FEMA, Stop Prioritizing Construction Over Endangered Whales!
It's time to put the brakes on flood plain development in Puget Sound, where many environmentalists believe that FEMA's policies are violating the Endangered Species Act.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency encourages overdevelopment of ecologically sensitive areas by underwriting insurance policies on new construction that is otherwise uninsurable, according to a recent article in Bloomberg Business Week.
Commercial insurers usually will not undertake the risk of insuring a home or business built in a flood plain. But FEMA is effectively ensuring that construction continues in areas where construction should not be allowed.
Such reckless development railroads wildlife, destroying the habitat of orcas, salmon and other endangered fish. Flood plain construction also causes flooding because it hurts the land's natural ability to absorb water.
Tell FEMA to stop violating the Endangered Species Act in Puget Sound!
We the undersigned deplore the way you effectively subsidize construction for the wealthiest builders and land owners. The desire of the rich to live in houses facing the ocean is not an imperative for the federal government. If these home owners cannot get insurance from a commercial carrier, they have no business billing the taxpayer for their insurance. Stop enabling people to build in the habitat of endangered and threatened species such as the orca and salmon. Encouraging construction in such wildlife habitats is a clear violation of the ESA. Stop violating the Endangered Species Act!
