Protecting Endangered Species in the United States

Abstract

This thesis is a historical analysis of the various modes of thinking that developed in response to the Endangered Species Act of 1973. What was originally a law that received wide support from the government and the public soon became one of the most controversial environmental laws in the United States. Utilizing congressional hearings, government records, laws, legal cases, newspaper articles, photographs, and public surveys, this study rejects the common conception that economic self-interest was the sole driver of opposition to the Act. It argues, instead, that the reactive and narrow framework of the law fueled criticism. People responded negatively to the law's lack of proactive, long-term thinking and the consequent implications for short-term economic growth. This reactive approach to environmental legislation is a common trend in the United States, continuing to fuel the political partisanship and polarization of environmental movements across the nation.