Senator Todd Young (R) replied:
Dear
Mr. Darrall,
Thank
you
for
contacting
me
regarding
the
Endangered
Species
Act.
I
appreciate
hearing
from
you
on
this
important
issue.
The
Endangered
Species
Act
was
enacted
in
1973
to
protect
species
at
risk
of
extinction.
As
of
January
2017,
there
are
a
total
of
2,328
animals
and
plants
listed
as
endangered
or
threatened under
the
ESA.
I
recognize
the
need
to
ensure
the
sustainability
of
our
environment
and
to
protect
the
vast
natural
wonders
that
our
nation
has
been
blessed
with.
However,
we
must
be
sure
to
balance
those
priorities
and
the
need
for
economic
development.
Please
be
assured
I
will
keep
your
thoughts
in
mind
should
any
relevant
legislation
come
before
the
Senate
for
consideration.
Again,
thank
you
for
contacting
me.
It
is
an
honor
to
represent
you
in
the
United
States
Senate.
Sincerely,
Todd Young
United States Senator
Todd Young
United States Senator
It is exactly as I expected. It's the same tired zero-sum, can't- have-it- both- ways argument we've heard for years. It ignores the growing scientific evidence that overall environmental health and performance relies on an intricately balanced interaction between life and its habitat.
My open response, which will be forwarded directly to Senators Young and Donnelly:
Dear Senator Young,
Thank you for your response. I appreciate the time you took to do so.
I agree there must be a balance between regulation and growth; however, a wholesale rollback of the ESA will eliminate all semblance of balance.
All forms of life perform valuable services in an ecosystem; plants, animals, even bacteria and funguses in soil, are needed to keep an environment healthy.
Endangered species are valuable not only for their ecological services but are intrinsically valuable by their existance...just as are humans. Without a science-based approach to evaluating projects in sensitive areas, we may not even know what we're losing until it's too late.
As an architect, I've devoted my entire career to reducing the ecological impact of my designs. Good design makes it possible to accommodate human needs while at the same time at least mitigating, and at best reversing, ecological damage and protecting the native non-human inhabitants of a site.
As your constituent, I ask you to work with Senator Donnelly and others to consider the precious non-human life as carefully as you do the human.
As always, thank you for your time and service.
Sincerely,
Mark Darrall, Architect