making days longer
I have the sneaking suspicion this is going to be 86'd by TNS, so this is me passing it on to you, Labrateers, free und gratis (And if they do publish, then pretend you never saw it and go read it there. Their fonts and all are much nicer):
The warnings from environmental groups were dire.
“Congressman Richard Pombo (R-CA) is pushing forward with efforts to gut the Endangered Species Act, America's safety net for fish, wildlife and plants at the edge of extinction," wrote the Sierra Club on its website.
“Although the Endangered Species Act is one of America's most important and successful environmental laws, Representative Richard Pombo, a long-time opponent of the act and chair of the House Resources Committee, has introduced legislation that would severely weaken the act's protections," said a National Resources Defense Council action alert.
However, when Pombo’s Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act (TESRA) was rushed out of committee and onto the floor late last week, a crucial 36 House Democrats crossed party lines to vote for a bill that in its current form will cut or substantially change several major provisions of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in the name of reform.
Changes included eliminating independent scientific review of endangered species status, protections for “threatened” species which are nearly endangered, and most significantly, removing the “critical habitat” provision of the ESA, which sets aside parcels of land to remain undeveloped in order to restore endangered species.
In addition, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that he Pombo bill would need billions in new funding to modify regulatory procedures and establish “new financial assistance programs,” part of an effort to placate landowners’ groups who claim property values decline after an endangered species is found on private land.
Despite slashing one key portion after another from the Act and ladling on billions in new costs, some believe the House vote doesn’t represent the end of the line for the ESA.
“I actually thought it was going to be a bit worse,” said Kieran Suckling, policy director for the Center for Biological Diversity. “I think the way the vote came down, that it was close enough that there was no mandate.”
“It actually wasn’t too bad,” said Kristen Bossi, spokesperson for Nick Rahall (D-W. VA), the House Resources Committee’s ranking Democrat. “To lose 36, it’s not that bad. If you look at the substitute, we only lost that 202-212. It’s not all doom and gloom,” she said.
Bossi pointed to the bi-partisan support quickly cobbled together for a softer series of more conservation-minded reforms in a wide-ranging amendment offered by George Miller (D-CA) and Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), as well as the 34 Republicans who stood against the Pombo bill.
“If you look at these votes, there are just some issues we lose a lot of Democrats on,” Bossi said, noting that House votes for President Bush’s “Healthy Forests Imitative” lined up in much the same fashion.
“One of the amendments of the [TESRA] bill related to pesticides, and we had 70 groups come together in one day and sign a statement against it,” said Defenders of Wildlife spokesperson Cindy Hoffman, referring to an amendment presented by Greg Walden (R-Oregon) that would’ve exempted pesticide regulation for up to five years. “That’s impressive support,” Hoffman said.
Critical habitat seemed to be the key issue for Democrats who split with the party on the Pombo bill. A majority of the congressmen and women who voted for TESRA were from southern and western states, “districts where critical habitat is an issue” for constituents, said Bossi.
In addition, the bulk of the Democrats who voted for the Pombo bill belong to the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of conservative Democrats who are just as likely to swing to the right as they are vote to with their party.
For the time being, however, “things look good in the Senate,” Kieran Suckling said, notably in the form of Rhode Island Republican Lincoln Chafee, who heads the Senate Subcommittee on Fish, Wildlife, and Water.
“Chafee’s got a good [environmental] record, and he has said he’s not going to allow a bill like that out of his committee,” Suckling said.
Still, Suckling says he is worried about “the message” that may resonate among senators following efforts at compromise on the Pombo bill, in committee and on the floor. He argued that “weak” positions the Miller- Boehlert amendment staked out on critical habitat, supported by a clutch of conservationist groups, gave Republicans “green cover.”
The groups, which included the American Bird Conservancy, the Environmental Defense Fund, and Defenders of Wildlife are grounded in the philosophy of conservation, and are generally more likely to support efforts that combine sustainability and economic development, signed a statement in support of the Miller-Boehlert amendment.
“We supported the Miller-Boehlert amendment, and Pombo knew our concerns,” said Cindy Hoffman. “We consider [Miller-Boehlert] an improvement on the present-day ESA.” Under Miller-Boehlert, critical habitat would not be as strictly enforced as it currently is, it would no longer be applied solely at the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior. “It would actually make critical habitat a requirement,” she explained.
“I know that some groups did sit down and try to work out a compromise” when the bill was in the Resources Committee, said Kristen Bossi, “but in the end there wasn’t a compromise that Nick Rahall or any one [of the groups opposed to the Pombo bill] could support.”
“I wouldn’t say [efforts at compromise] completely allowed the bill’s passage, but it certainly gave it bounce,” said Kieran Suckling.
“There are people who you can have common ground with,” Suckling insists, comparing Pombo’s stance on the ESA with Pat Robertson’s position on a woman’s right to choose. “Pombo…is not one of them.”
Lest you think Kieran Suckling's justa whistlin' Dixie, the mighty Orcinus has a great post on the meaning of Richard Pombo and enviro extremism.
<< Home