Obama Slow on Endangered Species?

  • The Piping Plover is on the Endangered Species List.Critics say there's not enough being done to protect endangered species. (Photo courtesy of the USFWS)

An environmental group is threatening to sue the US government for dragging its feet on endangered species protection. Samara Freemark has the story:

Transcript

An environmental group is threatening to sue the US government for dragging its feet on endangered species protection. Samara Freemark has the story.

The Center for Biological Diversity says the government has missed deadlines to rule on whether 100 44 species belong on the endangered species list.

The Center says they’ll sue the Obama administration if the government doesn’t pick up the pace.

Noah Greenwald is with the Center. He says that under the Clin-ton administration, about 65 species were listed as ‘endangered’ every year. That slowed dramatically under Bush and Obama.

The Obama administration doesn’t share the ideological opposition that the Bush administration had to protecting endangered species. But on the other hand, the Obama administration hasn’t made the Endangered Species Act a priority.

So far, the Obama administration has only placed two species on the Endangered Species List. Without protection, some species are in danger of being wiped out.

For the Environment Report, I’m Samara Freemark.

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