The EDF Action says, in its latest email missive, that "(w)e are experiencing an unprecedented number of attacks on the Endangered Species Act," and they're right -- not only do we have Congressfolk proposing more bills that would hamstring the ESA, we have a President whose Administration seems determined to gut enforcement of the ESA from within. Luckily for us, the Endangered Species Act is actually very popular -- even three of four conservatives support the ESA, and the fervor of good Americans' support generally has increased over the years -- and our national emblem, the Bald Eagle, is one of the ESA's biggest success stories since its 1973 passage. Of course, we won't get to keep the ESA safe from "reforms" like mandating faster success or letting governors overrule the ESA unless we all speak out. Hence EDF Action helps you tell your Congressfolk to reject any attempts to harm the Endangered Species Act.
Meanwhile, despite opposition from Alaska's Governor (the good Governor Walker!), a loss of investors, and the Pruitt EPA's own uncharacteristic refusal to allow production to proceed, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is, as we speak, assessing Alaska's Bristol Bay for an open-pit copper and gold mine -- you know, like the Pebble Mine Project that's had so much trouble getting off the ground. It's had trouble getting off the ground for good reasons -- in addition to the reasons listed above, an open-pit mine would threaten wildlife, pour filth into the water, and just about destroy Alaska's vaunted sockeye salmon industry (and thus, you know, actually kill jobs). And some investors are sticking with the project, even though others have pulled out; you know what that means, right? It means we wield the Big Stick of Bad PR against the Stirling Global Fund so that it pulls out of Pebble Mine, as Environmental Action helps you do.
Finally, sticking with our "Pristine Alaska" theme, Environmental Action also helps you tell our U.S. Forest Service to keep Alaska's famous old-growth Tongass National Forest intact. Our Forest Service said last month it would evaluate whether the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which helps keep roads out of national forests, really applies to Tongass. Hmm, let's see: is the Tongass National Forest a national forest? I wanna be careful here; wouldn't want to get this wrong! (Looks at this paragraph four more times) Why, yes, the Tongass National Forest is, in fact, a national forest! Why do they need more roads in Tongass anyway? Because timber corporations want to cut more trees down, that's why -- even though some of these trees are a thousand years old. But which better helps us teach our children about what lasts and what fades away -- a thousand-year-old tree, or the office desk we make from it?
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