Fear of humanity’s own extinction drove the Endangered Species Act’s stringency

Evidence

The pressing nature of temporal limits were, in particular, a central reason why Congress was willing ultimately to provide such stringent protections for endangered species in the Endangered Species Act. … The specter of humankind itself as an “endangered species” similarly became a refrain in congressional debates on proposed legislation. “[C]ontinued degradation of the environment through air pollution could cause serious changes in the natural systems regulating the biosphere and possibly destroy the earth’s ability to sustain life.” “Man, no less than the peregrine Falcon, and the Mountain Lion, is an endangered species.” — Richard J. Lazarus, The Making of Environmental Law, 314

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Nuclear-weapons dread turned the planet’s finite life span into urgent policy concern — Richard J. Lazarus, The Making of Environmental Law, 296; Reformers weaponized racial-extinction fear by analogizing to lineage-extinction anxieties — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 3314

Broader Connections

• Reformers weaponized racial-extinction fear by analogizing to lineage-extinction anxieties #corroborates (0.85) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 3314