[Coral-List] Endangered species status will be considered for 82 corals

[John Ogden]

Gene:

There is plenty to question and debate about the application of the ESA 
in the way it is being used by the Center for Biodiversity, but this 
unwashed, inflammatory drivel is not civil discourse and has no place on 
coral-list.

John

Eugene Shinn wrote:
> Coral-Listers, Be careful what you wish for and beware of, "The Law 
> of unintended consequences."  At stake is the listing of 82 species 
> of corals which is the first step toward making all Atlantic  coral 
> reefs off limits to divers and researchers (except for an elite few). 
> Imagine the increased paperwork ect., that will be required to obtain 
> a permit to study any of these corals or a reef where they live. If 
> passed the next step will  be designation of critical habitats to 
> protect these species----from what? and how? Every scuba diver 
> bubbles Co2 into the water, (exhaled breath contains up to 40,000 ppm 
> Co2).Down the road we may have to stop scuba diving or mandate the 
> use of rebreathers. The Co2 battle is being fought vigorously on many 
> other fronts  so why use corals as pawns to create a new tangle of 
> government regulations and bureaucrats? What is really behind this? 
> Job creation? More coral police? The only winners I see will be the 
> lawyers! I think that this time The Center for Biodiversity has gone 
> over the top and is more obstructionist than I ever thought they 
> would be. I wonder who supports them? How do they get their funding? 
> Now that's something to ponder! Lets be reasonable!  This action is 
> not going to save  corals. Just look to the geologic record. The 
> grandest reefs the world has ever known grew during the Cretaceous 
> when Co2 levels were more than 7 times present levels. To and Earth 
> scientist this action appears to be just one more issue for people to 
> disagree on in a country already so politically divided on most any 
> subject one can think of. No this is not Glen Beck speaking... Gene
>   


-- 
John C. Ogden, Director
Florida Institute of Oceanography
Professor of Integrative Biology
University of South Florida
830 First Street South
St. Petersburg, FL 33701 USA
Tel. 727-553-1100
Fax  727-553-1109
http://www.marine.usf.edu/FIO/
http://biology.usf.edu/ib/faculty/jogden/