To the editor:
Just before leaving office, the Bush administration issued rules eviscerating the central consultation process of the Endangered Species Act; exempting greenhouse gas-emitting projects from regulation under the Act; and specifically banning federal agencies from protecting the polar bear from greenhouse gas emissions, the primary threat to its continued existence. These rules gut our nation's most important wildlife protection law — which has been safeguarding species for more than 35 years — and fail to use this successful law to fight the greatest future threat to endangered species — global warming.
On March 11, President Barack Obama signed into law an omnibus appropriations bill giving Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar 60 days to rescind the Bush rules with the stroke of a pen and restore the Endangered Species Act to its former glory. But industry groups are marshalling op-eds and editorials urging Secretary Salazar to let the Bush regulations stand. Editorials in favor of action will elevate the issue and show the secretary that rescinding the Bush regulations is a popular, high-priority action. Please make your voice heard on this issue for the sake of endangered species across the planet — and for the sake of the planet itself — before May 9.
Sincerely,
[Name]
[Hometown]
