ConservAmerica March Newsletter

The Cherry Blossom trees in DC peaked on March 17 this year, the second earliest on record.

Spring is officially upon us and the cherry blossoms have peaked. It’s been a busy month so let’s get right into it!

Two members of our Roosevelt Conservation Caucus introduced landmark legislation this month. Earlier in March, Congressman Bruce Westerman (R-AR), Chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources, introduced the America’s Wildlife Habitat Conservation Act (AWHCA). This legislation, H.R. 7408, would make investments of $320 million in grant funding and give states the opportunity and support to enact their congressionally mandated wildlife action plans. It is a common-sense approach that prioritizes local leadership, fiscal responsibility, and streamlining counter-productive regulations. We sat down with Rep. Westerman to chat about his new bill, which you can watch here. To learn more about AWHCA, click here.

Bookending the month, Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA), Chairman of the Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Materials subcommittee on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, introduced the Ocean Restoration Research and Development Act of 2024 (H.R. 7797). Ocean Iron Fertilization (OIF) provides us a unique opportunity to sequester tens of millions of tons of legacy CO2 while simultaneously helping restore fisheries. Rep. Carter’s bill could be a game changer when it comes to restoring our oceans and mitigating the impacts of a changing climate.

To coincide with the introduction of this legislation, ConservAmerica has launched a webpage offering a critical look at the plight of our oceans and its inhabitants. ConservAmerica has a long history of support for Ocean Iron Fertilization, which you can read about here, here, and here.

In between applauding the introduction of these two pieces of important legislation we weighed in on a few significant topics of interest. Our President, Jeff Kupfer, made the conservative case for keeping the Inflation Reduction Act, and then spoke to how the moratorium on exporting LNG hurts not only the US but Europe also.

Meanwhile, our new ConservAmerica Fellow (more on that later) wrote his inaugural piece on how deterring China in the Pacific requires better fisheries management.

That’s it for us this month. Sunnier days are ahead – get outside and play!

VIDEO: ConservAmerica Chats With Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-AR)

ConservAmerica President Jeff Kupfer sat down recently with Roosevelt Conservation Caucus member and U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR). Earlier this month, Chairman Westerman unveiled the America’s Wildlife Habitat Conservation Act (AWCHA). This legislation, H.R. 7408, would make investments of $320 million in grant funding and give states the opportunity and support to enact their congressionally mandated wildlife action plans.

ConservAmerica Applauds Introduction of Ocean Restoration Legislation

ConservAmerica Vice President of Policy Todd Johnston released the following statement today upon the introduction of the Ocean Restoration Research and Development Act of 2024 (H.R. 7797). The legislation was introduced by Roosevelt Conservation Caucus Co-Chair Congressman Buddy Carter (GA-01):

“This bill could be a game changer when it comes to restoring our oceans and mitigating the impacts of a changing climate.

ConservAmerica Launches New Website Focused on Ocean Health

ConservAmerica is pleased to announce the launch of a new website dedicated to taking a critical look at the plight of our oceans and its inhabitants.

“Decades of overfishing, habitat destruction, pollution, and, more recently, the impacts of a warming ocean are being felt around the globe,” said ConservAmerica Legal Counsel Brent Fewell. “The goal of this site is to provide timely and relevant information on our oceans, focusing specifically on one simple and cost-effective solution that we believe should be explored – Ocean Iron Fertilization.

Commentary: The conservative case for keeping the Inflation Reduction Act

In February 2023, Rep. Andrew Ogles (R-Tenn.) and 20 of his Republican colleagues introduced a straightforward piece of legislation. The bill declared, “Public Law 117–169 (commonly referred to as the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022) is repealed.”

It’s easy to understand why these members felt this way. Six months earlier, in August 2022, President Joe Biden and the Democratic Congress had jammed through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) on a party-line vote. The bill was hatched by Democratic leadership working within its own caucus, and there was little attempt to attract the other party.

Commentary: The moratorium on exporting LNG hurts this state and Europe too

In 2016, after a lengthy permit approval process, the United States exported its first cargo of liquified natural gas from the lower 48 states. Since then, the U.S. has leapfrogged every other country to become the world’s largest exporter of LNG.

But in in January, following the same playbook that President Barrack Obama used for LNG and the Keystone XL Pipeline during his 2012 reelection campaign, President Joe Biden announced a “temporary pause” on LNG export approvals.

Deterring China in the Pacific requires better fisheries management

Congress delivered a major blow to Beijing’s ambitions in the Pacific last week by officially recommitting to another 20 years of support for Micronesia, Palau, and the Marshall Islands.

Collectively known as the Freely Associated States (FAS), these three nations are uniquely tied to the United States through the Compacts of Free Association (COFAs), which grants us military jurisdiction over a vital region in the Pacific in exchange for economic assistance and citizenship privileges.

With your help, we can continue to provide leadership on environmental and conservation issues based on the principles of respect for free markets, property rights, and personal responsibility.

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