Posted on 04/03/2008 7:10:35 AM PDT by reaganaut1
To the long list of things the Bush administration is willing to trash in its rush to appease immigration hard-liners, you can now add dozens of important environmental laws and hundreds of thousands of acres of fragile habitat on the southern border.
On Tuesday, Michael Chertoff, the secretary of homeland security, waived the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act and other environmental protections to allow the government to finish building 700 or so miles of border fence by year’s end without undertaking legally mandated reviews of the consequences for threatened wildlife and their habitats.
Will this stop or slow illegal immigration? No. Long experience has shown that billions of barricade-building dollars will simply shift some of the flow to more remote parts of the 2,000-mile southern border. And no amount of border fence will keep out the 40 percent of illegal immigrants who enter legally then stay too long.
It will be a disaster on the ground. One example of what’s at risk is the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge. It runs in checkerboard fashion along the 200 miles of the Rio Grande before it empties into the Gulf of Mexico. When the fence is finished, most of the refuge’s 95,000 acres — and the ocelots, jaguarundis and other rare species that live there — would wind up on the side of the fence closest to Mexico, virtually impossible to monitor and protect. Other sensitive areas in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas would also be affected.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
the Bush administration is willing to trash in its rush to . . .
ENFORCE THE LAW.
Trash? What an interesting choice of words to report a long delayed enforcement of law.
Only a little off topic, but Mark Kerkorian is now on Laura Ingraham’s show. He mentioned that McCain and others are now dismissing the immigration issue as something people don’t care so much about.
But he had results from a poll that showed that over half those who voted for McCain thought he was for strict enforcement, and 10% thought he wants to round them all up and deport them. He said McCain “bamboozled” the voters during the primaries.
Maybe there’ll be a story on his findings that can be posted later, but this is what I’ve suspected, that many of those voting for McCain fell for the war hero image and knew little about his stance on immigration and other issues.
jaguarundis? Well, I sure didn’t know they wear them, but I for one will pitch in to buy the jaguars new undis as long as the fence gets built ; )
Sometimes an excecutive-level decision must be made to proceed in light of the broader picture in spite of the local effects of the decision. Memo to DHS: Please proceed at maximum speed to build an effective fence. We can attempt to mitigate any ecological consequences afterwords.
“I’m sure the ones we have up here around San Antonio will be just fine. They’re cool lookin’ critters!”
Can you eat them? I’d hate to cut off our supply if they are edible.
Congress passed legislation allowing the environmental reviews to be waived. They are, therefore, not “legally required”. The NY Times remains as full of shit as ever.
Nah, they're cats; not particularly big either. They're shorter legged than most cats, with a long tail, and kind of elongated in the body (picture a feline dachshund). Their size is between that of a big housecat and a bobcat.
They have a coat that appears similar to a regular Jaguar.
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