PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Environmental groups concerned about the loss of protections for endangered species are calling the Endangered Species Act one of President Donald Trump’s first executive orders in the name of fossil fuel extraction and corporate interests. See as a method of elimination.
Trump declared. Energy emergency through Executive order Amid the promise of “Drill, Baby, Drill” earlier this week. Part of the order says the long-standing Endangered Species Act cannot be allowed to act as a barrier to energy development.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump on October 14, 2024 in Oaks, Pa. I’m listening to South Dakota Gov. Christy Nome as moderator at a campaign town hall at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center and Fairgrounds. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
The language is a way to bring back protections for everything from small birds like the golden-cheeked warbler to huge marine mammals like the North Atlantic right whale, conservation groups said Wednesday. Some vowed to fight the order in court.
The Endangered Species Act has hindered fossil fuel development in the U.S. for decades, and weakening the act would accelerate the decline and possible extinction of many endangered species, including whales and sea turtles, by Gibb Brogan. Said, a campaign director. Conservation group Oceana.
“This executive order is, in many ways, a gift to the oil and gas industry and is being sold to respond to President Trump’s emergency declaration,” Brogan said. “There is no emergency. Species continue to be lost. And this executive order will only accelerate the decline of endangered species in the United States.”
The Endangered Species Act has been around longer than that. 50 years And it’s widely used by scientists and environmentalists to help save iconic American species like the bald eagle from extinction. A key part of the act directs federal agencies to work to protect endangered and threatened species and to use their authorities to protect them.
A pair of North Atlantic right whales interact on the surface of Cape Cod Bay in Massachusetts on March 27, 2023.
Trump’s Monday order declaring a national energy emergency was aimed directly at authority provided by the Endangered Species Act. It mandates federal departments to prioritize energy production, which can help speed approval of energy projects that might otherwise be put on hold.
The order also calls for a committee to “specifically identify barriers to domestic energy infrastructure resulting from implementation of the ESA or the Marine Mammal Protection Act,” another historic preservation law. It states that the committee may consider regulatory reform as part of its work, including “species listing”.
The Trump administration did not respond to a request for comment on the executive order. Energy in the order is defined mostly as fossil fuels such as crude oil and coal and does not include renewable energies such as wind power. It also states that energy production is an emergency because “an affordable and reliable domestic supply of energy is a basic requirement for the national and economic security of any nation.”
While environmentalists hail the Endangered Species Act as a landmark law, pro-growth and free-market interests have long criticized it for blocking the construction of energy, infrastructure, housing and other projects. . Some, including the influential Heartland Institute, praised Trump’s declaration of an energy emergency this week.
Conservatives have also called the Endangered Species Act ineffective. Conner Mighell, an attorney with the Texas Public Policy Foundation, said it took years for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to go through the process of potentially delisting the golden-cheeked warbler.
“It is remarkable that it took nine years for the FWS to follow the law and apply the proper standard of review to our petition, but now that they have, they must recognize that the best available science shows That the fighter is developing and should be removed from the list,” said Meghal.
But environmentalists said the act is critical to preserving endangered species. They refer to whales such as the North Atlantic right whale, which have numbers. Less than 400 and is prone to collision with ships and entanglement in fishing gear, as an example of an animal that should be protected under the Act. Environmentalists said the rice whale, whose numbers are even lower and threatened by oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, is another prime example.
A bald eagle rests in a tree near Union Bay on January 16, 2024 in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)
symbol of the nation, bald eagleThe conservation is a perfect example of the importance and effectiveness of the Endangered Species Act, said Andrew Bowman, president of the wildlife conservation group Defenders.
“President Trump’s election to the presidency did not come with a mandate to deny Americans a clean and healthy environment or to destroy decades of conservation achievements that have ensured the survival and recovery of America’s most iconic species, Including the bald eagle, which was renamed our nation’s national bird and is only with us today thanks to the Endangered Species Act,” Bowman said.
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