In George W. Bush's eight years as president, he placed 62 species under the protection of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), an average of eight species per year. While, Bush's slow pace in protecting endangered species frustrated environmentalists in light of continued decline among many species, Obama is moving even slower.
In the ten months that he has been in office, President Obama has listed only one species under the ESA: a Hawaiian plant which is down to only a few individuals. While the Obama Administration has identified 249 species that are candidates for protection, it has been painfully slow in actually granting the protection.
"Continued delays in protection of these 249 species is a failure of leadership by Interior Secretary Salazar," said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the Center for Biological Diversity. "And that failure is placing these species at greater risk of extinction. The position of chief of conservation and classification hasn't even been filled yet, exemplifying the failure of the Obama administration to prioritize species conservation." Comment and Read more Here