- Extend the Act’s safety net to all species in need, including those not on the candidate list.
- Address the backlog of species languishing on the “candidate list” by setting an aggressive listing timeline of not more than five years for listing the species.
- Restore regulatory protection to the more than 500 species on the U.S. list that occur mostly beyond our borders, and now have no protections against U.S. federal actions in foreign countries.
- Root out corruption and restore scientific integrity to the Departments of Interior and Commerce by implementing transparency, a real code of ethics policy and whistleblower protections.
- Fast-track reversing and correcting any species decisions that have been tainted by political interference under the Bush administration—particularly those already identified by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Inspector General’s office and the Government Accountability Office.
- Fund endangered species programs in full to ensure their implementation.
- Increase staffing at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service by 30 percent.
- Create the infrastructure and resources necessary to determine how best to implement environmental laws, such as the Endangered Species Act, in a time of climate change. These should include the full development of a Science Advisory Board, a Climate Change and Natural Resource Science Center, a National Adaptation Strategy, and Regional Ecological Symposia.
- Create an open and transparent blue-ribbon panel of inter-agency officials and outside scientific, legal and policy experts to synthesize information and make recommendations as to Endangered Species Act implementation specifically.
- Implement an energy policy that follows the best available science in greenhouse gas emission limits.
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