17 - Opinion (State, National, or International Issue)

Trump Administration Seeking to Strip Protections for the Endangered Species List

The Trump administration is back at it again—they want to roll back protections for endangered species and their habitats. 

Since the beginning of his second term, the administration has been repeatedly signaling that it wants to cut, if not outright eliminate, federal protections for wildlife. This is an alarming decision, considering the conservation effects implemented to protect endangered species.

The Endangered Species Act has been the longest-standing defense for imperiled species against extinction. Under it, 99% of listed species have avoided extinction, shielded from threats such as habitat loss, pollution, poaching, and trophy hunting.

Now, this legacy is at risk.

This proposal would have detrimental effects on the most vulnerable animals, plants, habitats, and ecosystems across the United States. But what exactly is being changed, and what does this mean for wildlife?

Kitty Block, chief executive and president of Humane World for Animals, lists the following reasons:

Alteration One: An Attack on Protections for Threatened Species

Under the Endangered Species Act, endangered animals are prohibited from being killed, harmed, or harassed. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has automatically extended these protections to threatened species through the blanket 4(d) rule—a precautionary measure that protects species before they are pushed to the brink.

The new proposal replaces this by implementing a species-by-species rule, ending the universal safety net. Threatened species can now be harmed or outright killed before officials decide they're "endangered enough" to deserve protections.

Alteration Two: Making it Harder to Get on the ESA List

Getting listed under the endangered species list means a species' slide toward extinction slows, and gradual recovery is underway. Decisions are based on science, not politics or profit. 

The Trump administration wants to remove this rule. 

They propose making it more difficult to add new species to the endangered list by removing a rule that reminds officials they cannot consider economic costs when deciding whether a species should be listed. These decisions are currently based on the severity of the species' risk of extinction and the underlying science. 

According to ABC News, removing this rule would "make economics a factor in what was previously science-based decision-making." 

"For example, if the Trump administration determined that the economic harm to a golf course would be greater than the protections for the Florida panther, then they could make that determination, said Susan Holmes, executive director of the Endangered Species Coalition. "It would potentially put money over the science." 

This proposal would also make it harder to protect species from future threats, including those caused by climate change. Species losing their habitat due to warming temperatures could struggle to get federal protection until it's too late.

[Endangered species; picture above leads to source.]

Alteration Three: Weakening Habitat Conservation

The proposal reduces the amount of critical habitats protected and recognized under the ESA. The rule also narrows the definition of "critical habitat" to exclude unoccupied but historically important habitats, even though many species need these spaces to recover.

Habitat loss is the number one driver of extinction, and limiting the number of habitats recognized guarantees more species declines.

Earlier this year, the FWS and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) proposed redefining "harm" under the ESA to exclude habitat degradation. If finalized, this means that animal's habitats can be destroyed as long as the animal is not killed in the process. 

The Trump administration also plans to weaken inter-agency cooperation. This means that federal agencies can greenlight destructive projects (mining, drilling, logging, and overdevelopment) without fully assessing ecological damage. 

Alteration Four: The "God Squad"

One of Trump's earliest actions in office was to declare a national energy emergency in the United States and activate the "God Squad," a committee that can override protections to allow developmental projects at the expense of species. 

Under these charges, the God Squad's power would expand, giving industries more influence than ever.

Alteration Five: Attacks on Iconic Species

The ESA Amendments Act opens the door for trophy hunters and poachers, leaving the world's most vulnerable animals unprotected.

Two other bills would order the government to delist gray wolves (both nationwide and within Oregon and Washington), while a third would delist grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. 

All three of these changes would make challenging the government in court for these decisions impossible.

[White rhinoceros; picture above leads to source.]

What's at Stake?

These proposals are yet another attack on wildlife. If implemented, they will only benefit industries and developers. 

"The TA is stopping at nothing in its quest to put corporate polluters over people, wildlife, and the environment" Sierra Club Executive Director Loren Blackford said. "After failing in their latest attempt to sell off our public land, they now want to enable the wholesale destruction of wildlife habitat for a short-term boost in polluters' bottom lines."

And truly, what is the point?

Humans are not the only inhabitants of this planet, and yet we are making Earth uninhabitable. We have already pushed the ecosystem to the brink: deforestation, urbanization, fossil fuels, air pollution, poaching, unsustainable hunting. All these actions have irreversible consequences on animal life and the sustainability of our planet. 

Now, we're stripping away the last protections animals have against our destructive decisions.

Anything for another golf course, I guess. 

Words cannot describe how insincere and irresponsible this decision is. These proposals disregard the decades of progress we have made in protecting the wildlife that makes America unique and beautiful. This is, quite literally, a death sentence for threatened and endangered species. 

They ignore the biological, ecological, and economic reality that protecting species early is cheaper than trying to recover them when they are at the brink. But the wealthy continue to get richer while those who cannot defend themselves are at their disposal. With climate change already at a point irreversible, this agenda pushes us even closer to ecological collapse. 

But it isn't too late to speak out against these attacks on wildlife.