<
https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/opinion/contributors/2021/10/08/its-time-biden-started-making-good-on-his-big-climate-change-promises.html>
"Just seven days into President Joe Biden’s administration, he declared that
the United States must “meet the moment” and raise our “climate ambition.” He
backed that sentiment up with a set of sweeping executive orders directing the
government to place the climate crisis at the centre of domestic and foreign
policy decisions. It was a welcome change from past presidents who have too
often waited until the end of their terms to take any bold action to protect
the environment.
To many in the conservation movement, Biden’s words sent a signal that perhaps
the U.S. was finally willing to address the climate crisis with the urgency it
demands. However, now eight months later, Biden’s climate signal has not only
faded — it’s been replaced by a series of confounding mixed messages.
On Sept. 20, a federal judge in California rebuked the Biden administration in
a lawsuit involving the failure to protect the Joshua tree, a species so iconic
in the Western landscape that a national park bears its name. WildEarth
Guardians brought this suit because the Trump administration refused to list
the tree as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act — despite all
available scientific evidence indicating that Joshua trees will be in danger of
extinction by the end of this century from climate-change-driven habitat loss,
wildfire and other stressors.
The Trump decision not to protect the Joshua tree was fundamentally grounded in
climate change denial. The Biden administration went along with that position
and defended it in court. Judge Otis D. Wright II, appointed by George W. Bush,
ruled that the Department of the Interior acted “arbitrarily and capriciously”
in ignoring the scientific evidence of climate-change-related threats to the
survival of the species."
Via Robert Sanscartier.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
