Endangered Species Act Change That Would SUCK

Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne

Most of the GSpotting entries and ideas stem from badass companies moving in a green, conscious direction for the sake of their consumers and our planet. That's our beat. And when friends, family, and lovers argue that politicians in office dictate most of the change that occurs in this country, we just quietly disagree and point to beacons of change vis a vis capitalism like Burts Bees and Terra Cycle and Patagonia, who are hella successful, powerful entities whose global impact goes way beyond their $$ success.

But every once and a while we've got to agree that certain basic regulations are needed from our government. Mainly, that they just act within the law. The latest proposed change to the Endangered Species Act by the Bush Administration's Secretary of the Interior, Dirk Kempthorne, is super short sided. The former University of Idaho Student Body President, is proposing we allow the highway, dam, and mine companies decide if their intended projects will be harmful to endangered species and plants, instead of a more objective government regulatory body.

Secretary Kempthorne went on to say, "It is not possible to draw a link between greenhouse-gas emissions and distant observations of impacts on species.” Coming from a politician who received $80,000 in campaign contributions between January 1989 and June 1995 from American Petroleum Institute political action committee members, Kempthorne's inability to see a correlation between emissions and wildlife destruction seems quite expected.

Let's hope the Polar Bears that Kempthorne removed from the Endangered Species list get really pissed off and vote for Obama.