A sea otter in Homer, Alaska. Sea otters are listed as threatened on the Endangered Species List.
Credit: Raffi Maghdessian/Getty
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agency and NOAA proposed sweeping changes to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) on Thursday.
Why it matters: The changes could reduce protections for at-risk plants and animals, and make it easier to delist species.
Key takeaways: The proposal limits consultation between agencies in cases where federal activity could harm a species.
- It makes it easier to remove plants and animals from the list of protected species.
- The proposal adds regulatory hurdles to the process of designating a critical habitat.
- The changes would no longer apply blanket critical-habitat policies, allowing for certain areas where it is not “prudent” to avoid that designation.
- It alters the process that federal agencies must abide by to make changes that can harm endangered species.
The big picture: The ESA, put in place during the Nixon administration, is responsible for saving species including the grizzly […]
The ongoing destruction of our planet is heartbreaking but what can a nobody do. Without money, position or influence nothing but vote. That is not making a difference in governance.
Here In NC the ones in control care not one wit what I or those like me think because we did not elect them and they will never have our votes. Oh and don’t bring up environmental concerns that just fires them up and sends them in opposite direction.
Read the 8 Laws of Change, Will, it will tell you exactly what you can do, and how to do it.
— Stephan