The Trump Administration Is Trying to Roll Back Protections for Endangered Animals
The Trump administration wants to make major changes to the way endangered animals and plants are protected, a move hailed by the president’s allies but decried by conservationists as a disastrous next step in the administration’s attempts to dismantle environmental protections.
The changes to the Endangered Species Act (ESA), announced Thursday, would allow officials to raise economic considerations when choosing to list a plant or animal as endangered — something that’s not currently a part of the calculus. It would also limit what can be listed as critical habitat for endangered species, and end the practice of giving “threatened” species the same protections as “endangered” species.
