John --

TransCanada / TC Energy has applied to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service for an "incidental take permit," which if granted would give the company a "license to kill" an endangered species during construction of its proposed Keystone XL pipeline.

Specifically, TransCanada is applying for a waiver of the Endangered Species Act's established punishments and fines so it can freely kill up to 551 endangered American burying beetles, by crushing them with construction equipment, and destroying their habitat.

The American burying beetle is one of nature's most efficient recyclers, feeding and sheltering its own brood while simultaneously returning nutrients to the earth to nourish vegetation and keeping ant and fly populations in check. Unfortunately, the beetle's own populations — which once flourished in 35 U.S. states, plus parts of Canada — were in dramatic decline throughout most of the 20th century due to a complex list of threats, with climate change, habitat loss, pesticides and disease likely topping it, according to the Center for Biological Diversity.

Since it was listed as an endangered species in 1989, the American burying beetle has rebounded from just one known population to six native and introduced populations. In Nebraska, the American burying beetle can be found in prairies, open woodlands, scrubland, and forest edge.

There is no reason to further endanger the habitat of the American burying beetle or any other endangered species that is threatened by the proposed Keystone XL pipeline — which is trampling the sovereign rights of Tribal nations, abusing eminent domain for private gain to seize farmers' land against their will, and threatening our land, water, and climate.

Add your name to Bold's public comment urging U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to reject TransCanada's "incidental take permit" to kill endangered American burying beetles for the Keystone XL pipeline.

Thanks for standing with us to protect endangered species.

Tom Genung and the Bold team

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