Species Protection as a Natural Climate Solution
This Article, adapted from Chapter 16 of What Can Animal Law Learn From Environmental Law?, 2d Edition (ELI Press, forthcoming 2020), explores existing and potential wildlife conservation policies that could play a vital role in mitigating global climate change. It describes how climate change is impacting wildlife and biodiversity around the globe and reviews the history and current state of U.S. policy, including how the federal government currently manages climate change issues under the ESA. It then proposes ways that the ESA and other wildlife conservation policies can mitigate climate change as natural climate solutions. It analyzes new wildlife conservation policies for their potential to mitigate climate change, and concludes that these can provide much-needed protection for species and biodiversity, while also serving as a valuable and meaningful tool to combat climate change.