Trump Administration Further Weakens Endangered Species Protections
New rules scrap automatic protections and let industry's economic claims drive which habitat the government protects
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Trump administration finalized a set of changes to Endangered Species Act regulations that undermine common-sense protections for threatened species and give industry profits outsized influence over whether the government protects the habitat imperiled species need to survive. Some of the rules give added weight to cost estimates submitted by the developers, oil and gas companies, and mining interests seeking access to those areas.
Following is a reaction from Andrew Wetzler, senior vice president for Nature at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council):
“These rules don't serve the American public, and they certainly don't help species on the brink of extinction. They are nothing more than a handout to industry special interests. We should be protecting the critical habitat that species call home and ensuring that all species have common-sense protections from harm, but instead the Trump Administration is hell-bent on weakening core protections."
“This is the second time in a week this administration has attacked the Endangered Species Act. We are in the midst of a full-scale assault on wildlife, and we will keep fighting to hold the line for species and the places they depend on."
Background
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finalized two sets of changes to how the Endangered Species Act protects imperiled species and their habitat. The first forces officials to give special weight to potentially biased cost estimates and gives these estimates outside influence in dictating habitat protections. The second ends the "blanket rule" that automatically extended the Act's basic protections against hunting, trapping, and other hams to threatened species, replacing it with species-by-species rules that can provide incomplete protections .
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NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd).