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Efforts to protect land and biodiversity across the globe gained steam on Wednesday as 8 philanthropic foundations pledged a collective $5 billion towards the goal of protecting 30 percent of the planet's land and water by 2030.
Hansjörg Wyss, founder and chairman of the Wyss Foundation, said his organization would donate an additional $500 million towards 30x30, on top of the $1 billion pledged three years ago.
“For our grandchildren and their grandchildren to have the same opportunities we’ve had, for them to inherit a functioning planet, we have to rapidly slow the rate at which our economies are destroying nature,” Wyss said.
Advocates for land conservation in the United States are stepping up their efforts as well. The Center for Western Priorities launched a major ad buy urging President Biden to use the Antiquities Act to protect new national monuments. The ad, “Every Generation,” features images of the Castner Range in El Paso, Texas; the proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary in California; the Owyhee Canyonlands in Oregon; and Avi Kwa Ame in Nevada.
Supporters of Avi Kwa Ame also launched an impressive new website on Wednesday that highlights the Indigenous voices calling on President Biden to protect the area.
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...of the fossil fuel companies that filed the 25 largest bankruptcy cases over the past three years, 76 of their executives received a combined $200 million in cash bonuses, retention payments and severance — an average payout of about $2.6 million per executive. At the same time, more than 10,500 workers at these companies lost their jobs. Cleanup costs for the oil and gas wells the companies controlled could top $10 billion.”
