>> c-span is your unfiltered view of government are we are funded by these television companies and more. ♪ >> supporting c-span as a public service, along with these other television providers. giving you a front row seat to democracy. on this earth day, talking conservation efforts. guest: thank you for having me. host: how would you describe your group? guest: defenders of wildlife is a nonprofit organization. our mission is to conserve native animals and plants in their native habitats, so we are

laser focused on protecting biodiversity. host: what does biodiversity mean? guest: biodiversity means the amazing range and number of species we have on this planet. we are in a situation where we are losing species faster than we can even describe them. so, absolutely, we need to protect all the precious parts of our ecosystem in order to thrive as one species on a healthy planet. host: we hear a lot of species, their engagement, but is a particular one people may not know about that you would highlight? guest: i would like to bring up the north atlantic white whale, a species of whale that is only found in the waters of the united states and canada. we are fewer than 360 surviving whales. people do not understand a lot

of our whale species have not yet recovered from the era of industrial whaling, and yet these large whale species provide tremendous ecosystem benefits. for example, they help fertilize plankton at the surface, which is the basis of the food chain, so we cannot have healthy oceans , we cannot have healthy fisheries unless we protect our large whale species. unfortunately, we are just losing them to fishing gear entanglements. as a land based animal, people do not necessarily think about what is going on in the oceans, but we have to protect our oceans and ocean wildlife. host: taking a look at that species and others, that would fall under the large umbrella of the endangered species act. where does it stand today and article really what has this administration done to protect the animals under it? guest: the endangered species act in general? host: yes. guest: the endangered species

act celebrated its 50th anniversary last year. it is our flagship law for protecting imperiled species in this country. it has had an amazing track record of bringing species back from the brink of extinction, including our national symbol, the bald eagle, the parikh and falcon, the american alligator. this administration has recently published new regulations, updated regulations, to implement the statutes. some of that is great and we are appreciative of what the did, bringing back productions 4-species, for example. however, it was also a lost opportunities in a lot of ways. the administration did not put in better protections for habitats that species need to recover. host: protections such as what?

guest: such as consideration and protection when humans are moving forward with actions like building a highway or exploring for energy sources. we need to make sure there is a balance in all of our projects between accomplishing human objectives and ensuring we are not wiping out see -- wiping out species and their habitats. host: are the standards usually established when going forward with those projects to see the impact on wildlife? guest: yes. there is what is called a consultation process. when a federal agency is approving a project, approving a new forest management plan, a new fisheries management plan, giving a loan to support a highway project area federal agency has to come to either the fish and wildlife service or the

national fisheries service and engage in this interagency consultation to say what are the effects on the species going to be? is it going to result in jeopardy to the revival and recovery of the species, and how can we avoid that? how can we put mitigation measures into place? how can we get what we want in a way that protects species and crackle habitats? that consultation process is how we reconcile the needs of human objectives with the needs of imperiled species. host: this is jane davenport of defenders of wildlife, joining us this earth day. if you want to ask questions on how wildlife is protected, you can call us on the line. (202) 748-8000 for the eastern. (202) 748-8001 for and pacific time zones. if you want to post your question or comment via text, you can do that at (202) 748-8003. we are told that the endangered

species act, 16062 sp currently protected, 1200 plus endangered ones. as numbers go, how do those numbers compare to species overall and what is protected? guest: we are in the middle of a global biodiversity extinction crisis. there are twin crises we face. both the extinction crisis and the climate crisis, and they are related to each other. globally, we are at risk of losing one million species. we are in another era fo extinction, just as serious as an asteroid hitting the planets. in the united states, we are very fortunate to have this law, the endangered species act, which is one of the strongest in the world for protecting species both within the united states and species that are in foreign

countries. some of those species that are included in that number are species that do not exist in the united states but can still benefit from the protections of the endangered species act. for example, if the species is popular in international trade, the endangered species can help mitigate that for species imported into the united states. host: you talked about the balance of preserving species. i imagine that, for someone trying to build an org developing land, when they run into protections issues, they will say, because of these rules, i cannot achieve these goals i want. how do you strike that balance between the need for develop meant some areas and the need for protection? guest: in many cases, there is a lot of fear and misinformation around that very subject. as a matter of fact, defenders of wildlife, several years ago, examined 90,000 of those

