Washington, D.C. — As President Donald Trump prepares to announce his version of an infrastructure plan, lawmakers must reject any proposal that presents a false choice between environmental protection and infrastructure investment.
The president’s plan will be good for large developers but bad for our nation’s bedrock environmental laws, including the Endangered Species Act (ESA), which has been one of the most effective tools used to protect America’s perilously declining wildlife. A new series of fact sheets from the Center for American Progress show that, contrary to conservative critics, the ESA has not been a drag on economic development.
The national and state-specific fact sheets show that reviews by government agencies to make sure new development projects don’t threaten endangered species are typically completed in a matter of weeks—far from the gridlock some critics accuse the ESA of causing.
Rather than rewriting the ESA on behalf of special interests, Congress should support the law and improve its implementation by fully funding recovery efforts for species at the brink of extinction.
Read the fact sheets: “The Endangered Species Act: Protecting America’s Natural Heritage” by Ryan Richards and Kyle Cornish.
For more information or to speak to an expert, please contact Sam Hananel at 202-478-6327 or [email protected].