Bush Administration Launches "Sneak Attack" On Endangered Species Act
The Bush administration announced a proposal Monday to gut protections for endangered wildlife. New rules would overhaul the Endangered Species Act to allow federal agencies to decide by themselves whether agency construction projects (including highways, dams and mines) threaten endangered animals and plants. Until now, this process has always required independent scientific reviews.
Environmentalists are calling this move a "sneak attack" by the Bush administration. The proposed regulations will not be subject to congressional approval. Environmental organizations are shocked that the public comment period on the rules will only last a measly 30 days.
From a National Wildlife Federation press release:
"I have been working on the Endangered Species Act for 15 years and have never seen such a sneaky attack,” said John Kostyack, Executive Director of Wildlife Conservation and Global Warming at the National Wildlife Federation. “To suggest that our nation's most important wildlife law could be gutted after a mere [30-day] written comment period is the height of arrogance and disrespect for wildlife science. Elected officials have been saying no to proposals like this for [35] years.
“Do not be fooled when the Administration claims it is merely tweaking the law...The cumulative impact of these changes equals a full blown attack on America’s premier conservation law. We owe it to future generations to stop this attack and continue our legacy of protecting wildlife on the brink of extinction.”
That release came out before Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced the new regs, which he did in fact call a "narrow regulatory change."
From a statement by Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope:
"This plan repeats and includes all of the disdain for science and political trumping of expertise that has characterized previous Bush Administration efforts to dismantle fundamental environmental laws.
These rules send a clear signal that the Administration will spend the rest of its days razing what remains of the rules and regulations that have kept wildlife like the bald eagle from going extinct."
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