GOP, Endangered Species Act

* I read with disgust “Endangered Species Act Tries to Save Itself” (June 26). The ESA is really about saving ourselves. We should be talking about strengthening the ESA, not weakening it. There is no public outcry to weaken the ESA. Polls indicate that the American public wants the ESA. The fact is that a lynch mob of congressmen are playing God and saying a certain species isn’t worth saving from extinction because of its costing some wealthy campaign contributor profits; this is horrendous! Do these same Republican congressmen place a dollar value on a baby or an elderly person? Not everything can be tagged with a dollar figure. What is missing here is a total lack of a knowledge of ecology, food chains and the complexity of nature.

President Richard M. Nixon signed the ESA 22 years ago. Now, on the 25th anniversary of Earth Day, opponents of the ESA want to scuttle the lifeboat that saves species from human-induced oblivion. Species do go extinct, but the rate occurring today is hardly natural. Extinction is forever. Once we bulldoze over the last member of a species we can never bring it back. The survival of the ESA is our own survival. Our planet and each species on it are unique in the universe. We are stewards of our fellow creatures, and the bottom line should not be profits or loss, but love and compassion.

JOE SHEERAN, Co-Chair

Wildlife Conservation Group

Cal State Fullerton

* While I do not agree with most of Rep. Wes Cooley’s (R-Ore.) remarks (“Ruling Backs Endangered Species’ Habitat Protection,” June 30), he does articulate what I believe to be the truth: “Our priorities are way out of whack.”

We must find a way to grasp the deep interconnectedness we humans have with other life on this planet or we risk losing the very security we seem to be reaching for in attempting to stabilize our economy, health care and other basic needs.

It irritates me that a limited number of people are considered as the entire job force when environmental laws are associated with protecting the “rights of birds, bugs and plants over the rights of people and their jobs.” While loggers’ and real estate developers’ jobs are referred to in the article, what about those who work in the fishing industry--nationwide a $111-billion industry that has suffered tremendous losses due to wetlands habitat being decimated?

If the human species is to survive, we need to look at how to sustain our entire ecosystem, of which we are a part--even if it means significant change by retooling short-term jobs such as real estate development and logging.

MARCIA HANSCOM

Huntington Beach