Argumentative Essay On Endangered Species Act

The Endangered Species Act is one of few environmental laws passed by congress. Signed into law by Nixon, the reason for enacting the law was to halt and reverse species extinction. Politically and ecologically thorough, both politicians and scientists praised the law and were certain that it would prevent any species from becoming extinct. Unfortunately, similar to most governmental programs and affairs, corruption and questioning of arbitrary intervention led many to question the legitimacy of the act and is with time becoming more and more controversial. How can congress inject politics into what is meant to be purely scientific? Overall, the political status of the Endangered Species Act is rather weak and accompanied by fear of political

Wildlife ecologist Franz Camenzind shared his concern for the scientific validity of legislation in a prepared statement, stating that “If any one species is taken off the endangered species list by Congress, then all of the species on the list become vulnerable to future political attacks”, and leading to the instability of the act. Such supports that the political status of the act is rather weak because often legislation is based on political decisions rather than scientific legitimacy. Often, these arbitrary decisions are based off of species influential members of congress want to save. For example, in 2011 the gray wolf was removed off the endangered species list in Montana and Idaho, sponsored by Senator Tester, Montana Democrat, and Michael Simpson, an Idaho Republican. Environmentalists fear that other members of Congress will now seek special exceptions for their neighborhood endangered species. I accept the claims that the political status of the endangered species act is questionable, for multiple sources support that congress is stretching its power and meddling with the act for political rather than scientific