I've mentioned before the changes that Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne is proposing to regulations that implement the Endangered Species Act. The Union of Concerned Scientists has just posted a brief analysis of the proposed changes. They conclude that the proposed changes would:
- Transfer much analysis away from the scientists at the Services and instead give the action agencies enormous discretion to determine whether or not their own project will affectimperiled species.
- Make action agencies the gatekeepers to the consultation process, effectively transferring decision-making based solidly in science to agencies that severely lack the biological expertise to make them.
- Impose an arbitrary deadline of 60 days for the Services to respond to a consultation requestfrom action agencies. If the Services do not reply in 60 days, the action agency is free to move forward with their desired action.
The Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO) has this to say about the proposed changes:
That from an editorial board also suggesting that the changes "may actually be warranted." The Grand Forks Herald (Grand Forks, ND) writes:
[W]e don't want a lame-duck White House unilaterally revamping how the act is enforced.
...
Changes of this magnitude - Interior calls them the most sweeping reforms of the act in two decades, and critics agree - should be fully and publicly deliberated, not imposed by bureaucratic fiat.
That from an editorial board also suggesting that the changes "may actually be warranted." The Grand Forks Herald (Grand Forks, ND) writes:
Teddy Roosevelt would not be proud.
And John McCain should waste no time in pointing that out.
Presidential candidate McCain calls himself a "Teddy Roosevelt Republican" and often calls the 26th president his "ultimate hero." So, how would Roosevelt -- the creator of five national parks and 18 national monuments -- respond to the Bush administration's idea to hobble the Endangered Species Act?
He likely would reject the idea out of hand. "There can be no greater issue than that of conservation in this country," Roosevelt once said.
That's the kind of language McCain should use in denouncing the president's plan.
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