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Migratory Birds Lose Protection Against Industry in Latest Trump Action Against Environmental Regulations:
rjzimmerman:
Excerpt:
Energy companies and other businesses are no longer liable for accidentally killing migratory birds, the Trump administration announced Friday in a decision hailed by industry insiders.
A legal memo by the U.S. Interior Department reverses a longstanding agency practice and last-minute ruling released by the Obama administration in January 2017. The Obama-era policy meant that oil, gas, wind and solar operators could face prosecution for accidentally killing birds.
“Christmas came early for bird killers. By acting to end industries’ responsibility to avoid millions of gruesome bird deaths per year, the White House is parting ways with more than 100 years of conservation legacy,” David O'Neill, the chief conservation officer for the National Audubon Society, said in response to the decision.
In a legal opinion, the Interior Department’s principal deputy solicitor, Daniel Jorjani, described the federal government’s application of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act—a 1918 law that officials have used to prosecute those who kill birds “incidentally"—as overreach.
The law “applies only to direct and affirmative purposeful actions that reduce migratory birds, their eggs, or their nests, by killing or capturing, to human control,” Jorjani said in the Interior Department’s legal memo.
Applying the law “to incidental or accidental actions hangs the sword of Damocles over a host of otherwise lawful and productive actions, threatening up to six months in jail and a $15,000 fine for each and every bird injured or killed,” Jorjani wrote.
Before his post with the Trump administration, Jorjani worked for the Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, a project of the billionaire oil executives Charles G. and David H. Koch.
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Migratory Birds Lose Protection Against Industry in Latest Trump Action Against Environmental Regulations:
rjzimmerman:
Excerpt:
Energy companies and other businesses are no longer liable for accidentally killing migratory birds, the Trump administration announced Friday in a decision hailed by industry insiders.
A legal memo by the U.S. Interior Department reverses a longstanding agency practice and last-minute ruling released by the Obama administration in January 2017. The Obama-era policy meant that oil, gas, wind and solar operators could face prosecution for accidentally killing birds.
“Christmas came early for bird killers. By acting to end industries’ responsibility to avoid millions of gruesome bird deaths per year, the White House is parting ways with more than 100 years of conservation legacy,” David O'Neill, the chief conservation officer for the National Audubon Society, said in response to the decision.
In a legal opinion, the Interior Department’s principal deputy solicitor, Daniel Jorjani, described the federal government’s application of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act—a 1918 law that officials have used to prosecute those who kill birds “incidentally"—as overreach.
The law “applies only to direct and affirmative purposeful actions that reduce migratory birds, their eggs, or their nests, by killing or capturing, to human control,” Jorjani said in the Interior Department’s legal memo.
Applying the law “to incidental or accidental actions hangs the sword of Damocles over a host of otherwise lawful and productive actions, threatening up to six months in jail and a $15,000 fine for each and every bird injured or killed,” Jorjani wrote.
Before his post with the Trump administration, Jorjani worked for the Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, a project of the billionaire oil executives Charles G. and David H. Koch.
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