Photo by Jacob W. Frank, National Park Service
Congress was set to vote on HR 1897 later today, a bill that would completely undermine the Endangered Species Act. But in an exciting turn of events, the bill was officially pulled and will not be voted on at this time. Together, the Sierra Club community made over 140 calls and sent over 11,000 messages asking Congress to stand up to protect the Endangered Species Act.
This bill, sponsored by Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR), would have made it harder for new species to be added to the list of endangered species and easier for protected species to be taken off. It would also allow more killing of species that are listed as "threatened," limit the ability of federal agencies to manage listed species, and narrow critical habitat designations.
This win is proof that together, we're a force of nature.
Happy Earth Day, today and every day.