Title: Expressing the need for protecting and conserving at least 50 percent of the lands and oceans in the United States and encouraging diplomatic efforts to achieve this goal worldwide.
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources

Summary:
This resolution expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that (1) the Earth is facing an imminent crisis from the extinction of species and the decline of biodiversity, and (2) Congress should work to support protecting and conserving at least 50% of the lands and oceans in the United States and encourage diplomatic efforts to achieve this goal worldwide.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1163 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1163

 Expressing the need for protecting and conserving at least 50 percent 
of the lands and oceans in the United States and encouraging diplomatic 
                efforts to achieve this goal worldwide.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 9, 2022

Mr. Beyer submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
  Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on 
  Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the need for protecting and conserving at least 50 percent 
of the lands and oceans in the United States and encouraging diplomatic 
                efforts to achieve this goal worldwide.

Whereas the Earth is facing a biodiversity and extinction crisis;
Whereas there has been an average 68-percent decrease in population sizes of 
        mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fish between 1970 and 2016;
Whereas the global rate of species extinction is at least tens to hundreds of 
        times higher than the average rate over the past 10,000,000 years and is 
        accelerating;
Whereas humans are causing an unprecedented decline in natural ecosystems and 
        global biodiversity, and at current rates could cause the extinction of 
        more than 1,000,000 species;
Whereas climate change and the destruction of natural environments present 
        existential crises for humans and millions of other species around the 
        world;
Whereas all life depends on essential ecosystems, including for food, clean air 
        and water, protection from extreme weather events, and as a source for 
        new medicines;
Whereas damaging or erasing ecosystems can therefore have a profound impact on 
        wildlife and human health and well-being;
Whereas inequitable policies have led to a targeted denuding of biodiversity in 
        communities of color and low-income communities, creating great harm and 
        preventing these communities from having equal access to the benefits of 
        biodiversity;
Whereas land degradation is one of the largest contributors to climate change 
        and is responsible for the loss of trillions of dollars' worth of 
        ecosystem benefits each year;
Whereas scientific studies indicate that if current trends in habitat conversion 
        and anthropogenic emissions do not peak by 2030, global temperatures 
        will rise more than 1.5 Celsius, resulting in severe impacts to 
        ecosystems globally;
Whereas the late E.O. Wilson has estimated that protecting half of the Earth's 
        land and seas would be sufficient to preserve 85 percent of the planet's 
        species, and with it, global biodiversity;
Whereas conserving and restoring natural ecosystems provides greater net 
        economic benefits than destroying natural spaces and wildlife for 
        profit;
Whereas jobs that do not harm biodiversity, such as the outdoor recreation 
        industry that alone accounted for 1.8 percent ($374,000,000,000) of 
        current-dollar gross domestic product and created 4,300,000 direct jobs 
        in 2020, enable individuals to have meaningful careers outside of toxic 
        industries that harm their health;
Whereas public-private partnerships play a notable role in achieving 
        conservation efforts within the United States and around the world;
Whereas studies have shown that communities often experience economic and 
        employment growth and health improvements when local natural areas are 
        protected;
Whereas establishing protected natural areas can reduce local rates of 
        infectious diseases, provide cleaner drinking water, improve diets, 
        reduce air pollution, and generally provide for a healthier population;
Whereas access to nature ensures cultural and spiritual enrichment, as well as 
        physical and mental health benefits;
Whereas biodiversity conservation is essential to ensure that pollinators and 
        other beneficial species for food production, globally valued at up to 
        more than $500,000,000,000, will continue to thrive;
Whereas natural areas such as forests, wetlands, grasslands, and mangroves can 
        sequester large amounts of carbon, and protecting these areas prevents 
        sequestered carbon from being released into the atmosphere;
Whereas the disappearance and destruction of natural habitat is the primary 
        cause of biological diversity loss at every level and is a cause of 
        zoonotic spillover that can contribute to pandemics;
Whereas only by the preservation of substantial, more natural, intact habitat 
        than previously envisioned can human-driven extinctions be eliminated; 
        and
Whereas the America the Beautiful Initiative and its goal of conserving 30 
        percent of lands and oceans in the United States by 2030 is a crucial 
        first step to protecting biodiversity and mitigating the effects of 
        climate change: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that--
            (1) the Earth is facing an imminent crisis from the 
        extinction of species and the decline of biodiversity; and
            (2) Congress should work to support protecting and 
        conserving at least 50 percent of the lands and oceans in the 
        United States and encourage diplomatic efforts to achieve this 
        goal worldwide.
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