The Trump administration's new rules undermine the Endangered Species Act.
John,
Bald eagles, grizzly bears, California condors, gray wolves, American alligators... The Endangered Species Act (ESA) successfully brought these and other iconic species back from the brink of extinction. That's pretty amazing.
But the Trump administration just released new rules that undermine endangered species protections to benefit the oil and gas industry and other corporate interests.
Which would you rather have, Florida panthers or more dirty oil wells?
Big Oil and Gas has wanted the Endangered Species Act out of the way for a long time. And now it has an administration willing to make it happen.
The new rule changes are slated to go into effect this month, and they include weighing economic impacts when deciding if a species gets protection and making it harder to factor in climate change’s impact on at-risk species.1
Let's not mince words: this attempt to weaken the Endangered Species Act is driven by money. Big Oil and Gas and other corporate interests want to be free to rake in profits regardless of the harm they cause in the process. And the Trump administration has been more than happy to roll out the red carpet for them.
Projects like the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines, for example, are facing strong opposition — including court challenges and the revocation of permits — because they threaten endangered bats, salamanders and other at-risk wildlife.
This is just the latest in a long line of reprehensible actions where the Trump administration has no problem rolling back environmental and climate protections all for fossil fuel profit. But it's important to remember that significant public outcry and bad publicity have torpedoed some previous regulatory rollbacks before — and we can do it again!
Fossil fuel interests shouldn’t get to determine which species survive and which go extinct. Will you stand with me now to protect the Endangered Species Act and the wildlife whose survival depends on it?
Food & Water Action and its affiliated organization, Food & Water Watch, are advocacy groups with a common mission to protect our food, water and climate. This email was sent to [email protected] - and we're glad you got it, because it's one of the most important ways you can reclaim political power, hold elected officials accountable and resist corporate control.
