House GOP Looks to Reform Endangered Species Act
Rolling back the regulatory restraints and costs imposed on industry and agriculture by the Endangered Species Act (ESA) has been among conservative objectives since the 1990s.
With the ESA in 2023 marking the 50th year since it was adopted under President Richard Nixon and a GOP-led Congress, a House Republican working group is developing proposed revisions to the landmark environmental regulation that it plans to introduce late this year or in 2024.
The House Natural Resources Committee’s assorted sub-panels have been staging hearings since March on the problems fostered by the ESA, so it was no surprise when its Water, Wildlife and Fisheries Subcommittee scheduled a July 18 hearing entitled, “ESA at 50: The Destructive Cost of the ESA.”…