to the President’s desk for signature.

Washington, DC - A new and unprecedented scientific study released today reinforces the need for governments, private sector, and broad international community action to protect natural systems for the sake of humanity, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

Over the next 20 years, the carbon dioxide emissions that cause global warming will increase by at least 40% in the electricity sector alone under President Bush's energy plan, according to a new study released today by World Wildlife Fund.

A new proposal offers some hope that governments may be able to break the current deadlock in international negotiations on climate change, according to World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

President Bush has acknowledged the threat global warming poses to the environment. Yet, his budget will only exacerbate this threat, by slashing important energy efficiency and renewable energy programs that help curb carbon emissions.

World Wildlife Fund today called for major changes to The Credit for Voluntary Early Action Act which was reintroduced in Congress by Senator John Chafee. The bill is essentially the same as the environmentally flawed bill introduced in the second session of the 105th Congress last fall.