The White House got caught scheming to dilute the endangered species act today, and the first volleys in a potentially fun Washington rhetoric battle have been fired.
To summarize: REPORTERS: Somebody leaked an early draft of this administration proposal to us and it says it will let the various federal agencies decide for themselves whether a road or tunnel, or whatever thing they want to build, will put rare wildlife at risk. They won't have to consult with Fish and Wildlife anymore. SEN. BARBARA BOXER (D-CALIF): That's illegal. If you want to do that, you're going to have to try to hammer legislation through congress. LOBBYIST FOR DEVELOPERS: We just want to be able to build things faster, and right now it really sucks for us how long we have to wait before we build things. WILDLIFE CONSERVATION GROUP: If the government lets you do that, bald eagles may die. ...
