Posted on 12/28/2002 12:17:23 AM PST by JohnHuang2
"Intoxicating liquors" were banned by the 18th Amendment in 1919. It took 14 years for the country to realize its mistake and repeal the law that was horribly abused.
The Endangered Species Act became law in 1973. It, too, is horribly abused and should be repealed. Originally conceived to "protect" the Bald Eagle, and a few other species that were truly on the brink of extinction, the law has become the weapon of choice used by environmental extremists to shut down development, obliterate the concept of private property rights and transfer land-use control to the federal government.
During the Clinton years, four varieties of freshwater shrimp were listed as threatened or endangered, at the urging of environmental groups. The Fish and Wildlife Service did not believe they were sufficiently endangered to designate critical habitat for them.
The Butte Environmental Council – a collection of environmental groups – disagreed and sued the Fish and Wildlife service. To appease the extremists, the Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to designate 1.7 million acres as critical habitat to protect the tiny shrimp that thrive in mud puddles.
How many mud puddles can there be in 1.7 million acres, covering 38 counties in two states? More importantly, how many of these tiny creatures live in these mud puddles? If there are that many, how can they possibly be endangered? Congressman-elect Dennis Cardoza says: "On its face, common sense tells you that that's not an endangered species if you can find that species in all these locations."
This lawsuit is not about protecting a shrimp – it is about blocking the use of this land for productive agriculture and future development.
The Fish and Wildlife Service shut off water to 1,400 Klamath Basin farmers to protect the endangered salmon – the same agency also clubs to death thousands of salmon hatchlings. Do they really want to protect the fish, or simply rid the farmland of people?
The Center for Biological Diversity sued the Fish and Wildlife Service in 1992 to force the designation of 731,000 acres of Arizona as critical habitat for the pygmy owl. Ten years of court battles by green groups are expected to result in doubling the habitat area, providing 66,000 acres for each known owl. Ridiculous?
Don Fife, a geologist who advised four secretaries of the Interior Department, asked a Forest Service botanist how a particular listed weed could possibly be endangered, when it appeared throughout the forest. The reply: "Everybody knows these aren't really endangered. We just need them to stop mining."
Fife secured a signed affidavit from a former Forest Service employee of the San Bernadino National Forest, which said the "staff had volunteers collect the seeds for these ESA-listed plants and spread them in the forest to stop mining and recreation on up to 44,575 acres of the mineral-rich forest."
These are only a few examples of how the ESA is being abused in order to stop productive use of both public and private lands. It is an abuse that should come to a screeching halt – by repealing the Endangered Species Act. More than 2,000 species are currently listed under the law, and more than 30,000 species are listed under a United Nations treaty.
Nature demands that all species adapt to change – or die. This was nature's law long before the first environmental organization came into existence, and it will remain nature's law long after the last environmental organization becomes extinct. It is not only presumptuous, it is profoundly stupid for environmental organizations to think that this fundamental law of nature can be repealed.
Environmental organizations that use the ESA do so not for the benefit of the species, but as a tool to achieve a much broader objective: to reduce and control consumption to ensure equity in the use of the earth's resources. This is the essence of "sustainable development."
This objective cannot be achieved if people are free to own and use their own property and resources. This objective cannot be achieved if people are free to make their own decisions about what products to buy, which automobiles to drive or where they wish to live.
Should the government control its people? Or, should the people control their government?
Like the 18th Amendment, the ESA gives government the power to control the people. The ESA was a mistake, as was the 18th Amendment. It is time to correct the mistake by repealing the ESA. This action will be an important step toward returning control of government to the people.
By Rick Weiss
The Washington Post
December 29, 2002
First there was the silence of the crows.
Then more than 14,000 horses fell ill this past summer, along with squirrels, chipmunks and mountain goats. Even mighty raptors - eagles, hawks and owls - dropped from the sky.
Now scientists are beginning to take stock of West Nile virus's North American invasion, and they are taken aback by the scale and sweep of its ecological impact. While the human toll dominated the nation's attention this year - the virus killed at least 241 people and infected many thousands more - the effects on wildlife were far worse.
The virus swept westward with alarming rapidity this year, appearing in almost every state in the nation - an astonishing expansion for a bug that had never been seen in the Western Hemisphere until three years ago.
Bring back DDT!
I finally got my copy of that Texas Law Review article by Lino Gaglia on the Commerce Clause, the Affects doctrine and the Prohibition doctrine. Gaglia is not a shallow thinker and it is taking me some serious time and concentration to wade through his article. His basic point of view is closer to yours, TL, than mine, but his logic, history and ideas are really worth the read, at least so far.
After I get through it, I'm considering posting some of the better stuff to a Commerce Clause thread. Since I only have a hard copy and don't have access to a digital version, I have been transcribing by hand, the better parts to an html document. I've got Gaglia's email address and am going to drop him a line about the FR posting (and throw in a few questions!) and see what he says (when he stops laughing).
Regards,
Boot Hill
PS: I became a grandfather Christmas Day @ 8:48pm. The baby is a healthy and happy 7lb, 14oz. boy and I got to help my son and daughter-in-law deliver it (at her invitation)!
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