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Dear Audubon Advocate,
Congressman Jeff Duncan (R-SC) has launched a sneak attack on the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA), America’s oldest and most important law protecting migratory birds.
The attack came in the form of a rider to the annual appropriations bill for the Departments of Justice and Commerce that forbids the government from enforcing the MBTA.
This measure has now passed the full House of Representatives.
It is now up to the Senate to reject this reckless and unconscionable rider.
Please take action now—demand that the Senate uphold America’s long tradition of protecting birds and their habitats.
By barring enforcement of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, migratory birds would be vulnerable to almost unlimited harm from industrial activity, poorly sited energy projects, and even deliberate killing.
In fact this rider is so sweeping that if it had been in effect when the 2010 Deepwater Horizon blowout occurred, BP would not have been subject to prosecution for the killing of millions of birds.
For nearly 100 years, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act has been a pillar of Americans’ collective resolve to make a place in our world for birds and their habitats. Today we are seeing unprecedented attacks on the MBTA, the Endangered Species Act, and many of our bedrock conservation laws. If these attacks become law, it could set the cause of bird and wildlife conservation back decades.
The attacks are being driven by special interest agendas that are out of touch with mainstream American opinion or values. They cannot be allowed to prevail.
Please join me in demanding that the Senate reject the Duncan Amendment and other bird killing proposals. |
David Yarnold
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