NPCC Action Alert: Sign on letter for organizations to protect the Endangered Species Act - Deadline November 6
November 2, 2015
Dear Native Plant Conservation Leader:
The Endangered Species Coalition is seeking organization to sign on to a letter to President Obama asking him to veto any budget bills that contains riders that would weaken the Endangered Species Act.
See their request and sign on letter below, or click HERE to read the letter, review who has already signed, and sign on. Note: the deadline for signing is Friday November 6.
Budget bills will be sent to the White House soon for signature or veto. There is tremendous pressure on the President to compromise, even if it harms the environment. Because of years of dysfunction in Congress, this is the first chance for a Federal budget for some time. So the temptation to accept even flawed budget bills is immense. Dozens of anti-environment, anti-science proposals have been attached to legislation including the Interior Appropriations bill, which governs the Endangered Species Act.
Please consider signing on to the Endangered Species Coalition letter.
Thank you,
Emily
___________________________________
Emily B. Roberson, Ph.D.
Director
Native Plant Conservation Campaign
emilyr@plantsocieties.org
PMB 151 - 1459 18th St.
San Francisco, CA 94107
Emily,
Congress is waging an all-out assault on the Endangered Species Act. At least 80 legislative proposals have been offered, with many of the worst still pending. While efforts are ongoing to defeat each of these bills and amendments in the House and Senate, the White House needs to know that the Endangered Species Act is off limits. With the recent 2-year budget framework approved in Congress, there will be even greater pressure on the White House to make unnecessary compromises.
You may also email me directly at lcheek@endangered.org to sign on to the letter or if you have any questions. The letter and current signers are below. The new deadline for signing is Friday, November 6th.
Thank you for standing with us to protect endangered and threatened species and the Endangered Species Act.
Sincerely,
Lia Cheek
Campaign Director
Endangered Species Coalition
www.endangered.org
________________________
XXXX XX, 2015
The President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President:
On behalf of our millions of members and supporters throughout the United States, the undersigned organizations write to urge you to reject all riders on final spending legislation for Fiscal Year 2016 that would undermine the Endangered Species Act and put individual species at risk of extinction. While there are numerous anti-environmental riders we oppose due to their effects on air quality, water quality and human health, this letter focuses on those riders that would weaken the Endangered Species Act.
The Endangered Species Act remains the most important law our nation has ever passed to protect species at risk of extinction. It has been tremendously effective at safeguarding species and placing them on the path to recovery. In its 42 years, the Endangered Species Act has prevented the extinction of 99 percent of the species placed under its protection. The Endangered Species Act is also one of the most popular conservation laws. According to a June 2015 poll, 90 percent of American voters support the Endangered Species Act.
In spite of this bedrock environmental law’s tremendous success and its popularity with the American public, some members of Congress are determined to weaken the Act primarily for the benefit of polluting industries that contribute to climate change and harm our planet. One U.S. Representative even announced recently that he would like to see the Endangered Species Act repealed. More than 80 legislative proposals have already been introduced in this Congress to weaken this vital law. Each of these measures, including the record number of riders currently on the Interior appropriations bills, undermines the Endangered Species Act.
The House of Representatives voted to include numerous riders that weaken the overall implementation of the Endangered Species Act on the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2016. These riders remove necessary protections for species at risk of extinction, prevent future protection for imperiled species, limit citizens’ ability to enforce the government’s legal obligations under the Act, and automatically remove protections for species if the appropriate federal wildlife agency fails to complete its 5-year review on time. These proposals run counter to the Endangered Species Act’s science-based process to protect all wildlife, plants, and fish in danger of extinction. The Senate Interior appropriations bill contains three of the same riders that attack protections for gray wolves, sage grouse, and the lesser prairie chicken. Enactment of any of these riders would be damaging to the species involved and contribute to the unraveling of the Endangered Species Act and the decades’ worth of protections that have saved species like the bald eagle, gray whale, and American alligator from extinction.
The conservation challenges America faces today are far greater and more complex than they were when the Endangered Species Act was enacted over four decades ago. We face the reality of climate change and other enormous threats to our planet’s biodiversity—which in turn threaten our own survival as a species. Scientists predict that as many as 30 to 50 percent of all species could be heading toward extinction by mid-century. Clearly, now is not the time to weaken the best tool our nation has to combat the planet’s sixth great wave of extinction.
As your Administration works with Congress to negotiate a final Fiscal Year 2016 and 2017 spending package, we urge you to flatly reject all riders that undermine the Endangered Species Act in any way, including weakening or preventing protection for specific species. These harmful measures have no place in the appropriations context and only serve to chip away at one of America’s most popular and effective environmental laws. We look forward to working with your Administration to uphold the Endangered Species Act, continuing the legacy of conservation for which this great country is known.
Respectfully,
Alaska Wilderness League
Alliance for the Wild Rockies
American Forests
American Rivers
BARK
Berkshire Environmental Action Team
California Native Plant Society
California Wolf Center
Californians for Western Wilderness
Cascadia Wildlands
Center for Biological Diversity
Center for Food Safety
Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists
Citizen Action New Mexico
Clean Water Action
Conservation Congress
Conservation Council for Hawai‘i
Conservation Northwest
Conservatives for Responsible Stewardship
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Defenders of Wildlife
Earthjustice
Earthworks
Eastern Coyote/Coywolf Research
Endangered Habitats League
Endangered Species Coalition
Environmental Defense Fund
Environmental Protection Information Center
Federated Conservationists of Westchester County
Friends of the Bitterroot
Friends of the Wild Swan
Gallatin Wildlife Association
Golden Gate Audubon Soc, SF, CA
Grand Canyon Trust
Grand Canyon Wildlands Council
Great Old Broads for Wilderness
GreenLatinos
Greenpeace
Heartwood
Hells Canyon Preservation Council
Hoosier Environmental Council
Humane Society of the United States
Idaho Conservation League
International Marine Mammal Project of Earth Island Institute
Klamath Forest Alliance
KS Wild
League of Conservation Voters
League of Humane Voters® - Wisconsin Chapter
Living with Wolves
Los Padres ForestWatch
Mission Wolf
National Audubon Society
National Wolfwatcher Coalition
Natural Resources Defense Council
Nature Abounds
NE Oregon Ecosystems
North Cascades Conservation Council
Oceana
Oregon Wild
Predator Defense
Project Coyote
Red Wolf Coalition
RESTORE: The North Woods
Rocky Mountain Wild
SandyHook SeaLife Foundation
Save Our Sky Blue Waters
SAVE THE FROGS!
Sequoia ForestKeeper
Sierra Club
Speak Up For Wildlife Foundation
The Cougar Fund
The Enviro Show
The Rewilding Institute
The Southwest Environmental Center
The Walden Woods Project
The Wolf Mountain Nature Center
Turtle Island Restoration Network
Ventana Wilderness Alliance
Western Environmental Law Center
Western Watersheds Project
Western Wildlife Conservancy
White Mountain Conservation League
WildEarth Guardians
Wilderness Watch
Wildlands Network
Wolf Conservation Center
Wolf Haven International
Wyoming Wildlife Advocates
Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
| | Powered by YMLP.com | |
| | ||