These six species are about to be sacrificed for the oil and gas industry

Republicans in the western United States have been trying to whittle away the Endangered Species Act (ESA) since Donald Trump took office, and their efforts reached a crescendo last week with help from the White House. The Trump administration has proposed significant changes to its enforcement of the bedrock environmental law. Under the new rules, wildlife managers would limit protections for species designated as “threatened” (a level below endangered), consider the economic costs prior to defending a species and de-emphasize long-term threats such as climate change.

The administration’s action follows bills and budget riders from congressional Republicans that would, among other things, in effect remove protections for gray wolves in the lower 48 states, exempt the controversial greater sage-grouse from an ESA listing for 10 years, and increase state involvement in conservation decisions. The flurry of measures is an attempt to change the law, long seen as oppressive to oil and gas interests, while the GOP controls Congress and the White House.

“It’s a window of opportunity they appear to see,” said John Freemuth, a Boise State University professor who studies public land policy. “They don’t necessarily have a lot of facts on their side. The idea that somehow the Endangered Species Act has hurt the economy is a pretty [broad] argument. It’s probably benefited western economies through tourism and the value of protected areas.”

Those who study the ESA agree that reforms are needed: the bill was signed into law in 1973 and last reauthorized in 1992. But the current proposals on the table are unlikely to solve the problems experts identify.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/26/endangered-species-act-gray-wolf-oil-gas-industry




The problem is fucking greed................if wildlife had "Voice" do you think they would put humans on list for extermination for being fucking stupid..................I don't know, but I think they nature" is a lot smarter that humans, humans are really stupid................

unfucking believable