Humans or Animals, which comes first? Georgia wants to suspend the Endangered Species Act. by Geniusofdespair

The Corps has made some mistakes in the past, but I don't think it's fair to point to the problem as the fault of the engineers, or the mussels in Florida or Alabama. We've allowed growth without asking questions about whether they can sustain that growth. Gil Rogers, Attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center

Already we are seeing the struggle.

Florida is in the middle of a water war with Georgia and Alabama. Florida needs water from out of State rivers that flow into Florida for endangered sturgeon and mussels. The sturgeon and mussels are pitted against booming population growth in Atlanta and Georgia. According to a Miami Herald article Florida at center of water-rights debate:

“Georgia's congressional delegation is pushing legislation that would give all states the power to suspend the Endangered Species Act during extreme droughts, a move that would cut short Florida's claims to extra water.

''While they're worrying about an endangered species of mussels in Apalachicola, we're worried about the endangered people,'' Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., said Thursday.”

That is what it will come down to: We will not hesitate to destory the ecosytem when given this choice. Environment be damned! This is the real cost of development.

I knew hard sustainability questions would be facing us in the future, I never figured they would surface so soon. This is just the beginning. another report by Curtis Morgan today in the Miami Herald talked about the sharp decline in 13 butterfly species:

“Experts believe multiple factors have worked against the butterflies -- most significantly, habitat destruction or degradation. Many species, blown in from Cuba, the Bahamas or other Caribbean islands, settled in the subtropical comfort of rocky pinewoods and jungly hammocks. Both ecosystems have been largely paved over and fragmented by development.”