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Why the proposed sweeping overhaul of the Endangered Species Act in the U.S. is also bad for wildlife everywhere
Thursday, August 28th, 2008

It is vital that people worldwide participate in the campaigns to stop the Bush administration from seriously undermining the Endangered Species Act. And not just to save wildlife on American soil but to save wildlife everywhere.

For those who don’t know what’s going on, here is the quick and dirty summary from NRDC Action Fund.

“The Interior Department has announced a plan that would dramatically undercut the Endangered Species Act — our nation’s safety net for animals and plants on the brink of extinction. If finalized, the plan would allow government agencies with no formal wildlife expertise to decide the fate of imperiled species like the polar bear, the gray wolf and whales. Even worse, those agencies may have a pro-polluter or pro-development agenda that is directly at odds with the well-being of wildlife.”

You can read more specific points on the devastating impact this would have at Do Not Tap on the Glass and at the Wildlife Direct Baraza Blog.

This article in Time Magazine, August 12, 2008 also provides a good summary.

To understand one very broad implication for the world in relation to climate change, I will excerpt this poignantly worded excerpt from Wildlife Direct Baraza blog:

“The Bush Administration’s new rules — which could go into effect in as little as 90 days, unless Congress acts to block them — also address a loose end left by the Interior Department’s decision in May to list the polar bear as threatened. The reason for listing the bears was climate change — global warming is melting their sea-ice habitat — but the proposed changes to the ESA would explicitly exempt any action on warming based on the law. In other words, even though scientific opinion says that global warming will have a disastrous effect on wildlife, the government won’t be able to use the ESA to do anything about reducing carbon emissions.

Climate change is not an American problem: it is an American, and worldwide problem. If the ESA and other regulations are weak in the world’s largest economy, the whole world is in very deep trouble. To use the cliché adage, when the US sneezes, the whole world catches a cold … the US would be setting a bad example and other (especially industrialized nations which emit most greenhouse gases) will follow suit.”

Please take a moment to send letters now and cross post. There are several action alerts, all quick and simple.

NRDC Action Fund

Center for Biological Diversity

Defenders of Wildlife

Permalink: ethicsandanimals.com/2008/08/25/why-the-proposed-sweeping-overhaul-of-the-endangered-species-act-in-the-us-is-also-bad-for-wildlife-everywhere.aspx

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