Thursday, August 14, 2008
Because Those Damn Polar Bears Will Vote For Obama
More ecological wisdom from the world's biggest, proudest polluter.
Parts of the Endangered Species Act may soon be extinct.
The Bush administration wants federal agencies to decide for themselves whether highways, dams, mines and other construction projects might harm endangered animals and plants.
New regulations, which don't require the approval of Congress, would reduce the mandatory, independent reviews government scientists have been performing for 35 years, according to a draft first obtained by The Associated Press.
Yeah, when have those independent, uninfluenced scientific bodies ever been right? Well, except for climate change...
Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said late Monday the changes were needed to ensure that the Endangered Species Act would not be used as a "back door" to regulate the gases blamed for global warming. In May, the polar bear became the first species declared as threatened because of climate change. Warming temperatures are expected to melt the sea ice the bear depends on for survival.
The draft rules would bar federal agencies from assessing the emissions from projects that contribute to global warming and its effect on species and habitats.
Oh, it's simple, then. To completely disregard the fact that independent scientific bodies might know better than government officials, you have to disregard the fact that they were right about global warming, which the Bush administration is all too happy to do.
The Interior Department said such consultations are no longer necessary because federal agencies have developed expertise to review their own construction and development projects, according to the 30-page draft obtained by the AP.
"We believe federal action agencies will err on the side of caution in making these determinations," the proposal said.
I'm sorry, would that be the same "side of caution" that the EPA erred on when they delayed on regulating carbon emissions for so long that the Supreme Court had to bitchslap them into doing it?
It's not enough that Bush was happy to fuck up our justice system. Now he's gotta fuck up the ecosystem before he leaves office, too. Great.
