*****THIS ALERT IS NO LONGER ACTIVE*****
DO NOT SEND THIS ALERT!
Dear Representative,
Just before leaving office, the Bush Administration stripped the Endangered Species Act of vital protections. I ask you to un-do this grave error
in primary USA wildlife law. Please co-sponsor H.J. Res. 18, legislation from House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Jo Rahall that
seeks congressional disapproval of Bush's drastically changed ESA.
In 1973 Congress elected to preserve the most vulnerable plants and animals in this country. Since then the ESA has sustained some 99
percent of imperiled species, including bald eagles, ocelots, grizzly bears, gray wolves, and sea otters. The ESA also shields 200 million acres
of crucial wildlife habitat.
These safeguards are basically gone if changes announced by departing Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne are not reversed. For
example, the Bush rewrite bans the ESA from taking action to save polar bears from global warming threats. Scientists widely accept that
human-generated greenhouse gasses cause ecosystems to lose biodiversity, leading to the extinction of entire species.* We already know the
Antarctic ice sheet collapsed last year. Melting ice specifically jeopardizes polar bears. It is reckless to exclude them from climate change
events.
The Bush regulations also excuse highway construction, dams, logging, mining and other developments from ESA assessment. Projects that
could push plants or animals into extinction can proceed without consulting biologists in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine
Fisheries Service.
These changes are anti-science. Please do not let antiquated policies pervade the current administration.
As your constituent, I urge you to reject destructive environmental regulations. I simply ask that you uphold the Endangered Species Act,
which did not need an overhaul in the first place. Please cosponsor H.J. Res. 18. I look forward to your feedback on this important issue.
*National Assessment Synthesis Team, U.S. Global Change Research Program. Climate change impacts on U.S. The Potential
Consequences of Climate Variability and Change. www.usgcrp.gov/usgcrp/Library/nationalassessmen
t/overviewfindings.htm
Thank you,
YOUR FULL NAME
ADDRESS, CITY, STATE
COUNTRY
