Although Bush is on his way out of the White House, he’s not through with his attacks on wildlife just yet. His next target in question: the Endangered Species Act. After Representative Richard Pombo (R-CA) introduced a bill to weaken the Endangered Species Act in 2006 that was rejected by Congress, Bush seems to have picked up the fight right where Pombo left off. Bush’s new draft of regulations will strip down and cut up the law, made apparent by one of the details involved that allows projects to proceed that have already been determined to threaten species with extinction.
In a press release from Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, or PEER, “These draft regulations slash the Endangered Species Act from head to toe,” said Kieran Suckling, policy director of the Center for Biological Diversity. “They undermine every aspect of law – recovery, listing, preventing extinction, critical habitat, federal oversight and habitat conservation plans – all of it is gutted.”
For years the Endangered Species Act has protected all numbers of creatures, one in particular being the United States national bird and symbol, the Bald Eagle. One of the reasons the bird of prey began going extinct had to do with the use of DDT and the new proposal by the Bush Administration will prevent critical habitat areas from being used to protect against disturbance, pesticides, exotic species, and disease.
What Will The Proposition Do, Exactly?
Additionally, Bush’s plan will give states the ability to veto endangered species introductions; cause additions to the endangered species list to be minimal at best; allow destruction of restored habitat inside habitat areas, and remove recovery of a species or population as a protection standard.
“If these regulations had been in place 30 years ago, the bald eagle, grizzly bear, and gray wolf would never have been listed as endangered species and the peregrine falcon, black-footed ferret, and California condor would never have been reintroduced to new states,” added Suckling. “This plan makes recovery all but impossible for most endangered species. Simply stated, it is the worst attack on the Endangered Species Act in the past 35 years.”
Anybody Disagree with President Bush?
Thankfully, not every politician plans on taking this assault on America’s wildlife laying down; three members of the House of Representatives – James Moran(D-VA), Christopher Shays (R-CT), and Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) – are sending around a letter, trying to appeal to their colleagues to oppose the Bush Administration’s proposition. It can only be hoped that one of Bush’s final decisions as President won’t come to fruition.
