McClatchy: Interior secretary refuses to testify at polar-bear hearing

[babylonsister]

Interior secretary skips polar-bear hearing
By Erika Bolstad | McClatchy Newspapers

* Posted on Wednesday, April 2, 2008




WASHINGTON — Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne was a no-show Wednesday in front of a Senate committee seeking an explanation for why his agency has been slow to decide whether to list polar bears as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

Kempthorne, summoned by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, refused to testify in front of the panel. Instead, he sent a letter and spoke personally to several of the committee members. He also pledged to testify once he issues a decision, now three months late.

"Careful deliberation will not imperil the survival of the polar bear, it will better ensure that the decision is legally sound and based upon the best available science and the requirements of the law," Kempthorne wrote.

But that wasn't enough for the committee's chairwoman, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who said she was "disappointed" with Kempthorne's behavior, especially since he'd been on the panel while in the Senate.

Boxer scolded Kempthorne's record on endangered-species designations, pointing out that he had yet to classify a species as endangered during his tenure as interior secretary.

"The Bush administration does not have the right or the discretion to decide to not carry out the law," Boxer said. "I guess maybe I'm old-fashioned, but I always learned that when laws are passed by Congress and signed by the president, they must be obeyed. But that's not what's happening here."

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http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/32480.html

[kestrel91316]

1. Barbara, you are naive. Everyone knows laws exist for the sole

purpose of controlling the Little People and ensuring that they STAY little.

IOKIYAR.

[losthills]

2. Barbara's my girl....

[malakai2]

3. By design

Boxer scolded Kempthorne's record on endangered-species designations, pointing out that he had yet to classify a species as endangered during his tenure as interior secretary.

And that's the idea. I'm sure Boxer or at least some of her staffers have read the Administration's regulatory changes, and Solicitor Bernhardt's interpretations of both "in danger of extinction" and "significant portion of range." I'm also sure she or her staffers are aware of the undue political influence Julie MacDonald had in preventing species listings from being published...several of those incidents are now lawsuit fodder. This is much bigger than Kempthorne, starts right up at the top and runs way down into regional offices and even some of the large field offices of the FWS. Regional Director and Deputy Regional Director positions have been 'cleansed,' and career people from the ARD level down to field supervisors don't want to lose their jobs by rocking the boat. That demoralizes field staff, many of whom went to college and graduate school specifically to work in wildlife management, and large numbers of them move on to other agencies that aren't so wildlife friendly, or to other career fields entirely. Then those newly vacant positions are not filled, the next annual budget comes up and the vacancies are written out of the budget, and pretty soon it becomes tough for the agency to even cover basic operations.

I understand why she's doing what she's doing, but if she really is aware of these things, she'd be better off not doing this now and waiting until the next administration can amend or reverse some of the regulatory changes and legal interpretations. Otherwise, we'll get more of the same, the current FWS Regional Directors and Washington Office Directorate will use the current regs and solitor memos to not list, and a court will end up deferring to agency expertise and discretion because all such regulations were promulgated under proper procedure. That means all the field staff involved will spend their time in a fruitless endeavor, yet more of the embittered field scientists will quit, and the "polar bear listing scare" will be used in tight Congressional races to favor anti-conservation conservatives.

[Nihil]

4. Silly wabbit - "responsibility" is only for little people ... (n/t)

:mad: