President Obama yesterday signed a memo aiming to restore elements of the Endangered Species Act that were reversed by George W. Bush, in a move likely to worry oil and gas producers.
He effectively reinstated rules that all government agencies must consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) or the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) on any actions that could affect an endangered species.
Bush weakened those rules as part of his ‘midnight regulations’, amid fears that a ruling last year. Platts explains what worries energy companies:
A ruling last year that deemed the polar bear a threatened species
because of global climate change opened up the possibility that Interior could
use ESA to regulate the greenhouse gases widely blamed for rising global
temperatures.The Bush administration sought to undermine what they called the
“back-door climate policy” that would result from listing the polar bear. Just
over a month before Bush left office, the administration made regulations that
would limit the need for FWS or NMFS consultation. At the time, the move drew
fire from environmentalists and Democratic leaders in Congress for “gutting”
ESA.
Carl Pope of the Sierra Club told Reuters the decision was welcome: “The Bush rules would have allowed agencies with little or no wildlife expertise to make decisions that could mean life or
death for animals like the polar bear. When it comes to protecting wildlife, we should listen to the scientists who spend their lives studying these animals.”
Meanwhile Newsweek has a short but interesting interview with new US interior secretary Ken Salazar, whose department includes the FWS, and who last week withdrew some oil shale leases offered by the Bush administration. His appointment was criticised by some environmentalists. Salazar says he is “not here to please the environmental groups or the oil and gas industries”, and talks about the importance of scientists in the department:
“Their work has to be honored. It starts with the Fish and Wildlife Service on the endangered-species consultation process. They’re the ones that ought to be making the call in terms of what kind of impact will be created as a result of whatever action will be taken. Secondly, we have the US Geological Survey, coupled with the Bureau of Reclamation. They will be hugely helpful for us as we figure out in a real way how we’ll address the reality of climate change.”
