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The Trump administration is moving forward with a proposal to ease penalties for killing birds even as their own scientists affirm this will negatively impact bird species.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released analysis last Friday showing that lowering the legal risk and financial penalties for the oil and gas and construction industries for unintentionally killing birds will not incentivize best practices and will further increase bird mortality rates. However, the agency also cited the "Miracle on the Hudson" in which U.S. Airways Flight 1549 made an emergency landing in the Hudson River when the plane lost power after flying into a flock of Canada geese as justification for rolling back migratory bird protections.
The deregulatory proposal from the Trump administration and the Fish and Wildlife Service study arrives at a time when additional analyses have shown that bird populations are rapidly declining. Researchers estimate that over 3 billion birds have been lost since 1970 due to habitat loss, pesticide use, and climate change.
The Trump administration's week of environmental rollbacks
President Trump traveled to Maine last Friday to remove protections for a marine national monument to cap off a particularly destructive week of anti-environment actions, including approving weaker air quality standards for offshore drilling, lowering penalties for killing migratory birds, and shooting another hole in the National Environmental Policy Act, to name just a few. Read the latest blog from the Center for Western Priorities to learn more about each action.
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Intersectional environmentalism is an inclusive version of environmentalism that advocates for both the protection of people and the planet. It identifies the ways in which injustices happening to marginalized communities and the earth are interconnected. It brings injustices done to the most vulnerable communities, and the earth, to the forefront and does not minimize or silence social inequality."
