The AP (12/31, Young) reports, “California is suing the Bush administration to block last-minute endangered species regulations that are intended to reduce input from federal scientists, state Attorney General Jerry Brown announced Tuesday.” Brown stated, “The President is trying to gut the Endangered Species Act before he leaves office next month.” He added, “Unfortunately, the Bush administration has had an antipathy to using sound science.” California filed the lawsuit “late Monday in US District Court in San Francisco.” According to the AP, “the Interior Department issued the revised rules this month. They allow federal agencies to issue permits for mining, logging, and similar activities without getting a review from federal wildlife biologists if their own research shows the project will not affect plants and animals.” The revised rules “also block agencies from using the Endangered Species Act to consider the effects of greenhouse gas emissions on ecosystems when reviewing projects such as new roads or coal plants on federal land.”
Courtesy of the American Association for Justice news release.
