Texas efforts to conserve whooping cranes and Kemp's Ridley Turtles have bolstered these animals' numbers and been a great success. The author also remembers Cecile Richards, who died of brain cancer on January 20. Cecile founded the Texas Freedom Network (TFN) and was a fierce advocate for women’s rights, abortion rights, and social justice.
COP 28 was held in Dubai and was chaired by the head of a national oil company. In addition to transition away from fossil fuels language, progress was made in a number of areas, including reduction of methane emissions (which account for about 30% of the Earth’s warming), increasing renewable energy, accelerating a switch to electric vehicles, and promoting carbon capture. Nuclear fusion is in the news and may be a silver bullet longer term. Of course conservation could help a bunch.
Author discusses early love of hunting in and hunts in Wyoming and Texas. With dramatic loss of wildlife, the North American Conservation Model and conservation organizations, have added and maintained wildlife habitat, along with the 1937 Pittman-Robertson Act, which promoted a federal excise tax on hunting equipment. Hunting does promote conservation.