consultations i mentioned, where the federal agency involved in a project in the wildlife agency consulted. in exactly zero of those consultations did the project get shut down or was unable to proceed. basically, the consultation process is all about making it work, both for the project, the proposed project, and for the species and its habitat. so it is a false choice to say we can only have one or the other. we can have both thriving economic development as well as thriving species and habitats. host: when do? groups like yours get involved? guest: when things are not going right. at defenders, we use a variety of tools in the toolbox. we certainly work on the hill. we work with our allies and champions in congress to advocate for especially

appropriations, because as an amazing statute as the endangered species act is, it is desperately underfunded. we say the esa is starving, not broken. it basically needs triple the appropriations it gets now to ensure species recover, which is the point of the statute -- not to keep species on life-support but to restore them to health. we work through the courts. we litigate. that is one of the things i do. and sometimes, it is opposed to the federal government. and sometimes we intervene on behalf of the federal government, when the government has done the right thing but is facing a challenge. we work directly in the field. one of our flagship programs is about promoting coexistence so that, for example, if a wolf attacks and kills livestock, that is real harm for the farmer

or rancher. so we work in the field to promote coexistence by putting up fencing, by having guard dogs be present to deter the wolf. there is a lot of ways in which, again, talking about a false choice -- it is a false choice to say we can either have wildlife or we can have human interests. there is lots of ways to go exist and make sure both sets of needs are fulfilled. host: jane davenport of defenders of wildlife. our first call comes from tina. she's in maine. you are on with our guest. caller: hi, good morning. i am so excited about this program today. i've been volunteering to help monitor the typing -- piping plover. they're migrating, landing on our beaches. this is my third year. i work with audubon society in

the portland area, fish and game in maine. i realize i have learned so much about these little birds. they look so delicate, but they are very hardy. they migrate here, they land on our beaches. as volunteers, we go out -- i am working with the scarborough -- the county of scarborough, maine. and we have a program. we volunteer, we work about three days -- three times per day with shifts, and we educate people who are walking the beaches. we educate folks with dogs. we have to implement, try to remind them gently and kindly, that their dog should be leased when there are plovers around. they are trying to build their nests. soon, eggs will be hatched. that is a real crucial time. again, there's dogs on the beach, other critters, other predators.

i guess the good news is every year they do the count, and i guess there's other states in the northeast -- maine leads the way because of the great efforts of so many volunteers, from the yorks to mid-coast. our numbers are growing. babies fledge basically from mid july, and them of july to august -- host: thank you. let me stop you there. the important of volunteers that she brought up. guest: absolutely. today is earth day. every day should be earth day, but today's a day, around the world, people are engaging in exactly these kinds of voluntary efforts, whether it is a monetary and protecting piping plovers, which you are doing, which sounds amazing, whether it is protecting sea turtle nests on beaches, or whether it is

doing cleanup of a park or stream. i applaud you. the world needs more citizen conservation. host: what's a piping plover? guest: it's a shorebird. they're the ones who skitter on the beach . as tina said, they are amazing, as they look like these tiny birds, but they make this amazing migration. when, as many shorebirds do, when they reach our beaches, they need to have food sources. one of the efforts that defenders has made is to protect horseshoe crabs, which provide, their eggs provide a food source for piping plovers an other shorebirds. it is not to protect them just in maine or north carolina or florida, wherever they may land.

these species travel thousands of miles, so we had to be cognizant not only of local impacts but impacts throughout their range. host: this is from tommy in north carolina. good morning. caller: yes. we went to mexico, in this is about six or seven years ago. they said there, and they were talking about china was taking more whales than they were supposed to be. in the united states cannot help keep these animals and stop china from killing and destroying them. that is the problem, other countries take advantage of our stuff. to make their stuff more satisfied and feed all the things they should not even feed off of and take their oil and

make all kinds of perfume and everything else. but, hey, you know, there's no big deal about it, because they will not put no sanctions in it, because there is too many people in congress who will vote against it. that is just like our president, biden. host: ok. tommy in north carolina. guest: international trade in wildlife products around the world is definitely a leading cause of risk to species. the endangered species act is a very important tool we have in the united states that can help combat that trade as well as other statutes that we have that can help combat that trade, because the u.s. can be a big hub for not only wildlife products shipped out but wildlife products imported as well as transportation across the united states and to and from other countries. we definitely need the support

