Obama Reverses Bush Rule that Undermined ESA

This situation is a beautiful example of intergovernmental relations. Under the Endangered Species Act, there use to be an oversight relationship between executive branch agencies and departments to check if potential projects would negatively affect endangered plants and animals. This system of checking with either the Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service was relaxed at the end of the Bush administration, allowing the agencies who were attempting the projects to decided themselves if they thought their project would be harmful to endangered species. Obama decided that if the executive government agencies wanted to look environmentally conscious, slacking on the ESA is not a respectable move.

The memorandum politely encourages the Secretaries of the Interior and Commerce to review what the Bush administration did and decide if it’s really what the ESA would want. In the meantime, government agencies are suppose to act the old way before the policy was changed, ergo they are still required to go through the FWS or the NMFS to get approved for projects.

What the Bush administration did seemed a little fishy. The ESA is meant to be the big champion for animals and our nations biodiversity. We cannot claim to care about them when our own government (who made the law) can weasel its way around it in order to streamline the project process. What Bush did with this seems very similar to the way he streamlined permits under NEPA.

I remember hearing about actions the Bush administration took when it came to intergovernmental regulation, repeals, new policies, etc., and in general the response from the business sector would be positive, while the environmentalists would be grumbling in the background. I just felt like his message was, “business comes first,” that whatever made life easier for business was in the best interest of the country. I agree it is in the best interest of the economy and the laborer, but it seems like Obama takes into account the other factors that contribute to the country’s well being (like our threatened species).