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Environment and Sustainability Task Force:

Biodiversity and Habitat Protection Working Group

Overview of Policy on Biodiversity and Habitat Protection

Biodiversity--the astonishing range of life forms on Earth--is in crisis. The rate of extinctions now is greater than when the dinosaurs died out, and it is rising rapidly. The main causes of extinctions today are: habitat loss due to human land uses, presence of human-made toxic chemicals in water, soil, and air, and global climate change that is altering temperatures and water salinity in whole ecosystems. We should care about extinctions not just out of nostalgia for lost species, but because some species are critical to the survival of whole ecosystems, some species offer information and substances that are valuable in medicine, agriculture, engineering, and other fields, and because each extinction throws our global system out of balance. PDA supports policies that address the root causes of biodiversity loss, including sensitive land use planning, control of toxic substances, and aggressive efforts to slow global warming.

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Policy Position Papers

(No papers available at this time. Drafts are in progress)

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What You Can Do

Our task force recommends the following actions for individuals and groups. Follow the links for tips, tools, and suggestions.

• (Individual) Lobby to preserve Tongass National Forest.
• (Group) Create a schoolyard habitat garden: It provides habitat for wildlife and a great educational opportunity for urban children to learn about the non-human world up close. It can also provide new ways to engage neighbors and parents in the life of the school and the school in the life of the community.

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Educational and Action Resources

Two excellent articles that explain why and how cities offer the best alternatives for sustainable living. By increasing population density we dramatically decrease energy and other resource use and we can greatly improve quality of life as well:

• Green Manhattan, by David Owen, first published in The New Yorker, October 18, 2004.
  Available online from Greenbelt Newswire
• New Lessons from the Old World, by Jay Walljasper, E Magazine, March-April, 2005.

Sierra Club report: Sprawl costs us all.
A detailed report on the ways sprawl is "draining our pocketbooks and raising our taxes."

Beatley, Timothy. 2000. Green Urbanism. Island Press.
An inspiring compendium of examples of the ways European cities are moving toward sustainability and livability. Includes chapters on transportation, policy, building, green space, etc. Beatley includes thoughtful commentary on what is or is not translatable to American cities and why.

Bullard, Robert D., Glenn S. Johnson, and Angel O. Torres. 2000. Sprawl City: Race, politics, and planning in Atlanta. Washington, D.C.: Island Press.
A multi-disciplinary examination of the effects of Atlanta's rapid, sprawling growth on the environment, with particular attention to race, class, and issues of environmental justice.

New Rules.org, "Land Value taxation"
On property tax policy to promote urban revitalization.

Urban Habitat has a comprehensive position paper on brownfields policy.
Brownfields are abandoned sites of former industrial activity that may or may not be contaminated.

Town Meets Country : Farm-City Forums on Land and Community.
Joint project of the American Farmland Trust and the U.S. Council of Mayors to counteract sprawl and promote the common interests of urban and rural residents.

Urbanism holds promise for reducing energy use.
From the July/August, 2005 issue of New Urban News. (Click on Past Articles, then look for the title.)

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In the News

6/28/05 Endangered Species Act under fire from two directions, by Brad Knickerbocker, Christian Science Monitor.
Provides statistics on the ways that greater residential density reduces energy consumption.

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