[Tweeters] The Washington Post: Spotted owls could go extinct without more federal protection. But they’re not going to get it, Trump officials say.

[THOMAS BENEDICT]

I would like to be more optimistic. It's encouraging that cabinet secretaries and other government department heads will be replaced by Biden, but anything legislative is unlikely to go in the favor of environmentalists for a long time. Republicans (other than Trump) won the 2020 elections quite soundly and have been directed by their constituencies to not cooperate with Democrats, so gridlock will likely continue. So, for the foreseeable future we will continue to be ruled by presidential decree (execute order).

This is one way in which parliamentary democracies have an advantage over our system. Leadership and government are more likely to be aligned, so gridlock is less likely. In our system the president may be elected, but they don't always have a mandate to lead.

Anyhow, I'm hoping the damage done to environmental policies over the past few years can be quickly addressed. Lots of other policy needs to be addressed too, but they're off topic for this list.d

Ironically, some bird species seem to be emigrating from Canada to the US this year (i.e. Pine Siskin irruption, Snowy Owl in Seattle, etc). They seem optimistic.

Tom Benedict
Seahurst, WA


>     On 12/15/2020 10:26 PM Wayne Weber <contopus at telus.net> wrote:

>      

>     Luckily, Trump officials are only going to be in power for another month, so what they say is of no consequence. Let’s be optimistic.

> 

>      Wayne Weber

> 

>     Delta, BC

> 

>     contopus at telus.net mailto:contopus at telus.net

> 

>     From: Tweeters [mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman11.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Dan Reiff

>     Sent: Tuesday, December 15, 2020 2:51 PM

>     To: Tweeters

>     Subject: [Tweeters] The Washington Post: Spotted owls could go extinct without more federal protection. But they’re not going to get it, Trump officials say.

> 

>     Spotted owls could go extinct without more federal protection. But they’re not going to get it, Trump officials say.

>     The northern spotted owl has lost 70 percent of its habitat to development and timber harvesting and could go extinct without added federal protection, the Trump administration announced Monday.

> 

>     Read in The Washington Post: https://apple.news/A8X8U_a-NQzm9_05DNJIQVw

> 

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