of our members of congress to fight wildlife trafficking wherever it originates. fortunately, we do have the tools to fight back, but like i said earlier, we need better funding to make that enforcement more effective. host: i think it is the law of the fish and wildlife service that manages the environmental protection -- species act. how much do they get currently? what is the figure your organization is seeking? guest: there are two agencies that administer the endangered species act. the fish and wildlife service and the national maine fishery service, part of noaa. our numbers show we need about $850 million a year, if i have that right, which is about -- they are getting about one third of that every year. unfortunately, what that means,

is as i mentioned earlier, the point of the endangered species act is not to keep species in the icu, right? it is to recover them, like the bald eagle, to the point that statutory protections are no longer needed. unfortunately, of those species you mentioned earlier, the 1600 plus, many of them get less than $1000 per year for recovery. some of them do not get any. so they are stuck in the icu, because the agencies do not have the money they need to do what the statute directs them to do and get these species to the point of recovery. host: earlier this year, a group of republicans released their own effort on conservation, the american wildlife habit conservation act. one of the things as they say state need more of a say in how management is done versus the federal government. that is a broad generalization, but what do you think of the introduction of the act? guest: i cannot speak to the act particularly, but what i will

say is, first, the endangered species act already has a robust mechanism for cooperation between the states and the federal government, and states play a critical role, not only in protecting endangered and threatened species but also in helping to ensure that species do not get to that point in the first instance. then also, secondly, like i said before, we need to fund the endangered species act, because that will also help the federal government help the states implement critical protections and enhance that cooperation effort. host: it was washington state's republican dan will house. he talked about the difference in his mind. i want to play a little bit of what he has to say get your response. [video clip] >> more than its intent, you know that the endangered species

act, in so many ways, has failed in its vision to recover and delist species and instead, unfortunately, in some instances, has been used as a tool to control the rights of private landowners. we have to improve species' conservation efforts by empowering state and local efforts and avoid a one-size-fits-all approach to species recovery. what works to recover a species in my state of washington may not work in the great state of arkansas or georgia or montana. the americas wildlife habitation -- habitat conservation act, always easy to say, delivers critical support to the individuals on the ground who have been tasked with restoring and preserving at risk habitats to better manage those species. host: how do you respond to

that? guest: i disagree with the premise that the endangered species act is a one-size-fits-all approach. first of all, everything that happens under the esa has to be based on the best available scientific and commercial data. that is a statutory requirement. by definition, that means there is no one-size-fits-all approach, because species and their habitats are different. there is no uniform "a species is listed, here's everything we will do to protect it." it is always on a case-by-case basis. second, there is already a riposte -- robust mechanism for cooperation. in most cases, the states are critical partners in conservation. third, getting back to the funding, we need triple the appropriations we have right now so that the endangered species act can do the job that it was always meant to do and recover

species to the point where they don't need the statute's protections anymore. host: we are joined by jane davenport with defenders of wildlife, their senior attorney. let's hear from kal. caller: good morning. my query relates to the concert as conversion to alternative energy sources. one with ink, with the mantra of "drill, baby, drill" that biden has been completely opposed to, the reality is oil production is up about 18% during his time in office as president. what do you see as far as the national or worldwide trends for alternative energy production in light of the continuing use of oil and natural gas? guest: i think that is a great question. i think it is really clear that the path we are on of continuing the trend and increasing the

trend towards fossil fuel production in this country is the wrong path forward. that is why defenders is a huge proponent of renewable sources of energy. that being said, renewable sources of energy, whether it is onshore or offshore wind or solar or any other kind of renewable energy, all projects like that can have effects on wildlife, and that is why we are so focused on making sure that renewable energy projects are cited appropriately and are managed and mitigated appropriately, so that we can have renewable energy and healthy, thriving wildlife populations. host: a viewer from x follows up on the question of the whales, asking why are all those whales dying? there is some relation to submarines and sonar? guest: i agree that what is

going on with the whales is highly concerning. it is actually not true that offshore wind is a source of the problem. if you have ever heard of the saying, "if you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras" the risks our large whales are two. three. two cost about humans are entanglements in fishing gear and vessel strikes. in fact, on the east coast, both north atlantic right whales as well as atlantic compact oils are currently in the midst of what we call unusual mortality events. one of the biggest causes of those is vessel strikes. that is why we are so adamant the biden administration needs to finalize a proposal to expand vessel speed protections for these large whales by slowing boats down, just like a slow speed zone when kids are on their way to school.

