Democrats in the U.S. senate have introduced legislation that would restore the definition of “harm” in the Endangered Species Act (ESA), undoing the federal government’s attempt to rescind habitat protections for threatened species.
In July, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump decided to change the definition of harm, rescinding a 50-year-old policy of considering damage to the habitat of endangered species when regulating human activities and development. The U.S. Department of the Interior claimed the decades-old definition was too broad and blocked economic development.
Conservation groups – and many lawmakers – have argued that the change imperils endangered animals by not protecting the habitats they need in order to survive.
“By repealing a key provision that has — for decades — protected endangered wildlife, the Trump administration has made it legal for for-profit industries to destroy the habitats of endangered species. This should not be a partisan issue. We cannot let the administration push their deregulatory agenda until there’s no wildlife left to protect,” U.S. Senator Schiff (D-California) said in a release.
Schiff and fellow U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) have introduced a resolution that would undo the Trump Administration’s action under the Congressional Review Act, legislation that allows Congress overturn rulemaking actions by federal agencies.
“The Trump administration has given its industry buddies a free pass to end endangered species protections that have been on the books for over 40 years and permanently destroy habitats to make money,” Whitehouse said in a release. “This rule is nonsensical, and endangers the species this law set out to protect. We’re prepared to fight it.”
The resolution is backed by the Animal Welfare Institute, Defenders of Wildlife, Earthjustice Action, Endangered Species Coalition, International Fund for Animal Welfare, Monterey Bay Aquarium, MountainTrue, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Oceana, Sea Turtle Conservancy, Sierra Club, and Wyoming Wildlife Advocates.
“The ongoing attacks on the Endangered Species Act threaten our treasured marine life, special places, and the communities and coastal economies sustained by a healthy coast and ocean. Monterey Bay Aquarium supports this action to uphold the congressional intent of the ESA to protect and recover species by protecting their habitat and working to overturn this dangerous rule,” Monterey Bay Aquarium Chief Conservation and Science Officer Margaret Spring said in a release.
A coalition of many of those conservation groups has filed a lawsuit to undo the ESA action, and lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives have also introduced legislation to do the same.
