You weren't using that bald eagle anyway

Bush to relax protected species rules

Parts of the Endangered Species Act may soon be extinct.

The Bush administration wants federal agencies to decide for themselves whether highways, dams, mines and other construction projects might harm endangered animals and plants. New regulations, which don't require the approval of Congress, would reduce the mandatory, independent reviews government scientists have been performing for 35 years, according to a draft obtained by The Associated Press.

The draft rules also would bar federal agencies from assessing the emissions from projects that contribute to global warming and its effect on species and habitats.

If approved, the changes would represent the biggest overhaul of the Endangered Species Act since 1988. They would accomplish through regulations what conservative Republicans have been unable to achieve in Congress: ending some environmental reviews that developers and other federal agencies blame for delays and cost increases on many projects.

C'mon, it's not like you've ever seen a Florida panther. What do you care if it goes extinct because they just had to put in a strip mine? You can rest easy knowing that the panther died proudly, knowing it wasn't being used to backdoor regulations.

Frankly, who needs 'laws' and 'acts', when we have government by decree. Unsurprisingly this has been labeled 'illegal' by some senators, but that really hasn't stopped anything from this administration yet. The Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service don't need to be burdened with trivial things like monitoring and doing studies on fish or wildlife. This'll give them the time to start up that band they've been dying to form.

Cutting out scientists and experts has worked so well in the past. When Bush allowed the Interior Department and Forest Service were allowed to make decisions about pesticides without regard to wildlife, it's not like they were sued and lost in court. They were sued, lost in court, and the methods they used were deemed not legally or scientifically valid. So they know what happened last time and I'm sure it would never happen this time.

Because the Bush administration learns from mistakes.