2013 State of the Union & the Endangered Species Act

ESC Executive Director Leda Huta’s statement on President Obama’s 2013 State of the Union address:

“We are heartened that President Obama will make combating climate change a priority for his second administration.  But there other serious environmental  issues impacted by global warming that must be addressed and not forgotten.  Most notable is the successful Endangered Species Act, which turns forty this year and is our country’s most effective protective shield for imperiled wildlife habitat.   

Biologists have concluded that plant and animal species  are going extinct at a rate 1,000 times faster than normal, precisely at the same time that corporate suburbanization,  natural resource extraction and fossil fuel development continue to accelerate.   

We know we can protect majestic species such as the grizzly bear, whooping crane and  red-legged frog when we put our collective mind to it.  

This year, as the Endangered Species Act turns 40, it’s more important than ever that we do everything we can to save all species, and the natural places that they, and we, rely upon.”