The year 2020 has been one of the most turbulent, destructive and divisive in our history. We experienced death, disease (COVID-19 pandemic), race riots, fires, floods and chaos in historic proportions. Our country has veered off-course and our President has fanned its flames. Thankfully, things are changing for the better.
Soon we will have a new President and Administration that are friendly to human and natural diversity. Early on, President-elect Biden intends to rejoin the Paris Accord on climate change and will issue an executive order to conserve 30% of US land and waters by 2030. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/21/opinion/biden-climate-change-conservation.html?referringSource=articleShare
This aligns with international goals to protect a third of the world’s lands and waters by 2030.
New Mexico Senator Tom Udall is championing the latter effort in the U.S. Currently 12 percent of the U.S. is protected, mostly in Alaska and the West. Gavin Newsome, California’s governor, signed an executive order committing the Golden State to protecting 30% of its land and coastal waters. South Carolina and Hawaii have pending bills with similar goals.
One of the things I learned from decades of experience in environmental nonprofits is that culture change takes time. We thought we were well on our way toward a culture of conservation back in 1970 beginning with Earth Day, but over the last four years, we have fallen backward. In addition to the 100-plus environmental rollbacks the departing administration has obtained and are documented here https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/climate/trump-environment-rollbacks-list.html, it abandoned the Paris Accord, drastically reduced the size of two new National Monuments, approved logging in Tongass National Forest and appointed saboteurs to head the EPA and the Department of the Interior. To say that this administration is hostile toward the environment and human health would be a gross understatement.
This makes the 30:30 vision especially heartening. We will soon be back in forward gear again, back to the future. Enric Sala, National Geographic explorer in residence and former Oceanography professor explains why this is so timely and important: “Our natural world is our life support system…everything we need to survive – oxygen, food, clean water – depends on the survival of other species…so this is not about saving nature. This is about saving ourselves.”
Exactly. It is the prudent thing to do, driven by science and steeped in concern for future generations. Enacting the 30:30 vision will help ensure the survival and sustainability of life on earth, including us.
