'It's about saving ourselves': senator pushes plan to conserve 30% of US by 2030

'It's about saving ourselves': senator pushes plan to conserve 30% of US by 2030 Tom Udall’s ‘30 by 30’ proposal seeks to align US with international goals to protect and preserve global ecosystems Hannah Chinn the Guardian

A US senator has introduced a proposal to conserve 30% of the country’s lands and seas in the next 10 years, amid a surge of similar proposals.

The initiative, brought by the New Mexico senator Tom Udall last week, is called the “30 by 30” plan. In the US, 12% of land area is protected, according to Udall, mostly in Alaska and the west. If passed, the resolution would align the United States with international goals to protect and preserve nearly a third of the world’s land and water by 2030.

The United States faces a conservation and climate crisis, with nature in a steep decline and greenhouse gas emissions not declining at the rate scientists say is needed,” according to the proposal. “Nature, like the climate, is nearing a tipping point.”

Currently, about 15% of the world’s land and 7% of its ocean waters are protected, said the National Geographic explorer-in-residence and former oceanography professor Enric Sala.

The goal of 30% is the midway point to a much larger conservation goal – some environmental experts argue that in order to prevent climate collapse, 50% of the Earth will need to be conserved and protected by 2050.

“If we want to prevent the extinction of a million species, and the collapse of our life support systems, and if we want to prevent irreversible catastrophic climate change, we need at least half of the planet in its natural state,” Sala added. “That’s what science is telling us.”

Similar pushes are already occurring at the state level. State bills for 30 by 30 goals have been introduced in South Carolina and Hawaii, and just a few weeks ago, California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, signed an executive order promising to protect 30% of the state’s land and coastal waters by 2030. ...