Ladywriter 7,783 Report post Posted April 15, 2009 On March 11, Congress passed, and President Barack Obama signed into law, a bill giving Interior Secretary Ken Salazar the authority to immediately revoke two Bush administration rules that fundamentally undermine protections for the nation's endangered species. The first rule exempts thousands of federal activities from review under the Endangered Species Act, and the second sharply limits protections for the polar bear and other imperiled Arctic species by excluding greenhouse gas emissions outside the Arctic from regulation. Under the bill, if Secretary Salazar does not withdraw the Bush-era rules by May 9, the regulations will stay in effect. This will be a disaster for endangered species. Under the Bush regulations, federal agencies -- often with little or no biological expertise of their own -- can decide for themselves whether they need to consult with the wildlife agencies. The new regulations also let federal agencies completely off the hook from considering the potential impacts of greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants on endangered species. Interior Secretary Salazar must act immediately, or lose this precious opportunity to instantly remedy one of Bush's worst environmental attacks. Please contact Secretary Salazar and demand that he immediately revoke the Bush regulations exempting federal projects, including those that emit greenhouse gases, from scientific review, as well as the special rule for the polar bear. Help the Center for Biological Diversity gather 50,000 signatures to send Secretary Salazar by May 9. Please -- sign the petition and forward this alert to a friend now. ****************************************** Click here to find out more and take action: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2167/t/8257/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=1878 Look at the flowers Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
