The House of Representatives plans to schedule a vote on Rep. Bruce Westerman’s, R-AR, ESA Amendments Act (H.R. 1897) this Earth Day, Wednesday, April 22nd, according to the Endangered Species Coalition. The Coalition says that Westerman’s ESA rollbacks would strip away core safeguards that have helped species survive and recover, tilt decision-making away from scientists and toward politicians and industry interests, and make it harder for communities to hold federal agencies accountable when endangered wildlife is placed in harm’s way.
Among other sweeping changes, the legislation would:
- Narrow the consultations that limit harm from federal projects to listed species — potentially to the point of making them meaningless.
- Weaken safeguards for the “take permits” that allow harm/killing of listed species.
- Dramatically extend the timeline for listing decisions while imperiled species continue to decline — even to the point of overwriting court-ordered deadlines.
- Shift science-based decision making by elevating consideration of state and locally submitted data, regardless of its quality.
- Risks vastly expanding the use of exemptions under the God Squad.
- Erode public accountability in wildlife management.
“At a time when wildlife is already under immense pressure from habitat destruction, climate change, pollution, and industrial development, Congress should be strengthening the Endangered Species Act, not tearing it apart,” said Jewel Tomasula, policy director of the Endangered Species Coalition. “If Representative Bruce Westerman and Speaker Johnson have their way, Earth Day will become Extinction Day. The urgency is real. This bill is catastrophic for threatened and endangered species.”
The legislation could have immediate real-world consequences for species already struggling to survive. By weakening critical habitat protections and undermining science-based standards, the bill could make recovery harder and extinction more likely.
“The Endangered Species Act works because it is rooted in science and because it recognizes a simple truth: once a species is gone, it is gone forever,” said Susan Holmes, executive director for the Endangered Species Coalition. “We should not allow politicians to dismantle protections that have saved bald eagles, gray whales, peregrine falcons, and so many other species from disappearing forever.”
The Endangered Species Coalition, Defenders of Wildlife, and more than 275 organizations are calling on the House to vote down H.R. 1897.
“Protecting the nation’s wildlife and habitats has never been an issue of right or left — it is a shared value and a commitment to future generations,” said Cassie Ferri, legislative analyst at Defenders of Wildlife.
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