Perino: The Endangered Species Act ‘Doesn’t Help Support Any Species, Including Our Own’
Perino: The Endangered Species Act ‘Doesn’t Help Support Any Species, Including Our Own’
The Associated Press reports today that, as part of its long-fought campaign to gut the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the Bush administration is pushing a last-minute regulatory change that would significantly weaken the ESA:
The rules would eliminate the input of federal wildlife scientists in some endangered species cases, [by allowing] the federal agency in charge of building, authorizing or funding a project to determine for itself whether a project would be likely to harm endangered wildlife and plants.
At today’s White House press conference, a reporter asked if the Associated Press had accurately described the proposed regulatory change. Perino responded first by saying she didn’t have the documentation with her, but suggested that the rule change would have little effect because the ESA doesn’t help protect “any species, including ours” anyway:
PERINO: I don’t have [the documentation] with me. I know conceptually what we support. And I know that the Endangered Species Act is a tangled web that doesn’t actually help support any species, including our own. …
Q: (Laughter) So you’re proposing eliminating it?
PERINO: No.
Watch it:
Perino’s wholesale dismissal of the ESA could not be more inaccurate. Indeed, the law is responsible for saving, among other species, the Grey Wolf, the Grizzly Bear, and perhaps most notably our national bird, the American Bald Eagle. While Perino dismissed the rule change as insignificant, a spokesperson for the National Wildlife Federation explained, “These changes take unbiased, professional wildlife biologists out of the equation and put decisions in the hands of political appointees.”
More disturbing, however, is how widespread the last-minute assault on the federal government’s environmental regulatory structure has become. The White House’s other last minute initiatives include:
– Eliminating environmental reviews of fishing regulations. A rule change proposed by National Marine Fisheries Service would repeal a requirement that “environmental impact statements be prepared for certain fisheries-management decisions.” Instead, the government would “give review authority to regional councils dominated by commercial and recreational fishing interests.”
– Allowing more emissions from power plants. Over the objections of half of its 10 regional administrators, the Environmental Protection Agency is “finalizing new air-quality rules that would make it easier to build coal-fired power plants, oil refineries and other major polluters near national parks and wilderness areas” by weakening the Clean Air Act.
– Opening protected wilderness areas to energy development. Despite being blocked by “federal court and administrative rulings,” the Bureau of Land Management is “reviving plans to sell oil and gas leases in pristine wilderness areas in eastern Utah that have long been protected from development.”
As Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV), chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, told the Wall Street Journal, “This administration will stop at nothing to jam through as many reckless proposals as they can before the clock runs out.”
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48 Responses to “Perino: The Endangered Species Act ‘Doesn’t Help Support Any Species, Including Our Own’”
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However, there is ONE species whose extinction would benefit ALL the world, the GOP>
November 20th, 2008 at 3:14 pmUncle Ho --
November 20th, 2008 at 3:16 pmBeat me to it.
.
Is Barbie Perino suggesting that the Human species in in danger of extinction?
.
November 20th, 2008 at 3:18 pmIs this a particularly stupid use of the "government can't work" meme that served the GOP so well over the past eight years?
November 20th, 2008 at 3:19 pmPerino and her ilk are akin to what some may refer to as "weedy" species.
November 20th, 2008 at 3:20 pmSparrows, grackles, squirrels, raccoons, coyotes, deer, etc....
Species which have adapted to suburban lawns, golf courses, ornamental foliage, garbage cans, and the parking lots of fast food restaurants.
Without the Endangered Species Act, we would only be able to see bald eagles today only from pictures, because of that act they were brought back from the brink of extinction along with the wolves and grizzly bears.
Blondie is still having daily brain farts.
November 20th, 2008 at 3:21 pmHaving worked for the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the principal agency implementing the ESA, for 31 years I can say with considerable authority that Dana Perino is completely and totally full of Cheney. In the long record of environmental policy in this country few pieces of legislation can compare to the Act as far as being able to balance resource needs with a burgeoning human population.
I was once in the office of the US Army Corps of Engineers in Los Angeles where he was giving me a dressing down on how horrible the ESA was and how it was "impeding development." I looked out his office window in downtown LA and could see nothing in any direction but development. Homes, buildings, endless freeways. I stopped the Colonel in mid-tirade and asked him "look out your window and tell me who won." He did and he got my point. Unfortunately most of the knuckle-draggers in the Repignican party dont want to believe fact, only mantra.
Luckily in 62 days these imbiciles will be out of office and most on their way to court.
November 20th, 2008 at 3:22 pmAminals should move to less danger places, then would not need dangered species act. Build more road and pipeline to help them move to safer place. Good for America. If aminals fear old man in sky then we help them live otherwise they are in way and can burn in hell.
November 20th, 2008 at 3:23 pmSo George W. Bush hates wildlife AND science. After January can we lock him in a science lab with a hungry polar bear. You know, kinda even the score. We can televise it on Animal Planet. "When Animals Attack Idiots"
November 20th, 2008 at 3:23 pmThis is probably on a dumbness par with Laura Bush's remarks defending her husband's ban on funding for stem-cell research ("We don't even know that stem cell research will provide cures for anything ").
