Light has so many beneficial qualities. It has the power to cleanse and purify. Anyone who has ever lived in proximity to cockroaches knows how they scatter as soon as a dark room is illuminated. The very phrase “brought to light” itself has been used for decades, if not centuries, to denote the disclosure of something hidden – often intentionally. So please allow me to shine a light on a matter that some might have wished would be kept in the darkness.
According to a recent AP article by Dina Cappiello, the Bush administration is seeking to change the Endangered Species Act to allow individual federal agencies to decide for themselves whether proposed construction projects pose a threat to endangered plant and animal species. Specifically, it is reported by Ms. Cappiello that the proposed changes, drafted not by scientists but rather by attorneys at both the Interior and Commerce Departments, would prohibit federal agencies from including emissions from proposed projects that may contribute to global warming in the assessments of the projects’ effects upon these species. Lacking the requirement for congressional approval, this dramatic revision to the act, the largest since 1986, would allow the administration to accomplish what it and its allies in Congress have been unable to do through the normal legislative channels.
Why, might you ask, is there such a concern with emissions being considered? Well, just this past May, the Polar Bear became the first species listed as threatened due to the effects of climate change. If emissions continue to be allowed in the risk assessments, more comprehensive and ecologically holistic study results might be produced that demonstrate a clear link between increased greenhouse gas emissions and species loss; then other species might also be added to those listed under the act. Patterns might be noted. Greater understanding of the relationships between various species and environmental pollution could even be acheived. To those bent on subverting the protection of the natural world to partisan politics (not to mention backroom cronyism; just who was at that U.S. energy policy meeting anyway?), information that may weaken their cause is better left safely in the dark.
Peace and good bird watching (while there still are some left).
