I think Democrats have to stand for what we stand on. Protecting our children's heritage is a core value for strong majorities everywhere. In the GOP's drive to gut our environmental laws, many of the most important fights will be over small changes conducted under the public, and the media's, radar. Those struggles have now begun. We have to punch back hard and take the wind out of the GOP sails.
Two riders are floating with the must-pass Omnibus Appropriations bill which would shred the safety net for endangered species and make recovery of endangered species more difficult. We have only the next two or three days to kill the riders.
Earthjustice has a rapid-response webletter page up here. We need calls and emails to both houses, especially to Reps Bill Young and Obey, and Senators Stevens and Byrd. Let's put some mud in Bush's anti-environmental eye.
The core of the letter:
I urge you to oppose two riders to the Omnibus Appropriations bill that attempt to change key portions of the Endangered Species Act:
A proposed rider reportedly being developed by Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) would create a huge loophole in the Endangered Species Act by threatening imperiled wildlife with pesticide poisoning. This rider would exempt all pesticide decisions from the entire Endangered Species Act...
A second rider would weaken our safety net for wildlife so that recovery of endangered and threatened species would be much more difficult, and it would codify an outdated and discredited regulation precluding action to rescue species heading toward extinction.
By calling for consultation concerning the impacts of federal activities on endangered species and barring activities that "jeopardize" species or "adversely modify" critical habitat, Section 7 of the Act has enabled our country to rescue numerous species. This rider seeks to allow development activities in endangered species habitat on federal lands to go forward without any of the normal checks and balances, so long as the developers could somehow claim that these activities are consistent with a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP). There is no justification for giving developers a free pass from Section 7, especially where this exemption has never been subjected to any debate. The key principle in Section 7 -- that federal agencies must avoid undermining species recovery -- must be upheld if we are to achieve the Endangered Species Act's ultimate goal of recovery and delisting.