Senate overturns Biden’s wildlife rules.
The U.S. Senate Narrowly Approves Resolutions Overturning Endangered Species Regulations
The U.S. Senate has made a controversial decision to overturn the Biden administration’s endangered species regulations. On May 11, two resolutions were passed on 51-49 votes, with every Republican senator supporting the resolutions, along with a few Democrats and Independents.
What Do the Resolutions Mean?
The first resolution removes the regulation that protects not only areas where endangered species live but also potential habitats for those species. The Senate vote returns the protection of the narrower designation that the Trump administration had put in place, which only made off-limits to building, construction, and timber farming those places where the threatened wildlife presently live.
The second resolution removes the regulation that protects the northern long-eared bat, which has become endangered due to white-nose syndrome. The disease is caused by a fungus that affects the species when it is hibernating in winter. It represents for mammals among the most lethal of illnesses, reducing bat numbers by 97 percent in some areas.
What Happens Next?
The resolutions will now be considered in the House of Representatives. President Joe Biden has stated that he will veto the resolutions if they are passed in the House.
Why Is This Controversial?
The Senate votes on the endangered species protections represent a long struggle to strike a balance between protecting and conserving wildlife and natural spaces without unduly hampering economic growth and prosperity. The White House has issued a statement saying that the designation of critical habitat is essential to avoiding the destruction or degradation of habitat that threatened and endangered species need to survive and recover.
However, Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), who sponsored the resolution to dismiss special protection of the northern long-eared bat, claims that the Biden administration policy wasn’t even doing the bat much good but did stifle needed economic development.
Who Supported the Resolutions?
Every Republican senator supported both resolutions, along with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).
The Senate votes on the endangered species protections represent, and are part of, a long struggle to strike a balance between protecting and conserving wildlife and natural spaces without unduly hampering economic growth and prosperity.
It remains to be seen what the outcome of the House of Representatives’ consideration of the resolutions will be.
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