Bush Curbs Endangered Species Protections

Administration Issues Watered-Down Regulations For Industries That Damage Habitats

(AP)  Just six weeks before President-elect Barack Obama takes office, the Bush administration issued revised endangered species regulations Wednesday to reduce the input of federal scientists and to block the law from being used to fight global warming.

The changes, which will go into effect in about 30 days, were completed in just four months. But they could take Obama much longer to reverse.

They will eliminate some of the mandatory, independent reviews that government scientists have performed for 35 years on dams, power plants, timber sales and other projects, a step that developers and other federal agencies have blamed for delays and cost increases.

The rules also prohibit federal agencies from evaluating the effect on endangered species and the places they live from a project's contribution to increased global warming.

Interior Department officials described the changes as "narrow", but environmentalists saw them as eroding the protections for endangered species.

Interior officials said federal agencies could still seek the expertise of federal wildlife biologists on a voluntary basis, and that other parts of the law will ensure that species are protected.

"Nothing in this regulation relieves a federal agency of its responsibilities to ensure that species are not harmed," said Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne in a conference call with reporters.

Current rules require biologists in the Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service to sign off on projects even when it is determined that they are not likely to harm species. The rule finalized Wednesday would do away with that requirement, reducing the number of consultations so that the government's experts can focus on cases that pose the greatest harm to wildlife, officials said.

But environmentalists said that the rule changes would put decisions about endangered species into the hands of agencies with a vested interest in advancing a project and with little expertise about wildlife. Several groups planned to file lawsuits immediately.

"This new rule is essentially a changing of the guard for determining how government projects will affect endangered species," said Francesca Grifo, director of the Scientific Integrity Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. "Instead of expert biologists taking the first look at potential consequences, any federal agency, regardless of its expertise, will now be able to make decisions that should be determined by the best available science."

Between 1998 and 2002, the Fish and Wildlife Service conducted 300,000 consultations. The National Marine Fisheries Service, which evaluates projects affecting marine species, conducts about 1,300 reviews each year.

The reviews have helped safeguard protected species such as bald eagles, Florida panthers and whooping cranes. A federal government handbook from 1998 described the consultations as "some of the most valuable and powerful tools to conserve listed species."

Obama has said he would work to reverse the changes. But because the rule takes effect before he is sworn in, he would have to restart the lengthy rulemaking process. Congressional lawmakers have also vowed to take action, perhaps through a rarely used law that allows review of new federal regulations.

In a related development, the Bush administration also finalized on Wednesday a special rule for the polar bear, a species that was listed as threatened in May because of global warming. The rule would allow oil and gas exploration in areas where the bears live, as long as the companies comply with the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

[boatdocster]

Bush is right to squash all this misuse of power. Thank you Mr President

Posted by HETUP at 06:58 AM : Dec 13, 2008

You were close but wrong - Bush IS THE MISUSE of POWER.

Thank God this scum sucking maggot only has about 6 weeks left in office. His damage to our country, our laws, the federal debt, war profiteering and insider trading, international relations and despicable human rights record will take 50 plus years to correct.

Bush is consistent - he has consistently failed in every job, every business endeavor, and sadly, he can add "Failed as President of the United States" to his resume.

[bhappy2-2]

Is anyone as concerned with the endangering of our rights that will be eliminated by rewriting our Constitution? Read this:

http://www.congresscheck.com/2008/12/12/globalist-constitutional-convention-dealt-a-defeat-in-ohio/

They only need two more states to convene, yet NO major news agency is covering it. WHY NOT?

[zietzke-2009]

This seals the deal........Bush, realizing that he is in fact, a STUPID liar and a bad leader is literally TRYING to become the WORST President in U.S. history.....and in this regard, he has been very successful !

[bjcone8559]

Here in real America, among us real Americans, G.W. is still held in high regard.
Posted by GoGWGo at 09:04 AM

Where exactly IS real America? 85% of fake America says otherwise. These days REAL Americans (GW''''s crowd) are like smart blondes. You hear alot about them but you never see one....


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by earache4


I''ve driven by that place!!

I was trying a short-cut through rural Alabama when I turned a corner and there it loomed... the ''Real America'' trailer park.
LOL!!

[smurfcrusher]

Bush has the perfect defense for impeachment. His vice-president.

