The 30-day public comment period for proposed changes to the endangered species act has begun. This rigmarole is particularly pressing and timely given the news that Sierra Nevada amphibians are disappearing at a frightening rate. 

From Greenspace:

Interior says the changes are narrow and procedural, but most observers
think the agency is looking to circumvent attempts by environmentalists
to use the act as a tool to fight projects that contribute to global
warming.

And from a great Washington Post editorial today:

IN MAY, the Bush administration reluctantly listed the polar bear as
"threatened" under the Endangered Species Act. The facts left it with
little choice: the bear’s Arctic Sea ice habitat is melting because of
global warming. But the administration wasn’t happy, because the
Endangered Species Act was never intended to be an instrument for
coping with climate change. Our sympathy was limited, since President Bush
spent his entire time in office resisting the adoption of laws that
would have been better suited to combating greenhouse gas emissions.
But we agreed that the Endangered Species Act was the wrong tool for
the problem.