On September 28, I joined senators and Senate staff for a Capitol Hill briefing hosted by Sen. Tammy Duckworth. Our discussion focused on the report I co-authored with my colleagues at the Center for Land, Environment, and Natural Resources, entitled Conservation Limited: Assessing State Laws and Resources for Endangered Species Protection, which investigates states' capacity to protect and recover endangered species by looking at how these laws compare to the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). It also looks at state and federal funding for implementing the ESA.
As we discussed during the briefing, the report found:
Several senators, including Duckworth, are concerned about such calls to devolve authority for endangered species management away from the federal government to the states, despite the Endangered Species Act's popularity with the American people and its significant successes. And it's not just federal lawmakers pushing to shrink and weaken the federal government's role in endangered species protection. The Western Governors' Association, for example, has called for states to be "provided the opportunity to be full partners in administering and implementing the Endangered Species Act," which is another way of asking for species management to be handed over to the states, despite their lack of preparation and resources to handle such an important task.
No Senate bills have been introduced yet, but Sen. John Barrasso, Chair of the chamber's Environment and Public Works Committee, has held a couple hearings on the topic and is expected to take it up again at some point.
House members, on the other hand, have introduced a number of damaging bills, including two that would completely reject the emphasis on science-based decision-making that has been vital to the success of the federal ESA:
For more information on the shortcomings of state endangered species laws and the importance of the federal government's role in protecting vulnerable species, check out Conservation Limited: Assessing State Laws and Resources for Endangered Species Protection and an earlier CPRBlog post on the subject. The Defenders of Wildlife has also developed a useful online app based on our research that provides access to state-specific information on laws and funding, as well as maps of the data.
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Alejandro Camacho | October 3, 2017
On September 28, I joined senators and Senate staff for a Capitol Hill briefing hosted by Sen. Tammy Duckworth. Our discussion focused on the report I co-authored with my colleagues at the Center for Land, Environment, and Natural Resources, entitled Conservation Limited: Assessing State Laws and Resources for Endangered Species Protection, which investigates states’ capacity to […]
Victor Flatt | September 29, 2017
This op-ed originally ran in the Houston Chronicle. Every day during the Hurricane Harvey disaster, our hearts would sink as we kept hearing the word “unprecedented” again and again. Harvey wasn’t supposed to strengthen so fast; it shouldn’t have stalled where it did. Every day as we hoped the worst was over, Harvey would pummel us […]
James Goodwin | September 28, 2017
UPDATE: President Trump is no longer scheduled to speak on deregulation on October 2, but the planned deregulatory “summit” with various cabinet-level agencies is still slated to occur. Government-sanctioned cruelty makes for shocking images, as the events of the past few weeks demonstrate. People in wheelchairs forcibly dragged from congressional hearing rooms for protesting legislative […]
James Goodwin | September 27, 2017
Tomorrow, CPR Member Scholar Rena Steinzor is scheduled to appear before the Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law of the House Judiciary Committee to testify at a hearing focused on the Congressional Review Act (CRA). The CRA is a controversial law that has been aggressively used this past year by the majority in […]
Dave Owen | September 26, 2017
On September 25, a group of Member Scholars from the Center for Progressive Reform (CPR) submitted comments on the Trump administration’s proposed rollback of the “waters of the United States” rule (technically, the rollback rule has been issued by EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, but its support within those agencies comes only […]
Matt Shudtz | September 20, 2017
This op-ed originally ran in the Baltimore Sun. The full scope of the heartbreaking devastation wrought by hurricanes Harvey and Irma — the human, economic and environmental toll — may not be completely understood for years. As we do what we can to help the victims, it is also time to think about how we […]
Matt Shudtz | September 19, 2017
UPDATE: The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works has rescheduled the confirmation hearing originally slated for Wednesday, September 20. The committee now plans to hold the hearing on Wednesday, October 4. Three influential EPA offices – the Offices of Air, Water, and Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention – share a common attribute. Each is at […]
Katie Tracy | September 15, 2017
In the wake of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, thousands of Texans and Floridians are out of work, some indefinitely. Without knowing when their employers might reopen for business (if at all) , many are uncertain how they’re going to afford their next meal or purchase basic necessities, much less repair their damaged homes and property. […]
David Flores | September 9, 2017
As Hurricane Irma takes aim at the Florida coast, questions about property and community vulnerabilities abound, including for some of President Donald Trump’s properties. A brief analysis by the Center for Progressive Reform (CPR) has found that while Trump’s properties, including Mar-a-Lago, face significant risk of damage from the hurricane and from the ongoing impacts […]