when you have slower speed limits, you can get where you're going, but you're not going to run over and kill a whale. host: with those slower speed zones be in the concentration of where the whales are? guest: that is exactly right. going back to the school zone analogy, we have those twice a day, when kids are on their way to or coming home from school. what the vessel speed rule does is have seasonal speed limits. when man -- when whales already traveling north-south and vessles are traveling east-west, we have zones. then they move away from there, so the speed zone is no longer in effect. it coordinates with where the whales are, when they are there, and when they are most at risk of vessel strikes. host: let's hear from david. david joins us from michigan. go ahead, you are on. caller: good morning and thank

you very much for taking my call. i have a little story where i protected some animals. one day, my wife was going to work, and the car just did not run right, shaking and almost stalling out. i looked under the hood -- sure enough, some of my wires to the motor were chewed up. i didn't know what it was. i looked in the motor and saw rat droppings, so i took it to the auto mechanic and, for $260, he fixed them. i did not kill any rats in the process of this, and i used peppermint oil, made my spray, and i sprayed the motor, and so far, so good. there were no rats killed, because god's creations, the rats are a part of that circle of life. and for birds of prey, they pick

up those animals and eat them. cats also. so, no rats were harmed in this little story. but i want people to know, if they ever have that problem with their automobile where the wires were chewed, they can use peppermint oil spray, and the rats kill peppermint oil. there is only one rat i will not protect, and that is donald j. trump. host: that is david in michigan. guest: i wonder if the car smells better with the peppermint oil. but the caller raises an excellent point. we need to be aware of the unintentional consequences of what we do. if we are trying to kill rats or mice with poison, what happens to the hawks, the eagles, the foxes that eat those?

we can't just go about our lives poisoning critters that are inconvenient, like rats and mice, without thinking about the effect on the larger ecosystem. host: there was action from the biden administration on peace act criminals. what are they and how will they impact animals? guest: i cannot member what it stands for. this is not an issue i track so also because i focus on wildlife, but the epa is regulating pfas because of human health concerns with these forever chemicals and our water supply. they are being ingested by people. huge range of health effects that we have just begun to scratch the surface. whatever happens in the human environment will also happen to

wildlife as well. again, it is not my issue, but i think it's a huge step forward in recognizing that we cannot just continue to use chemicals or make plastics and so forth with abandon because of the effects on humans and wildlife. host: mark in new jersey. hello. caller: thank you for c-span. i want to wish everyone on the planet a happy earth day. for me this is the most important day of the year and we should celebrate our mother earth every single day. we can all do something. i made a commitment to use less fossil fuels many years ago. i'm doing well, i have my solar panels, my plug-in hybrid, and i want to do more. now, i'm trying to cut down on plastics which is a difficult one, but i'm going to keep going.

i am a member of defenders of wildlife, i appreciate the work that you do, ms. davenport. let's clean up this planet. it is the only one we have. we should worship mother earth as the true god. take care. guest: as i say, there is no planet b. mark, your point is very timely. the theme of this year's earth day is people versus plastics. everything that we can do to reduce our dependence on plastics is vitally important first of all because plastics are made from fossil fuel. second, they are lasting in the environment and having effects that we have just begun to understand. we have all seen for example with sea turtles, the horrible pictures of a sea turtle trapped in the plastic six-pack rings, or whales that have washed up on beaches dead because their stomachs are full of plastic

bags and fishing rope. what people don't understand is those plastic bottles especially in the ocean coming from our laundry, those tiny micro-plastics that we cannot even see with the naked eye, those are building up in the ocean. i just read they were more particles of like a plastics in our ocean then there are stars in the milky way. the basis of the food chain, plankton, fish larva are eating those plastics, and then little fish are in by bigger fish, bigger fish are eaten by bigger fish. here we are as humans at the top of the food chain, eating fish and shellfish, ingesting those plastics. i applaud you for everything that you are doing. we all need to reduce and hopefully eliminate our dependence on plastic. host: jane davenport, s

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45 years of covering congress like no other. taking you to where the policy debates are. 45 years and counting. powered by cable. >> a nasa administrator spoke with researchers in the organization about climate ion's in preparation for earth day. they also talked about tracking the effects of climate change on the ocean. this is 40 minutes. science missions we have coming up and some announcements. today we have nasa administrator bill nelson, karen shake jermaine, division director for nasa earth sciences, tom waggoner, associate director for earth