How the Endangered Species Act Saved America
From Time:
Climate change, it turns out, is not the first time humanity has re‑made the Earth. Or resorted to a Hail Mary to save it.
Fifty years ago, in a crowning achievement of American environmental legislation, the country passed a law on the short list of our very best ideas. The Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973 reversed one of the most disturbing histories of wildlife destruction of any modern nation, meriting its characterization by the Supreme Court as the most comprehensive legislation for endangered species on the globe. The ESA was an expression of our country’s long history of extending rights to those who lack them, expanding the circle of morality and compassion in a history that reveals us as a people. Today, the ESA may be equally as important for what it says about our will to stave off environmental disaster.
