BESSEMER, Ala.—When Yale biologist Thomas Near and members of his research team visited the Yellowhammer State in October, the state’s famous Dreamland BBQ wasn’t the only thing on the agenda, though it was high on the list.
During their trip, the researchers documented the existence of the Birmingham darter, a newly identified fish species, just downstream of the site of a proposed 4.5 million square foot hyperscale data center, the construction of which Near said would put the already imperilled species at risk of extinction.
On Thursday, based in part on Near’s research, the Center for Biological Diversity, a national environmental nonprofit, filed a petition with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service asking that the agency list the Birmingham darter as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act, providing the fish the legal protections experts have said its precarious existential position demands. The federal agency has 90 days to respond to the nonprofit’s petition and decide “whether the petition presents substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned action may be warranted.”…