The State of the Union speech included a quick mention of what’s quietly become a large part of the president’s environmental agenda.
(Bloomberg) — President Joe Biden tossed out one line in his State of the Union speech on an environmental policy that’s rarely discussed and yet is turning into a significant achievement: land conservation.
It might have been difficult to detect in Biden’s clipped syntax — the president described his policy as “historic conservation efforts to be responsible stewards of our lands” — but that effort now includes nearly $14 billion aimed at setting aside or restoring million of acres.
Biden talks a lot about being a climate change president and the jobs that will come from a transition to green energy. Saving lands from development rarely makes it into the spotlight. The US was one of few nations in the world not to sign onto an international agreement in December at COP15 that aims to conserve or restore 30% of the Earth’s land and water to pristine conditions, known as 30×30 goals.
But the US under Biden has quietly been stepping up on conservation. On his very first day in office, the president signed an executive order committing the US to 30×30 goals in what the White House now terms its America the Beautiful Initiative. Since then Biden has channeled nearly $11 billion to local land-conservation efforts through the Department of the Interior and another $2.7 billion through the US Agriculture Department.
The Center for American Progress, a policy institute that follows the topic, put out a report in December noting that this is an unprecedented pace. “Going back to 1965—when the Land and Water Conservation Fund was established—past presidents have averaged just over $3.5 billion in land conservation funding in the same two-year period, when adjusting for inflation. Biden’s investment is three times greater than that average,” the report noted. The next closest president, Jimmy Carter, distributed on $7.5 billion in the same period.
A lot of that money has been allocated through grant programs to tribes and local communities that put in applications. Some examples include money for outdoor recreation, such as turning a former industrial site in Trenton, New Jersey, into a fitness center and building a lakefront trail along Lake Eerie. One third of the money has gone to Tribal nations, according to CAP.
Despite the progress, it’s worth noting that the US still only formally protects 13% of its land mass and that the wildlife populations have plunged globally by an average of about 70% since 1970. As the global biodiversity crisis becomes a point of focus among nations looking to slow the pace of global warming and manage its consequences, it will be worth watching if Biden’s conservation efforts keep pace with policies pursued by green-oriented nations elsewhere.
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