WASHINGTON— Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer won the Center for Biological Diversity’s Rubber Dodo award today for inserting a last-minute rider into the 2023 omnibus budget bill that potentially condemns the North Atlantic right whale to extinction.
The annual award is given by the Center for Biological Diversity to a person or a group who has aggressively sought to drive endangered species extinct or destroy America’s natural heritage.
With a declining population of 340 individuals, including just 70 breeding females, the North Atlantic right whale is one of the world’s most endangered cetaceans. Schumer’s rider exempts the lobster fishery from the requirements of the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act until 2028, allowing right whales to be entangled and drowned in lobster gear with impunity.
“Ripping away protections for the Atlantic right whale is one of the gravest environmental errors ever made by Congress. It’s deeply unfortunate that Sen. Schumer turned his back on this magnificent species,” said Kierán Suckling, the Center’s executive director. “Fifty years ago, Congress passed the Endangered Species Act and made a bedrock commitment to protect our irreplaceable natural heritage. I’m deeply saddened that Sen. Schumer believes this commitment should be violated when it’s politically expedient to do so.”
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