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Take Action: Protect Threatened and Endangered Species
(Beyond Pesticides, August 19, 2019) The Trump Administration has reignited the attack on the Endangered Species Act (ESA), one of the most effective environmental laws in restoring threatened and endangered species and their habitat. This time the attack is coming through regulations that undermine the letter, spirit, and intent of ESA.
The new rules announced by the administration this week will: (i) weaken the consultation process designed to prevent harm to endangered animals and their habitats from federal agency activities; (ii) curtail the designation of critical habitat and weakens the listing process for imperiled species; and (iii) eliminate all protections for wildlife newly designated as “threatened” under the Act.
With species declining across the globe, it is critical that we protect those already at heightened risk. An important provision of the ESA is the requirement that each federal agency that proposes to authorize, fund, or carry out an action that may affect a listed species or its critical habitat must consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service. Although many species –including the bald eagle, Florida manatee, and California condor— have been protected and brought back from the brink of extinction under the ESA, an estimated 500 species have disappeared in the past 200 years.
With these serious rollbacks, pesticide use will exacerbate the loss of species. The administration has now declined protection for more than 60 species and protected only 18 — the lowest of any president at this point in an administration.
“By shooting down protections for these imperiled plants and animals, Trump officials are displaying contempt for America’s natural heritage. This president is a threat to the future of endangered species and humans around the globe,” said Tierra Curry, a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity.
Letter to Congress
The attack on the environment under the current administration threatens our very existence. The most recent attack on the Endangered Species Act (ESA) undermines a long-standing Congressional commitment across political parties to protect threatened and endangered species. The gutting of the letter, spirit, and intent of ESA, with the administration’s new rulemaking, threatens life as we know it.
Please let Interior Secretary David Bernhardt know that the changes adopted in the regulation of endangered species violate the law and must be reversed. It is critical that this concern be voiced in the face of this attack on the environment that sustains life.
The new rules announced by the administration this week will: (i) weaken the consultation process designed to prevent harm to endangered animals and their habitats from federal agency activities; (ii) curtail the designation of critical habitat and weakens the listing process for imperiled species; and (iii) eliminate all protections for wildlife newly designated as “threatened” under the Act.
With species declining across the globe, it is critical that we protect those already at heightened risk. An important provision of the ESA is the requirement that each federal agency that proposes to authorize, fund, or carry out an action that may affect a listed species or its critical habitat must consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service. Although many species –including the bald eagle, Florida manatee, and California condor— have been protected and brought back from the brink of extinction under the ESA, an estimated 500 species have disappeared in the past 200 years.
With these serious rollbacks, pesticide use will exacerbate the loss of species. The administration has now declined protection for more than 60 species and protected only 18 — the lowest of any president at this point in an administration.
Thank you.
Protect the Endangered Species Act. Stop rolling back protections for the environment and wildlife.
August 19th, 2019 at 11:42 amI PRAY TO GOD TO PLEASE BLESS AND PROTECT HIS MOST INNOCENTS,HIS ANIMALS!
August 19th, 2019 at 3:32 pmYet another destructive and ignorant act by our 45th president.
August 20th, 2019 at 10:30 amThis lunacy must end before more atrocities are committed !
We, as citizens, and you, as legislators must do everything in our power to stop this willfully ignorant and destructive behavior being displayed on an almost daily basis by our 45th president!
August 20th, 2019 at 10:34 am