NMFS theater: Kabuki to solve global warming
February 17th, 2010 by Jim JustThe National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS ) is considering listing corals as endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. From the Federal Register:
[W]e initiate status reviews of 82 species of corals to determine if listing under the ESA is warranted.
In October 2009 NMFS received a petition from the Center for Biological Diversity to list 83 species of coral as threatened or endangered under the ESA. The petition asserts that synergistic threats of ocean warming, ocean acidification, and other impacts affect these species and that these global habitat threats are exacerbated by local habitat threats posed by ship traffic, dredging, coastal development, pollution, and agricultural and land use practices that increase sedimentation and nutrient loading. The petition states that immediate action is needed to reduce greenhouse gas concentrations to levels that do not jeopardize these species and requests that critical habitat be designated for these corals concurrent with listing under the ESA.
A species or subspecies is ‘‘endangered’’ if it is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range, and ‘‘threatened’’ if it is likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range.
NMFS will have to “assess conservation measures to determine whether they ameliorate a species’ extinction risk” and, once critical habitat is designated, ensure that Federal agencies do not fund, authorize or carry out any actions that are likely to destroy or adversely modify that habitat.
Any area may be excluded from a critical habitat designation if the benefits of exclusion outweigh the benefits of designation, unless excluding that area “will result” in extinction of the species. So economic and national security considerations could trump the science.
So much for the “immediate action” that is needed to reduce greenhouse gas concentrations.
It’s nothing but Kabuki theater – highly stylized ritual rather than meaningful action or even honest discussion. action.