On Monday Dick Kempthorne, Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, announced that the department would be proposing changes to the way the Endangered Species Act is regulated. An article in the New York Times stated that "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."
The Interior Department's August 11 press release about the proposal calls the changes "narrow," but an August 13 blog entry by the New York Times editorial board raises concerns that it would be a "major gutting of the act." Decide for yourself when the proposed changes appear in the Federal Register on Friday, August 15.
You can read the full text of the ESA at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's website. Need more resources on or related to the ESA? For U.S. and international government as well as nongovernmental resources, check out our subject guide devoted to this particular topic.
Anyone who is unclear why defending the right of the public to participate in government decisions about the environment is important, or the specifics of what a good process looks like in different countries, is invited to check out a new publication from the World Resourcs Institute called “Voice and Choice: Opening the Door to Environmental Democracy.” It’s available for free download here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.accessinitiative.org/resource/voice-and-cho ice-opening-door-environmental-democracy