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    Undoing Trump's threat to endangered North American right whales

    Sarah Okeson, DCReport @ RawStory
    March 01, 2021

    Thanks for your support!

    This article was paid for by reader donations to Raw Story Investigates.

    (Shutterstock.com)

    This article was paid for by Raw Story subscribers. Not a subscriber? Try us and go ad-free for $1. Prefer to give a one-time tip? Click here.

    Sarah Okeson, DCReport @ RawStory

    Trump's National Marine Fisheries Service was regulating right whales toward extinction as the whales literally starved to death while entangled in fishing gear.

    An estimated 356 North Atlantic right whales, including about 70 breeding females, migrate between Florida and Canada. The population has been declining for 11 years.

    The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) "has powerful tools to protect the North American right whale, but it is choosing not to use them," said biologist Kyla Bennett, science policy director for Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. "In this case, NOAA is choosing extinction."

    At the height of the lobster season, right whales have to navigate through more than 900,000 ropes that connect surface buoys to traps on the seafloor.

    In Trump's last days in office, NOAA published a draft opinion that said there would no jeopardy to the continued existence of right whales under the Endangered Species Act. The agency oversees catching lobsters off the north Atlantic coast which brings in hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

    Trump regulators arrived at this conclusion based on the estimated impact of new regulations that are still being written. Trump regulators claimed the proposed rule will reduce the risk of entanglement that kills or severely injures right whales by 60%.

    Paul Doremus is the acting head of NOAA Fisheries. Chris Oliver, the Trump appointee, resigned.

    The right whale got its name because it was the "right" whale to hunt. Right whales swim close to shore, produce lots of whale oil and typically float after they are killed because they have so much blubber. Right whales were nearly extinct in 1935 when the League of Nations banned hunting them.

    Today, right whales face extinction because they are being hit by boats and tangled in fishing gear, mostly from lobster traps. At the height of the lobster season, right whales have to navigate through more than 900,000 ropes that connect surface buoys to traps on the seafloor.

    Right whales were one of the first animals to be protected under the Endangered Species Act, signed by President Richard Nixon in 1973, to try to prevent the extinction of animals and plants, whatever the cost.

    The Supreme Court prevented the Tennessee Valley Authority from operating a dam that had already been built because the endangered snail darter fish was discovered in the Little Tennessee River.

    Lobstermen say proposed changes to try to prevent killing whales such as making ropes that break if a whale becomes entangled will hurt them financially. Maine Gov. Janet Mills directed her state in 2019 to come up with an alternate plan to protect right whales.

    "I will do everything I can as your governor to protect your rights and your livelihoods and defend Maine's lobster industry in the face of absurd federal overreach," Mills wrote in July 2019.

    Right whale deaths outpace births 3:2. From 2017 to 2020, only 22 right whale calves were born. Many dead right whales aren't found so the numbers scientists are using for deaths are an undercount.

    In mid-February, a dead right whale calf was reported stranded along the Florida coast, the first observed right whale death in our nation's waters in 2021. The calf's mother was found three days later with injuries that suggested she had been struck by a boat.

    This article was paid for by Raw Story subscribers. Not a subscriber? Try us and go ad-free for $1. Prefer to give a one-time tip? Click here.

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    Raw Story is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Invest with us in the future. Make a one-time contribution to Raw Story Investigates, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you.

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    Should Trump be allowed back on social media?

    Daunte Wright killed by cop union president: report

    Bob Brigham
    April 12, 2021

    More details are coming out on Brooklyn Center Police officer that shot Daunte Wright during a traffic stop.

    "Monday night, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension identified the officer who shot and killed 20-year-old Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center Sunday. The BCA identified the long-time veteran of the Brooklyn Center Police Department as Officer Kim Potter," KSTP-TV reported Monday evening.

    The network revealed a fascinating detail.

    "Potter has worked for the department for nearly 25 years and is president of the Brooklyn Center Police Officer's Association. In that role, she has represented other officers involved in deadly shootings," the network reported.

    Protests are ongoing:

    I’m out for the night but here’s two of the most surreal moments of my life from Brooklyn Center tonight. https://t.co/8ZtWDEp38w
    — Mark Vancleave (@Mark Vancleave)1618283843.0

    Trevor Noah reveals key flaw in police defense of Daunte Wright shooting

    Bob Brigham
    April 12, 2021

    The host of "The Daily Show" had harsh words for policing in America on Monday.

    Trevor Noah noted that Police Chief Tim Gannon said he thought the shooter, identified as Kimberly Potter, thought she was reaching for her taser instead of her gun.

    "You have got to be f*cking killing me. A man was killed at a traffic stop because the police officer mixed up their gun and their taser?" he asked. "Is that even supposed to be a legitimate excuse? Like, we're supposed to watch that and go, 'Ah, okay, one time I used sugar instead of salt so I can relate'?"

    "And look, I'm not saying that tragic mistakes will never happen, but what I am saying is that maybe if the police weren't so to draw any weapon, then maybe people wouldn't die because of a mix-up from Officer Urkel over here," he said.

    He then pointed out a key flaw in the argument.

    "And by the way, don't you find it amazing that cops think everything is a gun, except for their own gun?" he asked. "If you have a cell phone in your hand, 'Oh, that's a gun!' If you're holding a wallet, 'Oh, that's a gun!' They're own gun? 'No, not a gun, not a gun.'"

    Need more proof that America’s got a serious policing problem? Let’s talk about Daunte Wright’s death and Caron Naz… https://t.co/WxzZHKAZNk
    — The Daily Show (@The Daily Show)1618278269.0

    WATCH: Tense moments in Minneapolis as reporters confronted by protesters on live TV

    Bob Brigham
    April 12, 2021

    There was plenty of swearing on cable news on Monday as prime-time hosts reported on the protests in Minnesota following the police killing of Daunte Wright.

    On CNN, Sara Sidner was confronted by a protester who refused to believe she was airing live.

    This was quite a moment on CNN. https://t.co/hmszW6h1UF
    — Timothy Burke (@Timothy Burke)1618278466.0

    Ten minutes later on MSNBC, Rachel Maddow cut away from a live report after a protester launched a profanity-laden tirade against police.

    Some angry protesters start loudly cursing and using the n-word during live MSNBC hit, causing Rachel Maddow to cut… https://t.co/at1kmfQrHz
    — Justin Baragona (@Justin Baragona)1618279272.0

    Five minutes before the CNN incident, a Fox News reported was hit with tear gas while giving a live report.


    “Yeah that’s tear gas” https://t.co/fF1rSDNU6T
    — Acyn (@Acyn)1618278001.0
     
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