The following editorial appeared in the Miami Herald on Wednesday, Aug. 13:

The Bush administration continued its assault on the Endangered Species Act this week with a last-minute proposal that would speed up approval of construction projects that could cause harm to endangered plants and animals. Maybe it comes out of desperation, but whatever the motivation for the change, the administration misses the mark and should reconsider. If it doesn’t and the change is approved, whoever is in the White House next year should immediately rescind the new rule.

Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said the change is necessary to keep the act from being used as a “back door” means of regulating greenhouse gases that are believed to cause global warming. The change would allow federal agencies that are responsible for building highways, bridges, dams and other projects to decide if their projects create a risk to endangered species. This would drastically limit the requirement for mandatory, independent reviews by the Fish and Wildlife Service and other agencies that employ scientists and experts to conduct the studies. It would be like letting the proverbial fox guard the henhouse. Those agencies’ first priority is to get projects completed, not protect at-risk species.

If the problem truly were about the time involved in the review process, the solution would be to streamline the process – not change the reviewer. But the administration has used this gambit before. In 2003, it adopted rules to let agencies approve new pesticides without hearing from government scientists about the impact on endangered species. The rule was overturned in court.

The administration’s antipathy to the idea that human activities contribute to global warming has been well documented. In announcing the proposed change, Secretary Kempthorne said, “It is not possible to draw a link between greenhouse gas emissions and distant observations of the impacts on species.”

If approved, the administration would accomplish with a change in the rules what it has not been able to achieve in Congress. The House passed a bill in 2005 that would have made similar changes to the Endangered Species Act, but the measure failed in the Senate. The proposed change is subject to a 30-day public comment period after which it can be finalized by the Interior Department.

Thus, it is possible that the change could take effect before the next president is sworn into office, and could be in place for months before a decision on rescinding is made. The Bush administration showed its animus toward scientific data by rejecting stem-cell research that could help people with chronic diseases.

Now it eschews research that protects the bald eagle, grizzly bear and Florida panther.