President Obama has shelved a Bush-era rule that weakens protection of endangered species, he announced on Tuesday. The regulations allow agencies to decide for themselves whether projects like highways, dams and mines could harm animals and plants listed under the Endangered Species Act. The rule reduces the mandatory independent reviews that government scientists have been performing for 35 years, and prevents federal agencies from assessing whether the construction project contributes to global warming.
From MSNBC:
“We should be looking for ways to improve it, not weaken it,” Obama said of the Endangered Species Act. He spoke at an Interior Department ceremony to mark the department’s 160th anniversary.
At least for now, the two agencies will resume full scientific reviews of projects that might harm endangered wildlife and plants.
A conservation group that had sued to overturn the Bush-era rule welcomed the news.
“Obama has swiftly delivered on his campaign promise to reverse Bush’s anti-endangered species regulations,” Kieran Suckling, director of the Center for Biological Diversity, told msnbc.com. “He has restored independent, scientific oversight to the heart of the Endangered Species Act.”
Obama signed a Presidential Memorandum to put the regulation on hold until the Interior and Commerce departments complete a review of it. Democrats in Congress are attempting to reverse the rule via legislation. They wrote a provision into a spending bill that passed in January, drawing the predictable ire of Republicans.
Is anyone keeping track of how many of Bush’s environmental offenses Obama has overturned thus far, in less than 60 days in office? Quite impressive. He’s not wasting any time, which is a huge relief to everyone who cried foul when Bush enacted one anti-environment regulation after the other during his presidency. All signs point to Obama keeping the momentum going. That dark cloud that has hovered over us for 8 years? It’s almost a thing of the past. What a relief.
Link [MSNBC]
