Gutting the Endangered Species Act

As the NYT reports this morning, House Resources Committee chairman Richard Pombo (R-CA), who never met an environmental law he could stomach, has introduced amendments to the Endangered Species Act that will make federal protection of endangered species more difficult to achieve. The bill has been set on a "fast track" in the House, and may come before the full chamber as early as next week.

Key provisions of the Pombo bill, from the San Francisco Chronicle:

"Stripping the requirement that the Fish and Wildlife Service designate 'critical habitat' for endangered species, which sets strict limits on development by land owners. Instead, the agency would design recovery plans that identify certain land as important to a species' recovery and offer incentives for land owners to cooperate.

Requiring the government to pay land owners if they are blocked from using their land because of the presence of an endangered species.

Directing the secretary of the Interior to write new rules for determining the 'best science' in listing endangered or threatened species, which critics say could make it more difficult to list new species."

While cooperation between landowners and the government is a great goal, throwing money at the problem isn't the solution. Neither is redefining "best science." Steps must be taken to increase understanding and education among landowners about species protection, we shouldn't just be paying them off.

Pombo's bill should be defeated - his known opposition to the ESA (an earlier version of the bill wrote the Act out of existence in 2015) makes it clear exactly what his intentions are: not the protection of endangered species and the strong enforcement of its provisions, but precisely the opposite.

I'd urge you all to drop a line to your congressman's office today and request that they oppose the Pombo bill, which endangers the very existence of the Endangered Species Act.