Leach was the only Iowa Congressman to oppose the weakening of Endangered Species Act. Nussle,Latham and King voted to weaken it. Boswell did not vote because of recent Surgery. --- Gregory Bungo <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 19:44:25 -0500 > From: Gregory Bungo <[log in to unmask]> > Subject: A Source of the Pressure Against the ESA > To: > [log in to unmask] > > Dear Sierrans, > > Today, the House of Representatives voted to cripple > the > Endangered Species Act, 229 votes to 193. Please > see: > > http://clerk.house.gov/cgi-bin/vote.asp?year=2005&rollnumber=506 > > It's now up to the Senate to stop a tragedy from > taking place. > How did we get to this point? There are many > reasons for an > event like this in our complex world, but one stands > out above > most: there are too many people in the United > States, and our > population continues to grow by about 3 million > people per year. > > As our population grows, the demand for housing also > grows. > Many people want to own their own houses, and those > houses > must occupy space. Even people who are satisfied > with > apartment living occupy space. People also need > places > to shop, places to work, and schools for their > children. > > Any law that stands in the way of this kind of > growth will > encounter stern opposition. Many people will say > that they > support the protection of biodiversity, but what > they may not > say aloud is that it also had better not interfere > with their > ability to own a home or to earn a living. The real > estate > and construction industries know this, and they put > great > pressure on the Congress to allow continued growth. > There's > a lot of money at stake, after all! The Endangered > Species > Act can put land off limits from development for the > sake of > protecting biodiversity, and many people in our > increasingly > crowded nation don't like that. The average > American is > happy to give verbal support to endangered species, > but that > support often stops at the inconvenience of habitat > protection. > > In recent years, the Sierra Club has been very > reluctant to > support vigorous action to stabilize the growth of > the United > States population of Homo sapiens, and now we're > reaping the > consequences. Those Sierrans who opposed recent > measures > to put the brakes on U.S. population growth should > think > long and hard about what happened today. Every year > it > will become 3 million people more difficult to > protect > endangered species. It doesn't matter whether the > population > growth is caused by births or by immigration. Both > types > of growth are equally dangerous to biodiversity and > habitat. > > Sincerely, > > Greg Bungo > Sierra Club Life member > member, River Prairie Group, Illinois Chapter > > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > - - - - - - > To view the Sierra Club List Terms & Conditions, > see: > http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/terms.asp > __________________________________ Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 http://mail.yahoo.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Sign up to receive Sierra Club Insider, the flagship e-newsletter. Sent out twice a month, it features the Club's latest news and activities. Subscribe and view recent editions at http://www.sierraclub.org/insider/