Can this be happening? Outdoors types, the so-called "hook and bullet" crowd mucking through the woods with guns and fishing tackle, are joining ranks with environmentalists and demanding action to stop global warming.
More than 600 hunting and fishing groups - including members of Trout Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, Women in the Wilderness and the Phoenix Varmint Callers - are lobbying Congress to take action to reduce the level of greenhouse gas emissions, particularly carbon dioxide (CO2).
Their leader, David Nomsen, VP of Pheasants Forever, joined with Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) this month to raise a clamor about the dangers global warming will have on wildlife and its habitat. Their message, as detailed in a new report from Wildlife Management Institute, is that global warming creates climate changes that threaten to kill off the prey that hunters and fishermen are getting up so early in the morning to track down.
The message to politicians is clear: If you want to keep your 2nd Amendment voters happy, protect their ability to hunt something by keeping it alive. To do that, Nomsen and friends want Congress to take real action on global warming.
These groups won't be impressed by President Bush's much publicized call for action on global warming this month. The reason: Bush is only talking about slowing future growth of greenhouse gas emissions.
Nomsen's hook and bullet pals have rejected that approach and instead support legislation that would mandate emission rollbacks from current levels. These conservationists have lobbied Congress to require emission cuts of 2% a year.
Nomsen's group is also working with Sen. John Warner (R-VA), who is pushing global warming legislation that would mandate cutting today's greenhouse gas releases until they're 60% below levels measured in 2005.
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