A landmark law passed more than 50 years ago to protect whales, dolphins and other marine mammals in U.S. waters could be upended by amendments proposed on July 22 during a legislative hearing of the House Committee on Natural Resources’ Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries.

Republican representative Nicholas Begich of Alaska proposed changes to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) that some scientists say would eviscerate it. For instance, the amendments would roll back current definitions of harm or disturbance to marine mammals while also requiring “impossibly high hurdles for conservation action,” according to a fact sheet from the Natural Resources Defense Council and other organizations that was issued earlier in July. These hurdles include a much higher burden of p

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