Repower, Refuel, Rebuild, and Restore America

Scientists have made it clear: to avoid the worst impacts of global warming, we must quickly begin to reduce global warming pollution by as soon as possible to reach 80% by 2050.

How can we Repower, Refuel, Rebuild, and Restore America in one piece of legislation?

In 2008, the majority of the U.S. Senate stood up in support of this goal. However, the Climate Security Act fell short of the votes needed to keep it alive in Congress.

In the fight to protect wildlife from the devastating impacts of climate change, the National Wildlife Federation and NWF Action Fund are working to build support in Congress in 2009 for federal legislation that will help America reduce our emissions and jumpstart a clean energy future.  America's sportsmen are a critical part of this effort to craft a sensible global warming policy that will create jobs, increase energy independence, and restore our natural resources.  

What would ideal strong global warming look like?

Strong global warming legislation provides for a mechanism to rapidly reduce global warming pollution, increase the use of clean and renewable energy sources, and make great improvements in energy efficiency. It will also use proceeds generated from the sale or auction of emissions allowances to fund host of programs including clean energy technology and job training.  Most importantly to us hunters and anglers, however, is that a portion of these proceeds are used to fund state and federal fish and wildlife management agencies. These funds will strengthen our wildlife habitats and provide the wildlife we care about the most with the robust habitat necessary to avoid the worst effects of a warming planet.

A "cap-and-invest" policy is a market-based system where the government issues a fixed number of pollution "credits" (or allowances) each year, which polluters must buy in order to pollute (each pollution allowance entitles the polluter to emit one ton of pollution that year). By reducing the number of allowances available each year--also known as lowering the cap--we can attain our global warming pollution reduction goal while spurring innovation and investment in clean energy technology.

Lacking any strong legislation in Congress right now, the Climate Security Act from the summber of 2008 provides a good model for what a future bill might look like.  Consider browsing the resources below to see how the bill was crafted and how a future bill might look. 

Climate Security Act Links: