I found the change in how the Endangered Species Act will be interpreted, announced this week, greatly disturbing…so much so that I felt compelled to share my thoughts.
Economic activity and species protection MUST coexist. We have a responsibility to care for the planet and all the critters that live on it. I have long believed that efforts to strengthen both our planet’s health and our economy are most successful when conservation interests and the public and private sectors work together, rather than against one another.
Under the federal government’s new interpretation of the Endangered Species Act, harming or killing an endangered animal would not violate the law unless the animal was intentionally targeted. In other words, a company could knowingly put a protected species at risk as long as killing it was not the stated purpose.
If an activity could harm an endangered species or destroy its habitat, we should be expected to take reasonable steps to avoid that harm. That is responsible stewardship, not an unreasonable burden.
These species are already extraordinarily vulnerable; some populations number only in the hundreds (or fewer). Waiting until someone deliberately kills an animal misses the entire purpose of the Act: preventing extinction before it is too late.
Removing the obligation to anticipate and minimize foreseeable harm moves us in a dangerous and deeply irresponsible direction.
