U.S. REDD+ Fast Track in peril with DC budget debate

Eric Haxthausen, U.S. climate policy director for The Nature Conservancy, has a good blog hyperlinked in the blog title. It is briefly cited below:

It is a busy week on the Hill, between the release of President Barack Obama’s budget proposal and the debate in Congress about H.R. 1, the U.S. House of Representatives’ bill to provide funding for federal programs for the rest of the current fiscal year. Current funding for the federal government runs out on March 4, so the next two weeks is shaping up as a showdown between the parties on the country’s fiscal course.

One important element that might get lost in all of the public discussion is this: H.R. 1 would slash U.S. direct foreign assistance and support for multilateral institutions. The total funding of these programs amounts to less than 1 percent of the federal budget, but they play a critical role in protecting U.S. security, contributing to a strong economy, providing stability in many countries, and preserving the U.S. as a strong global partner.

Link to US REDD Strategy (Feb 3 2011 update)

The US government put out its REDD strategy in December 2010. You can find it hyper-linked in the title bar. Thus far, there seems to be little reaction to the plan.

(The original post was modified 2/3/2011 to link to the full USG REDD+ strategy. Previously the link went to the brochure of that strategy - the two documents are quite similar).

The brochure link is here:

http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/environment/climate/docs/UnitedStatesREDD+Brochure.pdf