These six species are about to be sacrificed for the oil and gas industry

[CousinIT]

Last edited Thu Jul 26, 2018, 10:19 AM - Edit history (1)

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/26/endangered-species-act-gray-wolf-oil-gas-industry

Republican-led changes to the Endangered Species Act put plants and animals across America at risk. Here are the ones you should be most concerned about
Jake Bullinger
Thu 26 Jul 2018 07.00 EDT

Republicans in the western United States have been trying to whittle away the Endangered Species Act (ESA) since Donald Trump took office, and their efforts reached a crescendo last week with help from the White House. The Trump administration has proposed significant changes to its enforcement of the bedrock environmental law. Under the new rules, wildlife managers would limit protections for species designated as “threatened” (a level below endangered), consider the economic costs prior to defending a species and de-emphasize long-term threats such as climate change.

The administration’s action follows bills and budget riders from congressional Republicans that would, among other things, in effect remove protections for gray wolves in the lower 48 states, exempt the controversial greater sage-grouse from an ESA listing for 10 years, and increase state involvement in conservation decisions. The flurry of measures is an attempt to change the law, long seen as oppressive to oil and gas interests, while the GOP controls Congress and the White House.

“It’s a window of opportunity they appear to see,” said John Freemuth, a Boise State University professor who studies public land policy. “They don’t necessarily have a lot of facts on their side. The idea that somehow the Endangered Species Act has hurt the economy is a pretty [broad] argument. It’s probably benefited western economies through tourism and the value of protected areas.”

The species being targeted for almost immediate extinction by the Oil & Gas Industry and our current regime (which they own and control) are:

Polar bear
Sage grouse
Grey wolf
Delta smelt
Coho salmon
Grizzly bear

[el_bryanto]

1. Maybe that first one is Polar Bear?

looked up a Delta Smelt as well, as I hadn't heard of it - tiny fish but probably important to the food chain.

[CousinIT]

5. Yes. Corrected the typo. Thanks! n/t

[G_j]

2. K&R

[2naSalit]

3. K&R

[DFW]

4. This may not be on the radar of many people

It should be. The willful extinction of major species for temporary monetary gain is a crime against the earth of unimaginable magnitude.

[CousinIT]

6. Humans shouldn't be so arrogant as to think that this doesn't reach them.

It will.

[DFW]

7. Definitely

Just because we are the only ones that effect the destruction of other species, that doesn't not mean our actions will not come around to damage ourselves as well.