#Trump Administration Sharply Cuts Protections for #EndangeredSpecies
The Trump admin Friday moved to open the #habitats of imperiled animals to #farming, #drilling, #mining, #RealEstate #development & other activities in what environmentalists characterized as the most severe erosion of protections for #wildlife in half a century.
It did so by recasting a single word, “harm.”
#law #EnvironmentalLaw #regulations #ecosystems #ColonyCollapse #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/10/climate/endangered-species-act-harm.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
For more than 50 years, the federal government has used a broader definition of #harm to #animals under the #EndangeredSpeciesAct, a bedrock #EnvironmentalLaw. It included any significant “modification or degradation” of habitat that kills or injures animals by impairing their ability to eat, shelter or breed.
#Trump #law #regulations #EndangeredSpecies #wildlife #habitats #farming #drilling #mining #RealEstate #development #ecosystems #ColonyCollapse #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis
#SCOTUS upheld this interpretation in 1995, ruling against property owners who argued that #harm should only mean directly killing or injuring an #endangered #animal.
But on Friday, the #Trump #Interior Dept & the #Commerce Dept announced a final rule that rescinded this longstanding interpretation. Under the rule, destroying an #EndangeredSpecies’ nest or #habitat would no longer be considered illegal.
#law #EnvironmentalLaw #regulations #wildlife #habitats #ecosystems #ClimateChange
The change could open the door for #FossilFuel companies, #agricultural interests, #land #developers & others to disturb or even destroy the #habitats of vulnerable species. Many species are already running out of places to live, & the new rule is likely to add extreme pressure….
The move was the latest in a series of extraordinary efforts by the #Trump admin to weaken #environmental #regulations designed to fight #ClimateChange & prevent species #extinction.
To be clear, this purports to correct back executive overreach. This is the president handing back power that he doesn't believe he has.
Elected lawmakers didn't pass a law clearly permitting the president to engage in this regulation of the public. The executive claimed the power, and under now-discredited ideas about how the government works the Supreme Court allowed the expansion of authority.
If Congress wants the environment so regulated it should pass a law saying so.
https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-14195.pdf
