Threat To Endangered Species Act

Certain rules pertaining to endangered species listed in Endangered Species Act will be loosened by the Bush government soon, putting the efforts of many wildlife conservationists in danger.

The governments plans to give this authority to the federal agencies to decide whether certain projects including highways, dams, mining, etc will pose danger to these rare species.

The new set of rules don’t require Congress approval and is said to cut down on the obligatory independent reviews by scientists, a practice being followed for around 35 years, stated a draft by The Associated Press. This will forbid federal agencies from evaluating the effect of emissions from the projects on rare species and their habitats.

Dirk Kempthorne, Interior Secretary, said that changes were needed to ensure that the Endangered Species Act would not be used as a "back door" to regulate the gases blamed for global warming. The polar bear has recently figured in the endangered species list due to climate change.

"We need to focus our efforts where they will do the most good," said Kempthorne. "It is important to use our time and resources to protect the most vulnerable species. It is not possible to draw a link between greenhouse gas emissions and distant observations of impacts on species."

These changes are set to create a leading refurbishment to the Endangered Species Act, if approved. This will reportedly end up some environmental reviews, which developers and federal agencies hold responsible for delays and cost increases for several projects.

The changes would affect all projects funded or executed by federal agency, which may put endangered wildlife and their habitat in danger. Government executes many such reviews every year carried by wildlife conservationists.

John Kostyack, the executive director of National Wildlife Federation's Wildlife Conservation and Global Warming initiative said "If adopted, these changes would seriously weaken the safety net of habitat protections that we have relied upon to protect and recover endangered fish, wildlife and plants for the past 35 years."