Democrats Urge Interior Department to Reverse Policy That Threatens Migratory Birds

In what is unfortunately becoming an almost daily exercise in futility, Democrats in Congress have urged the Trump administration to reverse a policy which threatens our natural environment. In this case, Democrats are asking the Interior department to reverse a new policy that would exempt US businesses from liability for killing migratory birds unless they acted intentionally. Environmentalists argue that the new policy will undermine the 1916 Migratory Bird Treaty and Federal Law that protects more than 1000 Migratory bird species.

Amanda Rodewald has written an excellent piece on the possible consequences of the Interior department's policy in The Herald of Everette, WA. In it she points out:

"Seventeen former Interior Department officials representing every presidential administration from Nixon through Obama have written a memo expressing deep concern about the new policy. As they explain, the MBTA has given industries a strong and effective incentive to work with government agencies to anticipate, avoid and mitigate foreseeable death or injury to birds."

There has never been such a sustained attack on environmental regulation in this nation's history, and its just begun. Here is a detailed piece in Vox about Scott Pruitt's strategy to "strangle" the EPA.

#birds #environment