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United States Government

In a First, US Appoints a Diplomat For Plants and Animals 119

Posted by BeauHD from the highly-underrepresented dept.
For the first time, the United States is designating a special diplomat to advocate for global biodiversity amid what policymakers here and overseas increasingly recognize as an extinction crisis. The Washington Post reports: Monica Medina is taking on a new role as special envoy for biodiversity and water resources, the State Department announced Wednesday. She currently serves as the department's assistant secretary for oceans and international environmental and scientific affairs. The appointment underscores the Biden administration's desire to protect land and waters not just at home but to also conserve habitats abroad.

"There's a direct connection between biodiversity loss and instability in a lot of parts of the world," Medina said in a recent phone interview. "It's not just about nature for nature's sake. I think it is about people." Before the Biden administration, Medina was an adjunct professor at Georgetown's Walsh School of Foreign Service and worked as general counsel of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, among other government roles. She is the wife of White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain. Her appointment comes weeks ahead of a major biodiversity conference in mid-December in Montreal.

The aim of the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity -- also known as COP-15 -- is for nations to reverse the loss of species by adopting an international framework for conserving biodiversity. The effort is akin to the climate talks in 2015 that yielded the Paris agreement. What the United States wants out of the conference: For nations to commit to conserving 30 percent of their land and water area. "We are looking for ways to reach that goal, because that's what scientists tell us we need in order to have a healthy planet," Medina said. One big hurdle: Defining what, exactly, counts as land and water conserved? "That is part of the discussion, is what counts," she said. Is the United States doing its part? President Biden set a goal of conserving nearly a third of the nation's land and waters by 2030. Protecting ecosystems such as forests and peatlands will help keep climate-warming carbon out of the atmosphere in the first place, noted Medina.

"It's a crisis that we face that's interwoven with the climate crisis, but also independent and important on its own," she said. "If we can solve the biodiversity crisis, we're a long way along the way to solving the climate crisis."
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In a First, US Appoints a Diplomat For Plants and Animals More

In a First, US Appoints a Diplomat For Plants and Animals

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  • Just in time! (Score:3, Funny)

    by fahrbot-bot ( 874524 ) on Sunday October 02, 2022 @06:39AM (#62930439)

    We've got the US Ambassador at the UN dealing with Putin trying to annex Ukraine, but closer to home I have some grass that's trying to annex my garden and cracks in my driveway. Now I can try a diplomatic solution before I go all RoundUp on them ...

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by dbialac ( 320955 )
      My tomato plants were wiped out by a fungus. Now I need a diplomatic delegation to investigate the vegicide that has occurred and see if I can get a peace treaty between fungi and tomato plants.
  • 1. Must be patient 2. Must not fall asleep easily 3. Must have watering can and dog treats

    • Re:I wonder what the "qualifications" (Score:5, Informative)

      by ravenshrike ( 808508 ) on Sunday October 02, 2022 @08:42AM (#62930559)

      Be the wife of the White House chief of staff.

      • Re:I wonder what the "qualifications" (Score:4, Insightful)

        by CaptQuark ( 2706165 ) on Monday October 03, 2022 @01:52AM (#62932225)

        Don't forget, the title to the article was created by the WashingtonPost, not the White House.

        Words matter. The Post reporter calling her a "Diplomat for Plants and Animals" might be a wordplay for him, but it does make the position sound like a superfluous position that is rife for ridicule.

        If the reporter had instead called the post a "Champion of biodiversity and environmental stewardship" then the expectations and importance of the position would be taken much more seriously.

        I'm sure the readers of the WashingtonPost, and SlashDot, will look beyond the obvious smirk factor and see what Ms Medina is tasked to do. Making her job seem like some new-age crystal gazing, tree medium is disingenuous. If it is nothing more than to champion setting aside more areas for undisturbed forests, reduce clear cutting for profit, and helping to ensure endangered species are included in policy, then her job would be considered important.

        • As best I can tell, using the formal title for the position does not alter the ridiculous or superfluous nature of said position.

    • Re: (Score:1, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward

      1. Must be a racial minority (identifying as one is acceptable in lieu of actual experience) 2. Must declare sexual preference and updates 3. Must be willing to print pronoun preference on official letterhead

      FTFY for clarity.

  • Total earth-wide diplomatic immunity. She can do anything but eat. Well ok I guess she can eat mushrooms.

  • It's the Lorax (Score:5, Funny)

    by remorej ( 7543652 ) on Sunday October 02, 2022 @07:31AM (#62930485)
    He speaks for the trees.

