WTF Has Obama Done? - Issue No. 012 - Conservation

I'll be straightforward with you.  If Republicans had their way, our entire country would be a vast, empty and dry desert.  We'd probably go through famine, and our beautiful precious landscape gone within a matter of years.  Thank you God for our democracy!  We live in the land of the free, but it doesn't mean we can take advantage of it and let it die.  

All the Repubs want to do is "drill baby drill" when the oil we drill doesn't even stay in this country.  Did you know that the oil we drill and natural gas we produce in this country are sent to other nations?  Probably not, because most Americans are gullible or watch Fox News - one or the two.  But I'm not here to talk about Oil, I'm here to talk about conservation.

President Barack Obama has not only  managed to achieve 6 broad policies, 3 sources of funding and 8 targeted areas for a total of 17 achievements in regard to Conservation in 3 short years, he has managed to protect our water, landscape, refuges, and our national parks greater than any president has to date.  Today I shall cover 1 from each area.

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Morris K. Udall Scholarship and Excellence in National Environmental Policy Amendments Act of 2009.

The Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation is an Executive Branch office of the United States Government. The Foundation was established by the Congress in 1992 to honor Morris Udall’s thirty years of service in the House of Representatives. Congress amended the name in 2009 to include Stewart Udall, in recognition of his public service. The full official name of the Foundation is Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Scholarship and Excellence in National Environmental Policy Foundation. The President of the United States appoints its board of trustees with the advice and consent of the Senate.

• Annual scholarships and fellowships to outstanding students who intend to pursue careers related to the natural environment. A student who receives such a scholarship may be known as Udall Scholar.
• Annual scholarships and internships to outstanding Native American and Alaska Native college students who intend to pursue careers in health care and tribal public policy.
• Parks in Focus, which takes young people into national and state parks to expose them to the grandeur of the nation's natural resources and instill a sustainable appreciation for the environment.
• Host an annual conference or discussion of contemporary environmental or Native American issues.
• A program for environmental policy research and a program for environmental conflict resolution at the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy at the University of Arizona. [Reference-1, Reference-2]

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Increased funding for national parks and forests.

President Barack Obama promised to boost funding for national parks and forests, and a bill he signed on Oct. 30, 2009, has done just that. "Will repair the damage done to our national parks by inadequate funding and emphasize the protection and restoration of our National Forests."

In the latest appropriations bill for the Interior Department, which oversees national parks and forests, Congress approved about $2.7 billion to preserve and improve the tracts of land. That's a $218 million increase over the last National Park Service budget, or about 10 percent, according to the House Appropriations Committee.
 
About $2.2 billion will go to operating the national park system, and about $15 million will support a new grant program for park preservation, among other things.

"This bill demonstrates a concerted effort by Congress and the Administration to restore our national treasures in time for the 2016 centennial of the National Park Service," said Tom Kiernan, president of the National Parks Conservation Association.  [Reference-1, Reference-2]

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Reengaged in the treaties/agreements to protect the Antarctic.

In 1959, representatives from 12 countries came together in Washington to sign the Antarctic Treaty, which is sometimes referred to as the first arms control agreement of the Cold War. Today, 47 nations have signed it. And as a result, Antarctica is one of the few places on earth where there has never been war. Other than occasional arguments among scientists and those stationed there over weighty matters having to do with sports, entertainment, and science, there has been very little conflict.

It is a land where science is the universal language and the highest priority and where people from different regions, races, and religions live and work together in one of the planet’s most remote, beautiful, and dangerous places.

The genius of the Antarctic Treaty lies in its relevance today. It was written to meet the challenges of an earlier time, but it and its related instruments remain a key tool in our efforts to address an urgent threat of this time, climate change, which has already destabilized communities on every continent, endangered plant and animal species, and jeopardized critical food and water sources. - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's remarks at the Joint Session of the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting and the Arctic Council, 50th Anniversary of the Antarctic Treaty [Reference-1, Reference-2]

As promised, I will come back to this topic in another issue.  Please make sure to read the next issue, Issue No. 013 - Employment: Jobs as I continue with
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