Full Text of HR0964 102nd General Assembly
HR0964 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The people of Illinois have an important | 3 | | relationship with nature and have called on their local, | 4 | | state, and federal government to preserve and protect nature, | 5 | | both within the State of Illinois and across the United | 6 | | States; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Illinois is the home of species and habitats that | 8 | | are of ecological, spiritual, cultural, historic, | 9 | | recreational, and scientific value to the people of Illinois | 10 | | and need to be protected for current and future generations; | 11 | | and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Illinois and the United States are facing an | 13 | | unprecedented biodiversity crisis, largely driven by human | 14 | | activity; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, Addressing the biodiversity crisis requires | 16 | | coordinated action across national and state boundaries; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Human-driven activities are significantly | 18 | | damaging the Earth's ecosystems by altering 75 percent of the | 19 | | area of terrestrial environments and 66 percent of marine | 20 | | environments; these activities are directly exploiting | 21 | | wildlife and plant species, accelerating climate change, |
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| 1 | | directly harming nature, introducing invasive species, | 2 | | polluting air, land, and water, and exacerbating other | 3 | | threats; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, Human-driven activities are threatening | 5 | | approximately one million species with extinction in the | 6 | | coming decades, including over 40 percent of amphibians, 33 | 7 | | percent of corals, sharks, shark relatives, and marine | 8 | | mammals, over 60 percent of cycads, over 30 percent of conifer | 9 | | trees, and approximately 10 percent of over 5 million insect | 10 | | species; these activities are additionally causing population | 11 | | sizes of wild species to decline by an average of 68 percent | 12 | | for mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, and reptiles, including | 13 | | the loss of nearly 3 billion birds in North America since 1970; | 14 | | and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, Human activity is accelerating the decline of | 16 | | important economic and cultural services with the productivity | 17 | | of nearly one-fourth of the land surface reduced, with over | 18 | | one-third of land surface and 75 percent of freshwater | 19 | | resources devoted to crop or livestock production, with | 20 | | approximately half a trillion dollars of global crops at risk | 21 | | from pollinator loss, and with 25 percent of greenhouse gas | 22 | | emissions caused by land clearing, crops, and fertilization; | 23 | | and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Coordination at a global, national, regional, and | 2 | | local scale is necessary to address the biodiversity crisis; | 3 | | and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, The decline of biodiversity disproportionately | 5 | | impacts indigenous and other communities that rely on nature | 6 | | for essential services, including Native Americans and Alaska | 7 | | Natives, who offer unique perspectives and traditional | 8 | | ecological knowledge critical to preserving biodiversity; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, The United States possesses an abundance and | 10 | | great diversity of species of fish, wildlife, and plants that | 11 | | are of significant value to the United States for intrinsic, | 12 | | aesthetic, ecological, educational, cultural, recreational, | 13 | | economic, and scientific reasons; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, The decline of biodiversity presents a direct | 15 | | threat to the security, health, and well-being of the people | 16 | | of the United States by causing economic harm through the loss | 17 | | of valuable ecosystem services, including zoonotic disease | 18 | | buffering, pollination, water filtration, soil replenishment, | 19 | | provision of game species, medicinal products, recreational | 20 | | opportunities, and others; and
| 21 | | WHEREAS, Communities of color, low-income communities, | 22 | | tribal communities, and other populations that have been |
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| 1 | | systematically and deliberately targeted for the siting of | 2 | | environmentally degrading activities and excluded from | 3 | | conservation efforts face disproportionate impacts from | 4 | | biodiversity loss; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, There is no coordinating policy to maximize the | 6 | | effectiveness of the federal government's conservation efforts | 7 | | and collaboration with the states, local governments, tribes, | 8 | | private landowners, and other nongovernmental stakeholders; | 9 | | and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, The United States should play a leading role on | 11 | | the international stage in addressing the biodiversity crisis, | 12 | | yet the United States is not a party to the Convention on | 13 | | Biological Diversity, the Convention on Migratory Species, and | 14 | | other relevant international agreements; additionally, the | 15 | | U.S. does not issue a national biodiversity outlook, contrary | 16 | | to most other countries, and does not have a national | 17 | | biodiversity strategy as part of the Intergovernmental | 18 | | Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem | 19 | | Services; therefore, be it
| 20 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 21 | | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 22 | | we urge the federal government to: | 23 | | (1) Establish a national biodiversity strategy to |
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| 1 | | ensure the conservation and restoration of the nation's | 2 | | biodiversity; | 3 | | (2) Secure and restore the ecosystem services provided | 4 | | by nature for current and future generations; | 5 | | (3) Deliver on the United Nations Sustainable | 6 | | Development Goals; | 7 | | (4) Set ambitious yet necessary goals for protecting | 8 | | biodiversity in the coming decades;
| 9 | | (5) Promote social equity and justice in the | 10 | | conservation of the nation's biodiversity; | 11 | | (6) Coordinate the actions of federal agencies to | 12 | | advance the conservation of biodiversity; | 13 | | (7) Promote collaboration among the federal, state, | 14 | | and tribal governments, nongovernmental stakeholders, and | 15 | | civil society and internationally to advance conservation; | 16 | | (8) Honor the federal trust obligations to tribal | 17 | | nations and Native Americans; and | 18 | | (9) Provide global leadership in addressing the | 19 | | biodiversity crisis; and be it further | 20 | | RESOLVED, That we urge the federal government to develop | 21 | | the national biodiversity strategy with significant public | 22 | | input and in collaboration and coordination with federal and | 23 | | state agencies; and be it further
| 24 | | RESOLVED, That we urge the federal government's national |
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| 1 | | biodiversity strategy to include direction on: | 2 | | (1) Supporting the national goal of conserving at | 3 | | least 30 percent of United States lands and waters to | 4 | | protect biodiversity by 2030; | 5 | | (2) Setting other goals necessary to reduce the | 6 | | threats to biodiversity as indicated by the best available | 7 | | scientific information; | 8 | | (3) Taking action to protect threatened, endangered, | 9 | | and at-risk species from further imperilment or | 10 | | extinction; and | 11 | | (4) Reviewing existing laws, plans, programs, and | 12 | | strategies that are relevant to addressing threats to | 13 | | biodiversity to assess how they can contribute to the | 14 | | objectives of this resolution and, as found necessary, to | 15 | | recommend new laws, plans, programs, and strategies and | 16 | | fund existing conservation programs and develop new | 17 | | funding sources; and be it further
| 18 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies be delivered to the | 19 | | President, the U.S. Senate Majority Leader, the U.S. Senate | 20 | | Minority Leader, the U.S. Speaker of the House, the U.S. House | 21 | | of Representatives Minority Leader, and all members of the | 22 | | Illinois Congressional Delegation.
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