  • How far Slashdot has fallen. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by The Evil Atheist ( 2484676 ) on Sunday October 02, 2022 @08:19AM (#62930519)
    Look at all the comments. Sad to see it's become a pastiche of Christian anti-science.

    They're literally the same sentiments as those bible thumping Christians who think we can do anything to the environment that we live in and we won't suffer any consequences because some magical force will provide.

    • The Disease of Greed has infected our species for thousands of years. As in thousands of years, Before Christ.

      We have never found a cure for that disease, and we likely never will. We'll likely extinct ourselves right here in this dying rock, forever addicted to it.

      Enough of the modern storyblaming. The ignorance you're showing is truly human, validated by our species' history with and without religion.

      • The Disease of Greed has infected our species for thousands of years. As in thousands of years, Before Christ.... The ignorance you're showing is truly human, validated by our species' history with and without religion.

        The makes no sense. There is no part of our species' history without religion. Analysis of Neanderthal burials suggest that belief in an afterlife existed fifty thousands of years before history.

        "Before Christ" does not mean "Before Religion."

        • Belief in an afterlife isn't necessarily religion though, it's just a spiritual belief that surely makes sense if you have access to as little information as people did when they came up with it. Belief in a specific afterlife that someone convinced you was real without any proof, that's religion :)

          You're right about Christ being a come-lately, of course. Hell, the oldest mention of Yahweh is from ca. 1550 BCE.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by hey! ( 33014 )

          I suspect excessive selfishness was self-regulating when humans were living in small, related, hunter-gatherer clans. First, there was not that much *stuff* to accumulate; the most precious commodity was respect. And I suspect that at least that hasn't changed; research shows that social connection has a much stronger effect on individual happiness than material wealth.

          Greed is kind of a bug that emerges in human behavioral programing that comes from putting critters that evolved to survive in tightly kni

        • Mankinds primitive analysis of beliefs 50,000+ years ago, states that. And it's a theory at best. We barely understand the how and why of hundreds if not thousands of "Gods" in existence today.

          And my point about Greed, was to highlight human ignorance. No matter where, when, or how belief systems have existed, it has not prevented or cured mankind from the Disease of Greed. Nothing ever has, and it's likely nothing ever will.

          We keep digging more inexplicable shit out of the sands of time, and you might

      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        by drinkypoo ( 153816 )

        Christianity is relevant because it's a religion of dominion. The faith it's based on was literally invented to justify taking some other people's lands by force, and Christianity took that and ran with it as far as possible. In the bible God grants man dominion over everything, which is an excuse to do anything so long as you pretend you're not breaking everything that God supposedly made for us.

        Religion isn't responsible for greed, but it is used to excuse greedy actions.

        • You'll have to separate the church from the religion in that instance. The catholic church, founded by constantine, was a political lever to use against his rivals, and that has a tenuous at best connection to the idea of conquest.

          The innovation of the christian church was the proposal of a completely idiotic idea, that happens to promote all kinds of good - the idea that despite the evidence of our senses, all people are of equal divine value. Our senses clearly show that some people are different than o

          • You'll have to separate the church from the religion in that instance.

            That doesn't make sense outside of the periods where most believers weren't involved with a formal church.

            The catholic church, founded by constantine, was a political lever to use against his rivals, and that has a tenuous at best connection to the idea of conquest.

            That's a straw man astride a straw horse.

            The innovation of the christian church was the proposal of a completely idiotic idea, that happens to promote all kinds of good - the idea that despite the evidence of our senses, all people are of equal divine value.

            Was that a new idea, or were they recycling someone else's ideas like everything else in their religion? Also, they pretty much half-assed the idea of equality, since depending on which parts of the bible you read you can make a strong argument for egalitarianism of all kinds, or you can also argue that men are meant to dominate women for example. If you focus on

            • That doesn't make sense outside of the periods where most believers weren't involved with a formal church.

              Exactly. Constantine established the first formal church, but he did *not* establish the religion. Therefore, it could not possibly have been "invented" for his purposes - it was merely co-opted.

              Was that a new idea, or were they recycling someone else's ideas like everything else in their religion?

              The closest I think you can find would be buddhism, but even that has the entire reincarnation deal that

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by jvkjvk ( 102057 )

            >The catholic church, founded by constantine, was a political lever to use against his rivals, and that has a tenuous at best connection to the idea of conquest.

            I don't understand your reasoning here. By mine, being a political lever using against rivals speaks directly to the idea of conquest.

