Bill Text: IL HR0964 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Urges the federal government to: (1) Establish a national biodiversity strategy; (2) Secure and restore the ecosystem services provided by nature; (3) Deliver on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals; (4) Set ambitious goals for protecting biodiversity in the coming decades; (5) Promote social equity and justice in the conservation of the nation's biodiversity; (6) Coordinate the actions of federal agencies to advance the conservation of biodiversity; (7) Promote collaboration to advance conservation; (8) Honor the federal trust obligations to tribal nations and Native Americans; and (9) Provide global leadership in addressing the biodiversity crisis.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-11-15 - Referred to Rules Committee [HR0964 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2021-HR0964-Introduced.html
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
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, |
| |||||||
| |||||||
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
|
| |||||||
| |||||||
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 |
| |||||||
| |||||||
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 |
| |||||||
| |||||||
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 |
| |||||||
| |||||||
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.
|