Jul

Press Release: ‘Zombie Apocalypse’ Energy Bill Passes the House – Full of Riders that Harm Wildlife

Press Releases, 2016 News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Press Contact:
Haley McKey
202-772 0247

WASHINGTON (May 25, 2016) — Today, the House of Representatives passed an amended version of S. 2012, the “Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2016,” a bill loaded down with controversial anti-wildlife and anti-public lands provisions. They include a large number of unrelated bills previously passed by the House that are strongly opposed by the Obama administration.

This controversial energy legislation contains extreme, partisan proposals such as the House sportsmen’s bill, H.R. 2406, which would overturn two federal court decisions and strip Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves in Wyoming and the Great Lakes region, block efforts to crack down on the illegal trade in African elephant ivory and bar conservation measures for wolves, bears and other iconic carnivores on over 100 million acres of federal lands in Alaska. The energy package also includes damaging legislation that, under the guise of responding to California’s drought, would dramatically weaken protections for salmon, migratory birds and other fish and wildlife in California’s Bay-Delta estuary and threaten thousands of fishing jobs in California and Oregon. The bill includes language that would undermine forestry safeguards, leaving the nation’s forest lands open to increased logging and destruction.

Statement from Defenders of Wildlife President and CEO Jamie Rappaport Clark:

“This Energy Bill is like the zombie apocalypse — it’s an army of previously passed House bills that died in the Senate, but here they are again, back from the dead and out to cause the destruction of our nation’s wildlife and public lands.

“The House sportsmen’s bill, apart from having nothing to do with energy policy, is a minefield of riders that have serious consequences for wildlife here in the United States and abroad.

“The many riders that plague this bill are varied, but they share a common thread. They all spell disaster for wildlife- and they show us that House lawmakers aren’t serious about reaching any agreement with the Senate on an energy bill in the short time remaining in this session.”

Defenders of Wildlife is dedicated to the protection of all native animals and plants in their natural communities.

You can sign the Defenders of Wildlife petition to Congress HERE.

#########

Take Action to Keep Wolves Protected – Stop Anti-Wolf Legislation

If some members of Congress have their way, wolves across some or even all of the lower 48 states will lose their Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections through stand-alone bills or riders on must-pass legislation.

Your help is needed now to stop anti-wolf, anti-ESA legislation from moving forward.

Please contact your members of Congress and President Obama and tell them decisions about the future of endangered species should be based on science, not politics.

Bills or riders aimed at stripping endangered wolves of federal protections put more than wolves in peril – they threaten all wildlife and the Endangered Species Act itself. Wolves are being used as pawns in a larger effort to sink the ark that provides for the conservation of all animals.

Please contact members of Congress and the President today and urge them to oppose any anti-wolf legislation.

You will be most effective if you call personally or send an email in your own words. Whether you call or write, please be polite so that your message will be heard. Remember, you will most likely connect with a staffer who will pass your message along.

Sample message for phone calls or emails:

Start by identifying yourself and where you’re calling from.

I am calling to urge [the Senator, the Congressman, the President] to oppose any legislation or riders that will weaken the Endangered Species Act or reduce protections for wolves. These decisions should be made through science, not politics. Appropriations bills and other must-pass legislation should be kept clean of anti-wolf and other controversial riders. Thank you.

Phone numbers:

· Congress members’ contact information can be found at https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members.

· White House Phone: (202) 456-1111

· White House Email: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

~~~~~~~~~~~~

You can add you name to these petitions
to Congress to stop these riders

Defenders of Wildlife

Center for Biological Diversity

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for acting for wolves today!

Back one page