Money talks again. Yesterday the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced changes in the way it would determine which species needed protection under the Endangered Species Act. Proposing to eliminate what it calls the blanket rule, the Service proposes to “tailor” protections, balancing the species with demands for “energy independence.”
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that what means. Already oil and gas leases have been given to the fossil fuel industry and some protections have been eliminated. The proposal also looks to eliminate critical habitat designations.
And, oh yes, we need to look at the potential negative economic impacts of protecting certain habitats and species. Removing certain species allows not only business interests to destroy species but also permit so-called sports hunters to go after wolves or whatever else they want from helicopters for pleasure. Money talks.
Prayer for the Day
Soaring above our increasingly barren landscape,
Eagles look down in wonder at what we are doing;
From their dens, mother wolves seek ways to protect their young,
As hunters with guns take over the skies only to kill.
Move us beyond the lure of wealth and greed,
For once destroyed, life will not return.
In the name of the One who overturned he money changers,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Protecting a threatened species is like “treating the patient when they’re in the emergency room as opposed to in the intensive care unit, when it’s just much harder to recover them.”
Jane Davenport, attorney, Defenders of Wildlife
This plan hacks apart the Endangered Species Act and creates a blueprint for the extinction for some of America’s most beloved wildlife.
Stephanie Kurose, Center for Biological Diversity
“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements – surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone
When the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?”
Job 38: 4-7