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U.S. Weakens Endangered Species Act Protections

posted by martyb on Tuesday August 13 2019, @04:20AM   
from the endangered-species-are-humanity's-coal-mine-canaries dept.

takyon writes:

U.S. Significantly Weakens Endangered Species Act

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.

Over all, the revised rules appear very likely to clear the way for new mining, oil and gas drilling, and development in areas where protected species live.

Also at NPR.

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Original Submission

• Re:Clear the way! Railroad's comin'! Re:Clear the way! Railroad's comin'! (Score: 3, Interesting) by edIII on Tuesday August 13 2019, @06:09AM (2 children)

  by edIII (791) on Tuesday August 13 2019, @06:09AM (#879512)

  Can it be stopped? It may just be delaying the inevitable. There are science articles saying the chance of all insects disappearing by the end of the century is possible. In terms of species, we are in a mass die off as we speak:

  Today, many scientists think the evidence indicates a sixth mass extinction [nationalgeographic.com] is under way. The blame for this one, perhaps the fastest in Earth's history, falls firmly on the shoulders of humans. By the year 2100, human activities such as pollution, land clearing, and overfishing may drive more than half of the world's marine and land species to extinction.

  I fear we've disrupted nature to such an extent that we've already set this into motion and all we can do now is wait to see how much life remains and how it can adapt. The planet will certainly not support 7 billion individuals at that point either, so I predict one hell of an adjustment (world wars) that may very well also contribute to our demise.

  It's going to take a seriously dedicated effort, and serious increases in technology, to push back against what we've already done.

  --
  Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.

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• Re:Clear the way! Railroad's comin'! (Score: 2) by Coward, Anonymous on Tuesday August 13 2019, @06:24AM

  by Coward, Anonymous (7017) on Tuesday August 13 2019, @06:24AM (#879516) Journal

  By the year 2100, human activities such as pollution, land clearing, and overfishing may drive more than half of the world's marine and land species to extinction.

  Don't you realize how meaningless sentences with "may" are? It's like a toothpaste container that says it make your teeth "up to" twice as clean.

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• Re:Clear the way! Railroad's comin'! (Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday August 13 2019, @03:38PM

  by Freeman (732) on Tuesday August 13 2019, @03:38PM (#879715) Journal

  Yet, mosquitoes seem to be as abundant or more abundant than ever. Sure, some species will be killed off, but that's bound to happen. Some species only exist in prime real-estate areas. Surely, you don't suggest that we not build the next subdivision there?

  --
  Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"

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