Greenie Crocodile Tears

The forces of reason won a big victory last week, as the US Fish & Wildlife Service agreed to review the status of every listed species in California. The Endangered Species Act requires these reviews every five years, but the Service does not conduct them.

Included on the list is the California gnatcatcher, a small bird that would have caused upwards of $10 billion in economic damage to California if we hadn't dodged the bullet through habitat conservation plans, which are more flexible than the rest of the Act -- and which enviros sue over routinely.

The Center for Biological Absurdity tried to block the lawsuit over status reviews, but lost. Its founder and chief of hysteria, Keiran Suckling, was quoted in the SFChron:

"It was a bit of a crackpot suit, but the settlement isn't bad, and we agreed to it. Some important data may come out of it, and the service is being given enough time so they won't be forced to rush their work. Unfortunately, it will cost the taxpayers about $1 million -- money that would have been better spent on habitat acquisition and recovery."

What a hypocrite! The Center has brought no fewer than 33 lawsuits against the Service over critical habitat -- suits which have poured hundreds of thousands of dollars in court-award costs into the Center's coffers. While Suckling is paid by the Department of Justice, defending against the Center's incessant lawsuits has stripped the Service of time and personnel needed to process listings or do research.

Officials of the Clinton and Bush administration alike say critical habitat is costly and offers no additional protection to species. But it does offer parasites like Suckling (such an apt name!) to take taxpayer money for doing nothing more than filing frivolous lawsuits.