January 02, 2004
McCloskey on the Endangered Species Act.
In an editorial in the LA Times, former Representative Paul McCloskey, a co-founder of Earth Day, and a Republican himself, writes of his dismay at the recent efforts by the Republicans to dismantle the Endangered Species Act.
Republicans Are at Risk of Becoming an Endangered Species he says. [Free registrated req'd.] Link via
The Smirking Chimp.
Thirty years ago, I was pleased to stand at President Nixon's side as he signed the Endangered Species Act into law. It was tough legislation, but also popular in a way that is all but unimaginable today: The Senate passed it unanimously and only a dozen of my colleagues in the House opposed it.
In the last three decades, the act has done much to protect eagles and other endangered species by protecting their habitats. I'm proud of what the law has accomplished.
I'm not so proud of my Republican Party and its current attitude toward this landmark statute.
... Now, however, the administration and its congressional allies are in a pitched battle against the act. The administration has moved to exempt the military from the law.
I once was in the Marine Corps. We do not need to drive species to extinction at Camp Pendleton or Guantanamo Bay or Hunter Liggett to keep our armed forces adequately trained and prepared for combat.
The administration has stopped designating "critical habitat" for listed species except under court order. It has stopped adding to the list of threatened and endangered species unless ordered to do so by a judge. It has moved to exempt the Forest Service from abiding by the law on the pretext of fire prevention. It is working to weaken the requirement that endangered species be protected from pesticides.
And that list barely scratches the surface. The assault on the law is widespread and relentless.
The administration and its comrades in arms argue that the law is ineffective, expensive and in need of drastic overhaul. In truth, they are acting as agents for the timber industry, the mining industry, land developers, big agriculture and other economic interests that sometimes find their profits slightly decreased in the short run by the need to obey this law.
These points are key: Species-protecting measures can have economic consequences on narrow interests in the short term, but in the long term the economy overall — along with the public and the natural world — benefits from a healthy ecosystem.
When I served in Congress, conservatives and conservationists worked together in friendship. Something dark and onerous has happened since the Republicans took over the House. It's time for Republicans to stand up and try to keep the party true to its historical concept that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness include the preservation of endangered species.
If we stand back and allow Democrats to be identified as the sole preservers of environmental values, the GOP could soon return to the minority status it occupied for most of the last 70 years. And that, however unfortunate for the party, would be a good thing for eagles, turkeys, ducks and rainbow
What's so frightening about this is not just the threat to endangered species (and to humans as well), but the contempt for the law being shown by these people. It's one thing to fight to change a law they disagree with, but to simply refuse to enforce public laws is malfeasance of the worst kind, and threatens the very fabric of American democracy. If people don't believe that the laws they get passed will be enforced, then what's the use of participating at all? Those in power will do what they want, and the law be damned. They can't just pick and choose which laws they feel like enforcing at any particular time. It just doesn't work that way.
This also illustrates that it's not just "lefties" (whatever they are) and Democrats who are appalled at Bush's actions. It's people of all ages, all stripes, all classes, all parts of America. This is a Republican speaking, not some "environmentalist" (whatever they are). George Bush took an oath promising to enforce the laws of the country, and it's disgusting that he isn't doing it. Beyond disgusting.
