Administration Loosens Species Protections

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The Interior Department yesterday finalized rules changing the way it administers the Endangered Species Act, enabling other government agencies to decide on their own whether a project would harm an imperiled species without an independent scientific review.

The agency received nearly 235,000 comments on the endangered species proposal, at least 208,000 of which were form letters decrying the rule.

"As the Bush administration fades off into the sunset, it continues to take brazen pot shots at everything in sight, including America's landmark conservation law, the Endangered Species Act," said House Resources Committee Chairman  Nick J. Rahall II (D-W.Va.), who said he would introduce legislation seeking to overturn the rule next year. 

TVNL Comment: The Bush administration's legacy of death and destruction will continue to have a negative impact on this planet for a long, long time.

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