 You may have heard that the Bush administration wants to severely weaken the Endangered Species Act as one of the last horrible things they do during their time in office.
For more than 30 years, the ESA has been a safety net for plants and animals on the brink of extinction, including grizzly bears, bald eagles, and gray whales. Yet President Bush wants to gut these protections, despite ESA's overwhelming success ... or, more likely, because of it.
The Bush plan would strip the requirement for independent scientific review of projects that could threaten endangered species, allowing federal agencies to make the final call on how their projects impact these species, which could leave the fox guarding the hen house.
A real-time example of why this system of scientific checks and balances is so important: a report by biologists at the National Marine Fisheries Service found that three EPA-approved pesticides are causing serious harm to endangered stocks of west coast salmon. This review was triggered under the very section of the Endangered Species Act that the Bush administration is now hoping to undo.
You can help by sending a letter via this link.Labels: endangered species |
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