FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 13, 2008 Contact: Kristina Johnson 415.977.5619 McCain Silent on Bush Assault on Endangered Species Act; Obama Would Defend Scientists, Protect Threatened Wildlife San Francisco, Calif.--On Monday the Bush administrationannounced a plan to gut the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and takeprotection of wildlife out of the hands of seasoned agency scientistsand put it into the hands of political appointees and others notqualified to make such determinations. A spokesman for Senator Barack Obama today said that Obama would throwout the plan if elected. Meanwhile, Senator McCain refused tocomment on the issue. But McCain's voting record shows an alarmingpattern of supporting politics over science in endangered speciesdecision-making. In 1995, McCain voted to prohibit the addition of any new species tothe endangered species list. (S. 889, Roll Call Vote 106 http://action.sierraclub.org/site/R?i=-cYoFL5BDXW6Kgg_y2Z9kA.. , 3/16/1995), and cast the deciding vote to effectively continue thelisting moratorium in 1996 (vote to table S.Amdt.3479 to H.R. 3019,Roll Call Vote 30 http://action.sierraclub.org/site/R?i=P7IJ9SCCJn8walBYdPdTqw.. , 3/13/1996). He has also voted against enforcement of ESAregulations on several other occasions. Statement of Sierra Club Political Director Cathy Duvall: "A politician is not the best judge of whether or not an animal is indanger. By voting to stop new listings of endangered species, SenatorMcCain put politics and special interests ahead of science andcritical protections for our wildlife. And now he won'teven comment on the latest effort by the Bush administration to gutone of our nation's most important environmental laws." "When it comes to protecting wildlife, we need to listen to thescientists who have spent their lives studying these animals. SenatorObama has indicated a commitment to making decisions based on sciencerather than politics--not just when it comes to EndangeredSpecies listings, but on many other fronts." "If John McCain is elected, we'll see more of what we've seen underthe Bush administration, including political meddling in science,distortion of facts, and silencing of wildlife experts. If JohnMcCain the candidate is unwilling to even speak out against an assaulton one of our nation's bedrock environmental laws, itdoesn't seem likely a President McCain would do much to protectthem either. "If these Bush administration regulations had been in place twentyyears ago, we would not have brought the bald eagle back from thebrink of extinction. Senator Obama understands that the protection ofour wildlife should be left to scientists, not politicians. "John McCain wants to have it both ways. He says hesupports renewable energy, but then votes against it. He says hesupports environmental protection, but then votes against enforcingsome our nation's most important environmental laws. Hesays he'll put science before politics, but then stands silentlyby while the Bush administration continues its unlawful assault onscience and the law. It's time for John McCain to behonest and give voters some real straight talk about his record onthese important issues." # # #
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