After 30 months in office, President Biden is moving to restore protections for plants and animals under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Among Trump’s many wrongs were his anti-scientific and pro-business rule changes that made it easier to prioritize commerce over conservation of endangered species.
To be fair, Biden has already reversed other anti-ecological edicts of Trump but it’s high time that all of them were righted again, as they were intended when the ESA passed Congress with strong bi-partisan support half a century ago.
A New York Times article from June 21, 2023, reported on proposed regulations that would make it harder to remove a species from the endangered list and strengthen protections for threatened species as well. Another proposal would stop allowing economic factors to trump ecological factors in deciding the fate of species.
The Times quoted Defenders of Wildlife attorney McCrystie Adams saying the proposed rules are “a really important step forward.” However, she and others are disappointed that the rule changes leave in place the possibility for pipeline projects to proceed if they don’t destroy critical habitat “as a whole.” That leaves wiggle room for approval of extractive enterprises that only slowly wreak havoc on natural areas.
“Considering we are in the midst of an extinction crisis, this is a pretty disappointing signal that the Biden Administration is really not prioritizing the recovery of endangered species,” said Brett Hartl of the Center for Biological Diversity.
Yet the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) takes exception to Biden’s proposals as too liberal. The Montana-based PERC’s theory is that incentives to private property owners accomplish more than laws do to protect species, and to take care of the environment in general. Before we look at how sound their reasoning is, it’s worthwhile to note that PERC has long advocated for privatizing America’s national parks and has received funding from fossil fuel groups like the Koch Foundation.
According to the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), incentives to land owners CAN work to protect species. Almost three-quarters of America’s land is privately owned, so if we’re to get it done it makes sense to foster cooperation. An example is Safe Harbor, launched by EDF to get government incentives for farmers and ranchers to protect threatened and endangered species. EDF reports that owners of 4 million acres nationwide have provided safe harbor to 63 rare species.
But let’s not lose sight of massive abuses that have occurred as well. From clear-cutting forests to earthquake-inducing fracking to mountaintop removal mining, which has destroyed more than 500 mountains on over a million acres, ruination of the Earth’s flora and fauna has been more the norm than the exception for decades. Hence the need for effective laws like the Endangered Species Act.
Re-introduction of wolves in western states and North Carolina is a controversial case in point. Biologists have shown us how beneficial wolves and coyotes are to preserving ecological balance in forests, but many ranchers still hate them, and have shot and trapped them almost to extinction. That is even with appeasement of ranchers’ concerns about livestock losses by government and privately-funded reimbursements.
It’s regrettable that Biden didn’t move more decisively and more thoroughly on this issue a couple years ago. The new proposals are subject to a 60-day public comment period before going into effect probably in 2024, the last year of his term. Lawsuits from industry groups will inevitably follow and could go to the Supreme Court which has already demonstrated a propensity to favor profit over planet.
That’s when those incentive programs will be needed more than ever. Public sentiment is strongly in sync with species protection, so let’s use our powers of persuasion - like voting with our dollars for sustainable solutions and not supporting businesses that damage the land - to compel Big Agriculture and the fossil fuel companies to act responsibly toward our fellow creatures of the Earth.
Frank Lingo, based in Lawrence, Kansas, is a former columnist for the Kansas City Star and author of the novel “Earth Vote.” Email: lingofrank@gmail.com. See his website: Greenbeat.world
From The Progressive Populist, August 1, 2023
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