            >The innovation of the christian church was the proposal of a completely idiotic idea, that happens to promote all kinds of good - the idea that despite the evidence of our senses, all people are of equal divin

            • I don't understand your reasoning here. By mine, being a political lever using against rivals speaks directly to the idea of conquest.

              Constantine's political rivals were internal, rather external. I imagine conquest as focusing on the external, but it's certainly a semantic distinction that could go either way. That being said, constantine co-opted christianty - it wasn't invented for constantine's purposes.

              That was an OLD idea before Christianity ever came on the scene, as well as the whole love thy neig

      • So we've been addicted to greed for thousands of years, probably since we first stood upright. Ever wonder if we weren't greedy? Would we have made it to where we are today or been wiped out by other animals or nature herself? Maybe it has served us very well.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by davide marney ( 231845 )

      I object to your nickname, @The Evil Athiest. An atheist can't be "evil", atheists don't believe in objective truth. Do better.

      • What sort of idiot are you?

        Atheists don't believe in gods. That's it. That's the definition of the word. Good, evil, and objective reality are all still on the table. Only fanatics claim that god is necessary for any of those.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by dbialac ( 320955 )
          Good and evil can be objective. Osama bin Laden thought he was good, as do many Muslims.

        • I'll add one small bit - atheists don't *literally* believe in gods.

          Metaphorical belief is still on the table, and in many ways, is more durable than literal belief that can be falsified :)

        • Good, evil, and objective reality are all still on the table.

          "Good", "evil", and "objective" are ultimate claims. Sorry, ultimate claims not allowed for those who say there is no such thing as ultimate claims.

          • Agreed - but atheism takes no position on ultimate claims, just on gods.

            Some specific atheists may take such a position, but they have less authority than the Catholics that think it's okay for priests to rape little boys.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by iAmWaySmarterThanYou ( 10095012 )

      As a real atheist I object to your name. You are a Christian hater. You don't give a thought to any other religion. You specifically hate anyone who believes in just your one western religion. Your anti-Christian thing has nothing to do with atheism.

      Real atheists like me are embarrassed to use the word because of mindless haters like you who got raped by their priest or something have ruined it. I do not believe in the divine. Period. Anything after that is between you and your therapist. People lik

      • Re:How far Slashdot has fallen. (Score:5, Interesting)

        by hsthompson69 ( 1674722 ) on Sunday October 02, 2022 @11:31AM (#62930809)

        Amen.

        I used to be an asshole atheist. Just like I would lord over the kids who still believed in santa claus, I would lord over everyone who still believed there was a man in the sky. Looking back, my motivations were those of resentment and ingratitude.

        It wasn't until many years later that I realized that as silly as I thought christians were, the kids who would argue with me about god on the bus truly believed I had an eternal soul, and were trying to save it. They were behaving better than I was.

        Still an atheist today, but I happily go to church every sunday, for the opportunity to be with a group of people local to my home who at least try to be better people, or think about being better people, 2 hours a week. So far, they've had no problem with my attendance and participation, despite my lack of literal belief, because we do agree on the moral conclusions of the story of Jesus.

        • Wow you attend services regularly? I've attended several times for weddings, funerals, etc, but only once regular service. It was a sleepover at a friend's house in grade school and mom dragged us all off to church in the morning. She even put a few bucks in the tray for me.

          In general though I do agree that the Christian types really do have their heart in the right place even if the core of their morals and ethics is the divine and not internally or societally driven. But I'd rather positive ethics exi

          • Not only do I attend services regularly, the church has given both me and my wife "callings" (essentially volunteer jobs) in our ward :)

            Since I take their beliefs metaphorically, rather than literally, I would posit that their morals and ethics are actually *discovered* - so in a sense, they are internally/societally derived. Their faith represents a process of observation/natural selection, discovering morals and ethics that actually outcompete others in the long run.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by BranMan ( 29917 )

              I've thought about this, as a semi-atheist, quite a bit. I would actually posit that the big difference in the believers is that they have their sense of morals and ethics *externalized*. Since they have the divine "looking over their shoulder" so to speak, they don't stray (or at least believe they don't).

              One problem I've found quite a bit is that the believers don't really trust atheists. They have morality thrust upon them, so to speak. And cannot, in a real sense, fathom a sense of morality that com

              • Since they have the divine "looking over their shoulder" so to speak, they don't stray (or at least believe they don't).

