President Donald Trump has promised to roll back business-killing regulations to create a healthier economic climate.
Some of the most difficult of those regulations came from the “Endangered Species Act.” The government implemented the rules initially to protect whales, eagles, and other wildlife. It eventually devolved into a green dictatorship in which small fish and insects could be used to prohibit land and business development.
Now, after 50 years of implementation, the Trump Administration is rethinking the application of these rules.
The Trump administration on Monday announced that it would change the way the Endangered Species Act is applied, significantly weakening the nation’s bedrock conservation law and making it harder to protect wildlife from the multiple threats posed by climate change.The new rules would make it easier to remove a species from the endangered list and weaken protections for threatened species, the classification one step below endangered. And, for the first time, regulators would be allowed to conduct economic assessments — for instance, estimating lost revenue from a prohibition on logging in a critical habitat — when deciding whether a species warrants protection.Critically, the changes would also make it more difficult for regulators to factor in the effects of climate change on wildlife when making those decisions because those threats tend to be decades away, not immediate.
Given the level of histrionics from environmentalists, the change is likely to give a significant boost to American business and the legal citizens it employs.
“Over the objections of nearly everyone, the Trump Administration has eviscerated one of our nation’s foundational environmental laws. Poll after poll shows Americans support the Endangered Species Act as a lifeline to the wildlife it protects. The Administration ignored the hundreds of thousands of objections from scientists, wildlife experts and the American people who overwhelmingly support.
An observation related one species that was initially on the list might be worthwhile, to determine if the green histrionics is justified.
First, bald eagles are making a comeback. The species was removed from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife in the Lower 48 States on June 28, 2007.
Now, Pennsylvania wildlife officials can’t count them all.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission says there are too many bald eagle nests for the agency to count on its own and it needs the public’s help.The commission used to release bald eagle numbers annually on the Fourth of July back when the birds were threatened. But bald eagles have made a comeback, from three nesting pairs in 1983 to more than 300 nesting pairs now around the state.Sean Murphy, an ornithologist with the commission, tells the Tribune Review that the boom makes it difficult for the agency alone to track them.
And don’t get me started on cougars or polar bears!!!
Some Americans greeted the news with a sense of relief.
The announcement was hailed by a number of industry groups, ranging from oil and gas companies to utilities and ranchers.The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association referred to the decision as “long-awaited regulatory relief,” while the American Petroleum Institute said it would lead to “the reduction of duplicative and unnecessary regulations that ultimately bog down conservation efforts.”
Enjoy the eco-schadenfreude that will be streaming through social media covering this latest Trump Administration roll-back. I hope you can handle all the hyperbole and hysterics.
On the other hand, after 50 years, most sensible people think it is time for a review, update, and add protections against anti-capitalist, science-ignorant eco-activists.
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