Republican motto: We don't want to replace ignorance with knowledge under any circumstances.
This is why we don't want to invest in things like scientific research funding, we don't want input from scientists or other experts on anything (unless, of course, they say what we want them to say), and we certainly don't want pesky things like facts getting in the way of the propaganda catapult.
November 20th, 2008 at 3:25 pmi thinl it is a positive good that she is at least openly stating her republican (or dixiecan per digby) policy positions on epa, esa and objective 3rd party input in policy setting. let's debate them on their real beliefs, those are laughable enough without descending to mockery this earlier in the debate.
November 20th, 2008 at 3:25 pmNevar - Perino and her ilk are beneath the "weedy" species.
Perino is slowly decompressing... she looks terrible. Wonder if she needs sleeping pills to help her fall asleep at night.
November 20th, 2008 at 3:26 pm"These changes take unbiased, professional wildlife biologists out of the equation and put decisions in the hands of political appointees.”
Part of Bush's war on science. Add his war on whistleblowers and no willful politician can be stopped.
November 20th, 2008 at 3:26 pmgod i can't type. where is good voice recognition software?
November 20th, 2008 at 3:26 pmI sat out on my deck last month with binoculars, thoroughly enjoying the pair of Bald Eagles gliding above my house. I can't tell you how much that pleased me.
I remember clearly when DDT & other pesticides nearly caused the extinction of these fabulous birds. MN now has nearly 3,000 pairs of Bald Eagles. I see them over my golf course. I see them over my 80 acres of wilderness. I see them flying over towns all around the region. My point?...
Bush & cronies would repeal all of this in a heartbeat if they thought they could get away with it. The reason they're 'backdooring' it is they know Americans would object.
Obama can undo any of this, in time. As Uncle Ho posts at #1, Neocons are today's endangered species. They don't have the balls to do a Jonestown, so it's up to us to help them on their way anyway we can. Be creative. Do what you can when you can, but let's all do our part to make false Patriots extinct.
November 20th, 2008 at 3:30 pmI am hoping that Obama will use Executive Decisions to reverse these incredibly awful regulations that this incredibly awful administration is trying to leave as their legacy to America.
And Dana has revealed her ultimately empty head. No wonder she made such a good mouthpiece for Bush.
November 20th, 2008 at 3:30 pmWho needs any of those pesky animals anyway? All they do is keep the ecological balance and keep the earth from total self-destruction.
Way to go Dubya, you are really showing your true colors regarding this planet.
Can we get him outta office any sooner? I can smell the large dumps he will be taking all over right up til January
PEEE_UUUUUU!!!
November 20th, 2008 at 3:32 pmDumb Dana: you are a stupid, worthless, lying Republican. Go away.
November 20th, 2008 at 3:33 pmRepublican Motto - Hell bent on Destroying the Earth and Mankind for Profit.
Obama is sure going to have his hands full undoing the destruction these criminals have committed for over 20 years.
November 20th, 2008 at 3:36 pmPatty; sorry 'bout that.
November 20th, 2008 at 3:44 pmUncle Ho Says:
Patty; sorry ’bout that.
:)
She and her ilk know they're endangered and no congressional action will save them.
November 20th, 2008 at 3:52 pmShe and her ilk know they’re endangered and no congressional action will save them.
November 20th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
That's delusional thinking.
They're not 'endangered.' I wish the hell they were, that they were afraid to go out with worrying about being covered in bags of shit, rotten produce, and offal.
But they'll just walk away, laughing all the way to the bank...
And in a few years (probably fewer than many here would like to admit), they'll come waltzing back, ready again to try to destroy the country, all it stands for, and everything that's worth a shit...
November 20th, 2008 at 4:07 pmI swear, I'm so bloody sick of these people I could just spit!!
November 20th, 2008 at 4:08 pmCounting the days until I don't have to hear from this repub robot girl that has a party line answer to every question. It won't be long now.
November 20th, 2008 at 4:09 pmRepublican Motto - Hell bent on Destroying the Earth and Mankind for Profit.
And you just can't use those profits in heaven!
November 20th, 2008 at 4:24 pmCurlew Says:
I was once in the office of the US Army Corps of Engineers in Los Angeles where he was giving me a dressing down on how horrible the ESA was and how it was “impeding development.” I looked out his office window in downtown LA and could see nothing in any direction but development. Homes, buildings, endless freeways. I stopped the Colonel in mid-tirade and asked him “look out your window and tell me who won.”
-----------
Some rich men came and raped the land,
November 20th, 2008 at 4:28 pmNobody caught 'em
Put up a bunch of ugly boxes, and Jesus
people bought 'em
And they called it paradise
The place to be
They watched the hazy sun, sinking in the sea
-------------
From The Last Resort, The Eagles
Why do reporters even BOTHER with attending these press conferences? The Bush Administration is a LAME DUCK, and frankly we're all tired of the moronic crap that spews forth from Ms. Perino. She's WORSE than Baghdad Bob!!!