                Yeah, I can see that - I mean, for me, the moral imperative is me looking over my own shoulder, but I can imagine it can be easier with externalization. I certainly have an easier time waking up when I'm doing it for someone else, rather than myself - but since it's my morals and ethics that help me justify the suffering inherent in existence, it holds a pretty high priority, even if it's

        • Still an atheist today, but I happily go to church every sunday, for the opportunity to be with a group of people local to my home who at least try to be better people, or think about being better people, 2 hours a week.

          Judaism actually has this a non-written law. If you tell your Rabbi that you don't really believe in god, he'll say to just follow his rules and that belief will come along the way. I was always taught that in Christianity it doesn't work like that because Christianity is belief based while Judaism is rule based. Interesting to see this type of behavior with Christians as well. Do you think there are many atheist church goers? Or are you a major exception?

          • I heard that from a jewish friend a long time ago too - the commandment is "thou shalt have no other gods before me", not "thou shalt believe in me" :). Perfectly okay to be an atheist as a jew, just don't start worshipping something else :)

            At this point, I imagine I'm a major exception, but I encourage all atheists to try out some local churches or places of worship. I prefer the mormons, since they seem to have the best sense of humor. I should probably find a synagogue and check it out as well...I prob

    • Just because someone doesn't like some or all of the elements of the green revolution doesn't make them Christian and/or anti-science. Most people just don't like convenience being taken away from them. You know - being able to travel long distances, eat you want and knowing which fuel is best to heat your home to fit your particular needs. It should be our own call to make and not be forced upon us.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by dbialac ( 320955 )
        We fail because most people don't like pretentious douchebags leading the way because most people don't like pretentious douchebags. Also, most people like thought out solutions, not solutions based on panic or "at least I did something!"

        • Very much. That and the fact that green replacements are nowhere near the usability or cost-efficiency of the "dirty" objects they are replacing. For example, electric heating is horrendously inefficient and inflexible if you use storage heaters and electric cars don't allow you travel long distances without losing 1.5h every time you want to recharge, which happens to be every 100-200 miles in motorway conditions on an average electric car. Both electric cars and electric heating are also horrendously expe

          • My objection is letting government solve any problem. Government as a whole with the military bearing most of it pollutes more than anything. And those morons thought spending military money on educating grunts about global warming solves this in any way.

            Come on.

            We could have solved global warming for a fraction of what we have spent so far but for some reason we won't go with nuclear. Yeah, screw the politicians who simply eliminate the best option because they can't waste even more money....that way an

    • I'm an atheist, and I go to church every sunday.

      The bible thumping Christians, with their virgin birth, walking on water, water to wine, and other numerous fantastical stories, are actually more sane than the tree huggers who would deny the reality and necessity of natural selection.

      What's sad is that the liberals have gone so woke, they've become *more* anti-science than cults that believe that women were created from a man's rib - libs actually believe that women can be created from men purely with imagin

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Z80a ( 971949 )

      Are you sure you're supporting science in this specific case?
      A "nature diplomat" is just politics and marketing, and pretty cringe and ineffective one at that.
      Trying to force people into accepting your opinion always backfire and give ammo to people that have much more charisma than you to push for the opposite.
      Good education make people think about the subject themselves and reach the correct conclusions, rather than trying to intimidate people into parroting what you say.

      • Good education make people think about the subject themselves and reach the correct conclusions, rather than trying to intimidate people into parroting what you say.

        Critical thinking was stripped out of public school curriculums shortly after they removed shop (word, metal) and home ec/cooking classes, and turned history class into a class on "current events". Now we're focused on "re-thinking" math class, so that getting the right answer isn't the prime objective - feeling good about the effort you put into solving a math problem is more important than arriving at the right answer, and removing racist requirements that students learn grammar and spelling in their Eng

    • > same sentiments as those bible thumping Christians

      Let's not paint with too wide a brush. It's mostly the evangelical sects, who stick to a literalist and old-fashioned interpretation of the Bible.

      I'd argue evangelicals are not even "Christian" but rather "Davidians", being they tend to favor on Old Testament view, which is before Christ's time. Even the Bible confirms that at least some rules "expire" over time (although it's often not clear what expires when, leaving it to personal or sect interpretat

  • What about fungi? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by EldoranDark ( 10182303 ) on Sunday October 02, 2022 @08:26AM (#62930529)
    This selective preference for some species over others is a clear micoaggression.

  • Every plant must take up exactly as much space as every other. The only way to defeat plant racism is with plant anti-racism. Begin with the trees, then the grasses. One tree, one blade of grass! Say it with me! Tree patriarchy has no place! One tree, one blade of grass!

