Migratory birds in danger again
Under 47, oil companies no longer pay fines for killing migratory birds
Back in 2017, the first Tr*mp administration wanted their best buddies the oil companies to stop paying fines if they accidentally killed migratory birds. Under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, one of America’s oldest conservation laws, BP paid $100 million for killing MILLIONS of seabirds during the catastrophic Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which went to bird conservation. Today, 47’s administration suspended 20 legal opinions issued during the Biden administration, including revoking Tr*mp’s first attempt to remove that kind of fining for their industry bedfellows. So the fines are gone again.
In 2017 I made this video with the experts at the Natural Resources Defense Council explaining how three key environmental laws including the Migratory Bird Treaty Act interact to protect a beloved seabird, the Atlantic Puffin.
This lack of protection for these birds, combined with 47’s assault on migratory bird habitat to try to open it up to drilling, PLUS his putting public lands on the chopping block, means that the 30% decline in North American birds since 1970 is likely to become a much higher percentage soon unless we stop them.
WHAT TO DO?
Call your reps and tell them you care about migratory birds and demand they push back against this assault.
Call US Fish and Wildlife Service and tell them the same! 1-800-344-WILD (1-800-344-9453)
Join a bird or nature or biodiversity advocacy or legal group, or donate to one.
If you can’t do any of the above, try signing up for email alerts or following the social media accounts of those conservation orgs, so that you can add your name to petitions and calls to action and show up at protests with them.
I BELIEVE IN YOU AND IN BIRDS.