FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 16, 2015
Contact: Courtney Sexton, csexton@defenders.org; 202-772-0253
SACRAMENTO— Today the House passed a cynically named “drought relief” bill that will have devastating impacts on imperiled wildlife while failing to offer long-term solutions to the mega-drought in California. The bill, introduced by Rep. Valadao (R-CA) undermines endangered species protections and state and federal environmental laws in a supposed effort to make more non-existent water available.
The following is a statement from Kim Delfino, Director of California Programs, Defenders of Wildlife:
“It is really disturbing that members of the House could not see through the two-faced nature of this bill that absurdly blames our four-year drought on imperiled wildlife and wetlands protections. Rep. Valadao has said that he wants to see the Endangered Species Act repealed and this bill just uses the drought as an excuse to dramatically weaken the law that protects our nation’s wildlife.
“Our elected representatives need to focus on implementing long-term, sustainable solutions to the ongoing drought in California, not ill-advised water grabs that only further devastate our natural resources.
“We hope that when the Senate takes up this bill they will see how ridiculous it is to steal water from struggling populations of wildlife and people, only to divert it elsewhere. Instead they should look to legislation like Rep. Jared Huffman’s, which focuses on innovative technologies to increase water supply reliability without leaving our fish, birds, wildlife refuges and wetlands high and dry.”
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Defenders of Wildlife is dedicated to the protection of all native animals and plants in their natural communities. With more than 1.2 million members and activists, Defenders of Wildlife is a leading advocate for innovative solutions to safeguard our wildlife heritage for generations to come. For more information, visit www.defenders.org and follow us on Twitter @DefendersNews.
For nearly 80 years, Defenders of Wildlife has worked to protect and restore America’s wildlife at risk of extinction, advancing a vision of a future in which wildlife thrives, sustained by broad public support and a resilient network of healthy lands and waters. With a network of more than 2 million supporters, Defenders is an advocate for innovative solutions to safeguard wildlife for generations to come. To learn more, please visit https://defenders.org/newsroom or follow us on Instagram @defendersofwildlife.
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