Last week House Republicans continued their assult on the environment using massive cuts in federal discretionary spending to attack ESA protections in the Central Valley, remove funding for dam removal on the Klamath, and cripple the EPA and their capacity to regulate polluters. They're also proposing to slash all funding for NPR (I know the last one isn't environment, but in the long hours alone on the road NPR has always been a favorite). All this under the guise of of spending cuts, but the bottom line is these cuts are politically motivated, particularly when you consider discretionary spending they're cutting is only 1/6th of the federal budget.
Of course the alternative isn't too pretty either. A telling editorial last week in the Oregonian shed light on the fact that Washington's two Democratic Senators in collaboration with Gary Locke the former Governor turned head of the Commerce Department have been working actively to stifle debate on Snake River dam removal and ensure that the Obama administration adopt the illegal Bush BiOp as its own. As you can see the political choices we have in this country aren't particularly enticing. That's why it's critical that we are remain politically engaged to ensure that our representatives are accountable to their constituents. That is doubly true for my conservative friends, make sure your congressman knows you're a conservative voice for wild fish and the environment, there's lots of you out there, make your voice heard. In the coming weeks the senate will vote to pass their own budget for the current fiscal year and it is critical that the environmentally destructive provisions included in the House bill not make it through.
More info in the Osprey:
http://ospreysteelheadnews.blogspot.com/2011/02/hr1-undermines-salmon-recovery.html
Send a letter to your senator:
https://secure3.convio.net/sows/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=516
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