$3.2 billion for conservation
iAs I reflect on this week's election activity across the country, I am struck by the resounding call by Americans to protect our lands and waters through ballot measures funding conservation. In an era of tightly constrained public budgets, funding for conservation is never guaranteed and many of our nation's most important conservation programs are underfunded.
That is where city, county and state ballot initiatives come into play. Americans strongly support saving the places they need and love — and are even willing to tax themselves to do so. Open space is an integral part of our community fabric.
In recent years, local, state and national land trusts have played a key role in leading or boosting successful ballot initiatives. On Tuesday, voters considered at least 58 conservation ballot measures across 23 states to fund land, water and open space conservation. Voters approved 49 of those measures, which, according to The Trust for Public Land, will provide an estimated $3,258,638,065 in new funding for conservation.
Voters also considered initiatives intended to mitigate climate change by reducing fossil fuel use and increasing renewable energy. Arizona Proposition 127 and Nevada Question 6 proposed requiring electric utilities to obtain 50 percent of their power from renewable sources. Unfortunately, Proposition 127 was defeated, and, although Nevada Question 6 was approved, it must be approved again on the 2020 ballot. In Washington state, voters rejected Initiative 1631, which would have put a price on carbon to fund clean air, water and land use programs through a rising fee on carbon emissions from power plants, refineries and other emitters.
While most climate change mitigation efforts fell short at the ballot box, I am heartened by the tremendous efforts of those that advocated for their passage. In the absence of more aggressive state and national policies to tackle climate change, the role of land trusts in mitigating climate change — through additional land conservation and smart land management — is more important than ever. That's why the Alliance is proud to support their efforts in this arena through our Land and Climate Program and why we continue to explore new ways that we can help land trusts take natural climate solutions to scale.
The ballot box will continue to be a vital tool to ensure clean water and open space for generations to come. As the national conversation turns soon to the 2020 election cycle, I welcome the opportunity for citizens to once again vote for conservation. This is one trend in American politics I'm eager to see continue.
Andrew Bowman is president of the Land Trust Alliance.