Blackeyed Susans Staring at You

The Blackeyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta) bring a splash of yellow and brown to the LipsYard Garden. Are they staring at you?

They are a garden favorite because of their long flowering time.

The scientific name was given by Carolus Linneaus in honor of his teacher at Uppsala University, Professor Olof Rudbeck the Younger (1660-1740), and his father, Professor Olof Rudbeck the Elder (1630-1702), both of whom were botanists.

From Rudbeckia we go to just plain Rude: A Bush Administration proposal will allow individual government agencies, rather than scientists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to decide whether vulnerable wildlife would be harmed by new construction projects. This move horribly undermines the Endangered Species Act.

U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI and member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee) said; "This is a blatant and unjustifiable attempt to gut a landmark environmental law that has protected our treasured American wildlife for more than three decades...Once again, the Bush Administration is putting its political interests first, leaving scientific decisions in non-scientific hands and corroding proud institutions of government to further its own ends."

Since the passage of the Endangered Species Act 35 years ago, all federal construction projects have been subjected to review by independent scientific panels to assess their potential to harm local plants and animals. Under the Administration's plan, however, federal agencies building dams, highways, or other major public works projects could determine for themselves whether that construction would adversely impact threatened or endangered species despite lacking the scientific expertise to make these determinations. If the proposal succeeds, it would be the most sweeping change to the ESA in decades.

No need to let those pesky scientists with all their facts get in the way of business buddies of the conservatives.