Life on Richthofen: Signature needed: Save the Endangered Species Act

Friday, July 20, 2018

Signature needed: Save the Endangered Species Act

Protect the Endangered Species Act from Republican attacks

The petition to Congress reads:
"Forcefully reject and work to block any proposal that would gut the Endangered Species Act."

Add your name:

Dear Katy,

Protect the Endangered Species Act from Republican attacks

It's absolutely alarming: The Endangered Species Act itself is now as threatened as the wildlife that it's meant to protect.

Republican Sen. John Barrasso, longtime friend of the fossil fuel industry and enemy of the ESA, recently proposed new legislation to severely weaken the decades-old law that has saved dozens of endangered species and helped the recovery of hundreds more.¹

What's more, the Trump administration just announced its own plans to roll back protections in the ESA to make it easier to de-list species.²

The future of countless threatened species is at stake if we don't take action now. We must speak out to build massive public pressure on Congress to reject this legislation and stop any attempt to weaken the ESA.

Tell Congress: Protect the Endangered Species Act from Republican attacks. Click here to sign the petition.

Since it was enacted in the 1970s, the ESA has been wildly successful in protecting endangered species on the brink of extinction.³ More than 99 percent of all species listed on the ESA have been saved, including the iconic bald eagle, grey wolf, whooping crane, and grizzly bear.

Yet, under Sen. Barrasso's purely political, unscientific proposal, these incredible gains to protect imperiled animal and plant species could be completely wiped out. His legislation would shift much of the broad protection authorities away from the federal government and onto the states, that lack the resources to protect endangered species.⁴

It's no surprise that Sen. Barrasso has been leading the charge to gut the ESA: He is one of the fossil fuel and mining industries' top recipients of campaign cash. From 2011 to 2016, Barrasso received more than $700,000 from extractive industries that are eager to exploit the land that endangered species inhabit.⁵ And, as a result, Barrasso has been more than willing to do the industry's bidding. He has a long legislative record attacking the ESA, having led the charge on 10 bills to gut the ESA and voting against the law nearly a dozen times.⁶

Tell Congress: Protect the Endangered Species Act from Republican attacks. Click here to sign the petition.

This is a fight we can win. While Barrasso and the fossil fuel industry continue to wage a lobbying and public relations campaign to weaken the law, the public is not falling for their spin. Polls show that the ESA is wildly popular – 90 percent of voters support the law and 70 percent believe scientists, not politicians, should decide which species should be listed under the act.⁷

At a time when climate change is threatening endangered species at an ever-growing rate, our public officials should be working to enact stronger protections, not weaker ones that allow the fossil fuel industry to exacerbate the climate crisis. Please add your name today demanding that Congress reject this dangerous Republican attack on our nation's endangered species.

Tell Congress: Protect the Endangered Species Act from Republican attacks. Click the link below to sign the petition:

https://act.credoaction.com/sign/protect_esa?t=8&akid=29346%2E12967895%2EvK4l5V

Thanks for everything you do.

Josh Nelson, Co-Director
CREDO Action from Working Assets

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