I can't wait until we have a REAL president and a REAL administration again.
November 20th, 2008 at 4:34 pmThey paved paradise...
and put up a parking lot...
Joni Mitchell
November 20th, 2008 at 4:42 pm"Which way shall I fly? Infinite wrath and infinite despair? Which way I fly is Hell; myself am Hell
November 20th, 2008 at 4:42 pmand in the lowest deep a lower deep,
still threatening to devour me, opens wide,
to which the Hell I suffer seems a Heaven." John Milton, Paradise Lost.
Impeach, while There's Still Time!
She is the endangered species. The era of this chick is about to end. Now she can preach her nonsense to the bathroom mirror.
November 20th, 2008 at 4:44 pmIn a few years, the GOP will be pining for an Endangered Species Act specifically aimed at salvaging the near extinct adherents of their ever-shrinking ilk.
Just saying . . .
November 20th, 2008 at 4:52 pmI recall that Mao Tse Tung thought it would be a good idea
November 20th, 2008 at 4:54 pmto kill all sparrows because they ate grain. For several days
eveyrone in China went around banging pots and waving streamers scaring the birds until they died. The next year
millions of people died of starvation because the sparrows
ate bugs that destroyed crops.
Nevar Says:
They paved paradise…
and put up a parking lot…
Joni Mitchell
Yeah, I always loved Big Yellow Taxi =)
November 20th, 2008 at 4:57 pmMr. Peabody's coal train has taken it away...
November 20th, 2008 at 4:59 pm-John Prine
I swear to goodness they need to make up new words to describe how pathetically stupid these people are. I thought she was pretty the first time I saw her...until she opened her mouth. Now all I see is- well, let's put it this way- I need to take a Dana and wipe my Perino. Childish, yes, but damn if I can't find words strong enough to accurately describe how I feel about this adminstration. It ll boils down to greed at it's very core.
Why do these people hate nature so much?
November 20th, 2008 at 5:09 pmPerino and Palin:
:)
November 20th, 2008 at 5:10 pmPerino and Palin: DITZOPHRENIA
http://www.airfarceone.net/ditzophrenia.html
November 20th, 2008 at 5:10 pmlurker Says:
I recall that Mao Tse Tung thought it would be a good idea
to kill all sparrows because they ate grain. For several days
eveyrone in China went around banging pots and waving streamers scaring the birds until they died. The next year
millions of people died of starvation because the sparrows
ate bugs that destroyed crops.
Mao did force the people to eat the sparrows...
November 20th, 2008 at 5:43 pmApparently it wasn't enough to tide them over.
So the Endangered Species Act doesn't predict endangered species? I've never actually heard this claim before in the last 36 years it's been in effect. Man, the ability of these people to just make crap up that's completely the opposite of what everybody's always known is breathtaking. She should be in the Olympics, competing in the "cognitive dissonance" event. Do you physiologically actually need two brains to make up this crap, or does she just do it with one? Or less?
I think bald eagles would be surprised to hear about this. Among others.
November 20th, 2008 at 5:55 pmPerino: "the Endangered Species Act is a tangled web that doesn’t actually help support any species, including our own."
How does this woman sleep at night? Can she hear & understand her own lies & smears? McLellan came around-- Perino, you are such a lying mouthpiece for Bush/Cheney. If she truly thinks the Endangered Species Act helps no species, I guess she'd also agree the Homeland Security Act helps nothing for security, or that the Patriot Act helps no patriots, or--- well, etc. etc. Apparently Bush/Cheney/Perino feel that any politically voted on "act" is a farce. The only things that matter to them are what they "sign off" -- tax-payers & the general public are non-entities to them. God, let us all pray to get Obama in early & shunt these absolute losers off into oblivion as soon as possible. What liars & losers.
November 20th, 2008 at 6:21 pmAfter reading this and anything related to the bush admin is ignorance a learned response or are they born with it nature or nurture inquierin minds wanna know well actually no we just dont wanna get near it incase u might be able to catch it like a virus
November 20th, 2008 at 6:48 pmWhooping Crane? California Condor? Republican?
November 20th, 2008 at 7:07 pmSo what does, say, some highway engineer know about wildlife biology ?
(admittely, my simile is off as highways are usually state function)
November 20th, 2008 at 10:20 pmWhat does some highway engineer know about wildlife biology? Only what they know from the remains of roadkill. And that seems to be the extent of the Bush Admin's knowledge too.
November 21st, 2008 at 6:53 am"You're something that never should have happened;
You even make your grandma sick.....
You can go to hell."
A. Cooper
November 21st, 2008 at 8:00 amI want to be allowed to slap these people until the stupid comes off. Or kick them in the head until their brain restarts. Something! Geesh!
Did they NEVER take a science class?! Too elitist?
November 21st, 2008 at 8:05 amGeesh, woman, watch some National Geographic sometime!!!
November 21st, 2008 at 8:08 amI wonder what the poor chirping Propaganda spreader will do after W?
She's gonna have to go to work for a corporate pig farm to be near as much sh1t to throw in her next job.
November 21st, 2008 at 11:10 am