WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sen. John Kerry issued the following statement today after receiving a detailed report from the General Accounting Office on the effects of climate change on federal land and water resources. Kerry and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) requested the study in 2004. In damning language, the non-partisan GAO concluded that physical, chemical and economic impacts of climate change are already underway across our federal lands and waters. Impacts include economic and social effects, such as adverse impacts on recreation, fishing, and tourism. Moreover, the federal agencies that oversee federal land and water resources -- including Agriculture, Commerce and Interior -- don’t have the capacity to address and manage these dramatic and significant changes.

“We waited a long time for this report to confirm the daunting prospect that climate change is impacting our public lands from coast to coast, and this Administration is ill-equipped to respond,” Kerry said. “This report should push the Administration to follow last month’s court ruling to complete a long-overdue comprehensive and integrated national climate science assessment. I also hope that this report is a wakeup call for this Congress to take bold and decisive action to pass climate change legislation that reduces carbon emissions.”

Kerry, who has battled for years with the Bush Administration to produce a Congressionally-mandated comprehensive assessment on climate change science, is planning to introduce legislation to amend and strengthen the Global Change Research Act.

The detailed 184-page report also found:

• Federal land management agencies do not prioritize activities that address the impacts of climate change.
• Resource managers have limited guidance and are uncertain as to what, if any, actions they should take to address the impacts of climate change.
• Resource managers do not have localized, site-specific information to plan for and manage for the impacts of climate change.
• The Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce and Interior should develop clear, written guidance that explains how managers are expected to address the effects of climate change, and how resource managers should obtain and utilize site-specific information. 

Read the report at this link: http://kerry.senate.gov/congress/pdf/9-6-07-GAO.pdf 
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