  • Okay (Score:4, Funny)

    by bistromath007 ( 1253428 ) on Sunday October 02, 2022 @09:09AM (#62930609)

    This is sort of like if Krispy Kreme appointed a diabetes educator.

    • Swiss have rules like two hampsters, no cropping dog tails, cooking lobsters etc Do other countries have this position or just something for US PR? More Knowledge and respect for ecosystems could be good for society just how to go about it.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by dbialac ( 320955 )
        Boiling lobster ban is based on the false premise that crustaceans feel pain. Meanwhile the Christmas Island crabs crawl over and under very hot rail tracks during their breeding migration to the ocean. Many are known to spend time in the very hot space underneath the rails and cook themselves to death. Had they felt pain, they would have left.

  • You rarely find more biodiversity than there.

  • The planet has been through worse than us (Score:3)

    by devslash0 ( 4203435 ) on Sunday October 02, 2022 @09:49AM (#62930667)

    And who better to tell you about it than good, old George Carlin? https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

    • What Saint Carlin tells us about that issue is that if we don't take care of the biosphere, we're "fucked" (in so many word.)

  • ...for natural selection?

    Who is going to advocate for the future species that will arise only if other species are eliminated under selective pressure?

  • used to be (Score:3)

    by argStyopa ( 232550 ) on Sunday October 02, 2022 @11:47AM (#62930853) Journal

    "...Medina was an adjunct professor at Georgetown's Walsh School of Foreign Service and worked as general counsel of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, among other government roles. She is the wife of White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain. ..."

    Former asst professor
    Lawyer for the noaa
    Wife of the president's chief of staff.

    Can you guess which of those three was her best qualification?

    Hint: it used to be the reason a person would be EXCLUDED from such a job because we used to be ashamed of that obvious stuff.

  • Now 3 kids is actually neutral on the Thanos scale: https://www.genolve.com/design... [genolve.com] However, if you really cared about species extinction you would be sure to have no more than two kids - knowing that the main driver of species extinction is loss of habitat - a loss primarily caused by expanding human populations.

  • I thought proposed minitrue was jumping the shark (Score:3, Insightful)

    by TigerPlish ( 174064 ) on Sunday October 02, 2022 @01:46PM (#62931059)

    I thought the proposed Ministry of Truth was the US Gov't jumping the shark..

    But this beats that by a mile. The world must be pointing and laughing. I imagine some world leaders are *this* close to death by laughter by now, with this admin.

    That proposed, supposedly aborted Minitrue likely lives on in some clandestine manner, with Gov't colluding with the news outlets to shape the narrative, and use Social Media and various "action" groups as Miniluv to enforce said narrative.

    Just because they disavow it in public don't mean they're not doing on the QT.

    As comedic as our government has become, I certainly stopped laughing around 2014 and have become very concerned about where we're going.. especially these past 2 years.. and why are we in a handbasket?

  • Slashdot moderation is in the crapper (Score:4, Funny)

    by davide marney ( 231845 ) on Sunday October 02, 2022 @02:35PM (#62931135) Journal

    These kinds of discussions serve wonderfully to illustrate just how bad Slashdot moderation is. The entire mod system as it currently exists can be reduced to just a single value:

    Supports the Latest Thing = 1
    Does not support the Latest Thing = 0

    I've been reading Slashdot for many many years. Moderation was always an issue, but in the last 5 years or so moderation has become completely ideological. Too bad, really.

  • Never... (Score:2)

    by kenh ( 9056 )

    "It's a crisis that we face that's interwoven with the climate crisis, but also independent and important on its own," she said. "If we can solve the biodiversity crisis, we're a long way along the way to solving the climate crisis."

    "Never let a good crisis go to waste" - Winston Churchill [medium.com]

  • And it turns out that fish see getting caught, and then eaten, as a way to evolve into a more advanced form of life. Very perceptive of them!

  • Is no one concerned that Monica Medina is the wife of Ron Klain, Sloe Joe Biden's chief of staff - and probable regent? Since NOBODY thinks that Biden is actually running the White House.

    Commie Harris is apparently married to George Soros' son. Navin Gruesome is Nancy Pelosi's nephew. It seems like there's a thicker-than-usual web of government flunkies and movers married to each other, and running the country into the ground.

  • Is no one going to recognize that Joe Biden's chief of staff Ron Klain is the husband of lady with this new dumb position? This isn't news. It's a job gift to a buddy. I feel like Like Wilson circa 2006. Help me baby Jesus.

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