Endangered Species Act Under Attack
The current administration continues its war against science and environment by proposing nefarious amendments that favor business and industry at the expense of our planet. Apparently, the damage will be done in "death by a thousand cuts" method in which the dismantling will be couched in innocuous sounding language.
Please submit comments opposing this weakening of the law that has saved many species from extinction since its enactment:
Here is my submittal:
The proposed amendments to the Endangered Species Act are in no way beneficial to threatened and endangered species but are in many ways beneficial to resource extracting corporations, developers, and large scale agribusiness. The Act has been effective in the protection and recovery of species pushed to the brink of extinction by human activities for the 45 years since it was enacted, and it is apparent that the impetus for the proposed changes to such a successful program are demands, or at the very least kowtowing, to moneyed interests.
The proposal to remove the phrase, “without reference to possible economic or other impacts of such determination” and the proposal to eliminate defined protection for species classified as “threatened” create the opportunity for subjective political and corporate influenced opinion to replace good science in the decision making process, which is not likely to improve the outcome for species close to extinction.
Imposing additional restrictions on designation of critical habitat likewise will not benefit species protection and recovery in any way, but will benefit developers and resource extraction industries.
Limiting the definition and allowing discretionary use of the term “foreseeable future” so that even science as clearly recognized internationally as that of climate change cannot be considered in the decision making process will clearly hinder the ability of scientists to make appropriate decisions.
The proposed removal of requirements for federal agencies to consult with scientists and wildlife agencies before approving large projects including oil and gas drilling and large scale logging under the guise of “improving efficiency” shows blatant skew of the profit motive in these proposed changes to the ESA and clear disregard for its very spirit.
The Endangered Species Act was created by citizens who recognized the responsibility we have to impart future generations with a planet healthy enough to provide for their well-being, and to preserve the wondrous biodiversity bestowed on us, and not to sell their inheritance for the short term profit of the few.
Further Information:
posted by ecovoice at
3:10 PM
|
0 comments
