Public school teacher wants to protect the environment for kids

As a fourth-grade teacher in a public school, I am extremely alarmed that the new, federal administration is dismantling environmental protections. I support the Endangered Species Act and oppose efforts in Congress to weaken it. American citizens need the Endangered Species Act to protect animals, fish, plants and other wildlife from extinction.

This important law, enacted in 1973, has saved hundreds of animals from disappearing permanently. Consequently, otters on the Central Coast have been slowly recovering their numbers.

Currently, some members of Congress are attempting to gut the Endangered Species Act. What Republican senators refer to as “modernizing” actually means weakening protections in favor of developers and the oil and gas industry. Humans have the intelligence to innovate. We no longer need to continue destructive business practices.

Protecting the Endangered Species Act is important to me because my students are entitled to inherit a healthy environment. Our natural resources are a legacy to be respected, not destroyed. I have written Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris to thank them for continuing to oppose any action that would weaken the Endangered Species Act. I invite your readers to do the same. Our children deserve no less.

This story was originally published March 1, 2017 at 8:28 PM with the headline "Public school teacher wants to protect the environment for kids."