History will remember Bush''s rape of the environment, as well as countless other blunders.

Worst president ever.

[tincup356]

Both parties are so pathetic it is unreal.Neither party cares about anything for the people, we are merely the labor that brings them all the fruit.Time has come to stand up and take our country back from there traitors that occupy Washington.As mad as the voters were before the election and from talking to many people,the percentage of third parties got only about 3 % of the votes,,,I''m wondering if there might be a little fraud going on,,,,I know more than 3% of independent voters turned out plus people that were sick and tired of both parties, looking for any representation, instead of none like with the republicans or democrats.

[ajayvee]

Hey Dems, remember Pelosi''s "impeachment is not on the table" speech? Thanks a f*ck*ng lot. You sure helped a lot when you could have.

[dagrandma]

That famous piece of film we all see with the polor bear on a tiny iceberg is a fraud.
It was filmed in August.
Al Gore left that out.
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Posted by republic76

Does that mean that polar bears aren''t endangered -- or do you know?

[dagrandma]

machineguy: So you''re saying Bush did this to test Obama??????

[jxknowles]

Do the revised endangered species regulations include right-wing, whites-only, upper-class, GOP Bible thumpers?

[shoebox119]

Or, is this not permitted in your libturd version of what you plan on replacing the current Constitution with??

Posted by GoGWGo

______

To which Constitution are you referring, the one Bush has been trashing for the last eight years or the one his administration replaced it with? You know the one... it includes torture (cruel and unusual punishment, warrantless wiretapping on American citizens, and a complete whitewashing of the Bill of Rights.

[summarex]

Did you mean, Neuronic, or Naronic??

In the tradition of Nero.

[mahdeealoo]

Now the Bush legacy leaves an even larger mess for the new administration to try to straighten out. What the H is Bush thinking? How can he even think that what he is doing is good? Oh, I get it. Money talks. Corporate greed has it''s pockets jam packed with taxpayers money, given willingly to them by the current Bush administration. Sick. Just sick.

[ofbyfor3]

Posted by GoGWGo at 10:56 AM : Dec 12, 2008

I''ll match my education against yours anyday. From the sound of your posts, you''re a little 12-year old truant drinking your mom''s beer in her double-wide.

[ofbyfor3]

GoGWGo at 10:31 AM : Dec 12, 2008

Sorry, o little fascist one, but we ARE your fellow Americans whether you like it or not. You are free to SAY whatever you want and I am free to say that you are nothing more or less than a pathetic McCarthyite.

Get a life.

[summarex]

Not bad. But Bush has done too much damage to this country and these last minute bouts of common sense are too little too late. Neronic inepts have to be made more easily removable.

[ofbyfor3]

Here in real America, among us real Americans, G.W. is still held in high regard.

Posted by GoGWGo at 09:04 AM : Dec 12, 2008

Apparently, GoGWGo doesn''t realize that it''s completely anti-American to not recognize that his fellow Americans have the right to disagree with him.

By denying that those people are real Americans as well, GoGWGo shows himself to be nothing more or less than a McCarthyite fascist who would, no doubt, be more than happy to trample on the Constitution if he could recreate it as HE sees fit.

[czmdm]

Who cares what Bush does?Obama has already identified 250 items that Bush signed onto that Obama promises to remove immediately upon arrival to the white house.

To the guy who said that "real" Americans back Bush...this is the main reason you guys lost the election. Your arrogance and intolerance towards others without any reason has made you the laughingstock of the USA.

Anyone that disagrees with you is un-American? That sentiment is the reason that neocons are the most hated species in the world.

[ffoulkes-2009]

Will your lives be any worse for the wear if you, or anyone else never again sees a sub-species of a Concho River water snake, or a Spotted Owl, or a three toed tree frog??

Grow up you bunch of little booger munchers. We don''''t have endless resources to respond every time one of you un-American POS begins whining about the sky falling.

Posted by GoGWGo at 09:50 AM : Dec 12, 2008
_______________
Ok...yer from Texas, right? Who else knows what a Concho River Water snake is???

[usclimey]

History will prove you to be one of our greatest Presidents.

Thanks again.

Posted by GoGWGo

Only if you''re the only one voting. I''ve already seen him listed as 42nd out of 43 and history''s only going to judge him harsher as the complete nature of the clusterfuck he''s laid on this nation becomes apparent.