The Endangered Species Act is once again under attack. Right-wingers in Congress are spreading misinformation about the Act, including that it's "costing jobs" (it isn't) and impeding true recovery efforts, a claim which blatantly disregards the facts.
The truth is the Endangered Species Act is an unparalleled success: since 1973, it's saved 99.9 percent of protected species from extinction and, where measured, has put 93 percent on the road to recovery. The Act's already saved the bald eagle and is poised to save more than 1,000 species, including polar bears, wolves and Florida panthers.
Yet, that isn't good enough for the Act's critics. Instead, they want to call the Act a failure and water it down so that endangered species' habitat can be clearcut, paved, drilled and polluted.
Send a letter to the House Natural Resources Committee and tell them you won't stand for trumped up hearings and allowing the Act to be gutted to help Big Industry.
Dear [Decision Maker],
I am writing today in support of the Endangered Species Act and the hundreds of imperiled species under its protection. At a time when the country is beset by a lingering recession, Congress should be focusing on the far more important work they have at hand instead of holding hearings attacking a law which works.
[Your comments will be added here.]
Critics of the Endangered Species Act complain that the law is failing because only 1% of listed species have recovered and been removed from the list. These critics, however, don't explain why they think more species should have recovered by now.
The timeline and action blueprint for recovery of endangered species is established in federal recovery plans. There are currently 1,396 species protected under the Endangered Species Act. On average, they have been on the list 21 years. Their federal recovery plans, however, expect that on average they will take 42 years from listing to be recovered. To complain that a species did not recover 21 years prior to the conservation timeline established in its recovery plan is like declaring an antibiotic to be a failure because it did not cure an infection on the first day of a 10 day course.
Hundreds of listed species have strong recovery trends but, as per their federal recovery plans, will not reach full recovery for several decades. Their progress is indicative of the Endangered Species Act's effectiveness despite the fact they are not yet recovered.
The bottom line is the Endangered Species Act has a long record of success -- it saved the bald eagle and the peregrine falcon and it's in the process of saving polar bears, wolves and hundreds of other species. This landmark law isn't broken, and Congress, to be honest, has bigger fish to fry.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
