Typical Trump — If you can't sell it, it has zero value.
As with every issue, the pendulum swings. When one side goes too far, the voters attempt to reign them in. When unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats make decisions and abuse their power, government controls shift.
There are wealthy people who believe that development should be discouraged by the government, even if those decisions act to the detriment of humanity.
Many of the species that have been added to the "threatened" were not added because of any scientific evidence. There have been a lot of sue and settle lawsuits. A group claiming to be interested in the environment claims the desert tortoise is threatened and is entitled to protection under the Endangered Species Act. It actually is not in danger. A government lawyer makes a lame defense, and a judge orders the government to protect the species. The pro-bono lawyer is reimbursed, and then some, and the plaintiffs go on to select another complaint.
Using this legal authority, the BLM refuses to renew grazing permits for ranchers. This does not make any scientific sense because the lands are bein sustainably grazed and the cattle or sheep are just replacing the buffalo who previously grazed on that land, in co-existence with the desert tortoise.
The back story is that the BLM wants to give Chinese investors represented by Harry Reid's son a permit to build a solar farm on that acreage. Not a solar farm is not compatible with desert tortoises, but that is irrelevant.
3
@ebmem
Your comment is wholly scientifically and historically inaccurate on so many levels that it would take a book-length dossier to explain just how egregiously wrong it is.
Suffice to say that since European settlers arrived here, 93% of the native, intact ecosystems and native flora and fauna have been eradicated by capitalism, farming, development, logging, mining, ranching, hunting, fishing, and other destructive activities.
Cattle ranching is environmentally destructive no matter how it's carried out.
And there are far fewer species on the endangered species list than there should be.
The pendulum has NEVER swung "too far" in the direction of protecting native flora, fauna and habitat.
It has ALWAYS swung in the direction of anthropogenic mass extinction.
96
Everyone needs to calm down. The Endangered Species Act is still alive and well. Some slight modifications are being made to ease the burden that it takes on future development. A roll back of regulations is not necessarily bad, just because a Republican made the changes does not make them bad.
8
@Ben If there were even a scintilla of evidence indicating that the actions of this administration would not contradict everything they say then your cautions would be reasonable. Unfortunately, however, there is absolutely no evidence to justify such credibility.
66
@Ben, did you really read the article? The implementation of the Act is now subject to economic considerations overriding conservation benefits. Long-term considerations are not required. Yet the population trends of many endangered species cannot be determined in the short-term. These Regulations will severely curtail the power of the Act and are not 'slight' at all. Rolling back the implementation of the Act at a time of global biodiversity loss and crisis is completely bad.
37
@Ben We need to have lots of rules on future development. It's runaway development that causes most of our environmental problems.
28
Another attack on the defenseless! Did the administration run out of immigrant children to jail, people of color to slander, and news media to smear? What part of "protect and defend" do they not understand? We don't need more oil! We need solutions to the most serious challenge that's ever faced the human race.
18
Not to worry about further environmental damage. The planet should be okay in the long run. The Trumpsters and the Putinistas are ending all the nuclear weapons treaties and starting up a hot, fast, new nuclear arms race. If the timing is right, unlimited nukes will hopefully eliminate the human race in time for the planet to survive. After the conflagration, the planet can get back to the business of recovering, without the blight of the human species. Just gotta hope that the timing is right....
6
The man is clueless! Trump spends his life in fancy houses, hotels and apartments, exploiting the entire planet, and the right wing Republicans support him. It seems that they will not stop until the United States is completely destroyed. If any doubts remain that Trump is employed by Putin, won the election thanks to Putin's "dirty tricks", and is now trying to weaken our country so that Russia can become dominant, these actions should remove them.
9
I grieve deeply the loss of our fellow inhabitants of this magnificent planet of ours. We have lost our way - hypnotized by greed and consumption. Will the only thing that stops us be our complete destruction and despoliation of the precious environment that nurtures all life?
17
I so wish Dems would make climate change one of their their main issues- and the subject of this article ties right in with it. The root of climate science denial and the cruelty of this revision is greed.
Because we are the dominant species, we monkeys with big brains are stewards of the planet. To put short term profit for a few above the health of the ecosystem is the height of hubris and folly. What we do or don’t do now will determine the quality of life for our children and our children’s children. Like other readers have expressed, I too am baffled that these people making these decisions can look into the faces of their own children and be at peace. Is it denial? Apathy? Whatever it is, this willful Ignorance will determine the future.
I also wonder how tied into the Bible thumpers idea that as we were given dominion over the Earth and all its creatures, we can then exploit the planet, at the expense of making it a less species diverse, less beautiful place.
At a time when we know a million species are in danger of disappearing, at a time when climate change is no longer a controversial subject - we are now clearly experiencing it all over the world- how can such a revision to the Endangered Species Act be conceived? And perhaps the the ultimate irony is, many of the people making these decisions consider themselves to be “pro life.”
11
It's ironic that the Times chose a bald Eagle to represent this article. The American Eagle Foundation found that over 2,000 Golden Eagles have been killed in California alone. Nationwide, wind turbines kill many more birds and bats. A 2013 study published in The Wildlife Society Bulletin found that wind turbines killed an estimated 573,000 birds annually in the United States. And that figure was 4 years ago. According to U.S. Wind Energy State Facts ( Oct. 2016), there are over 52,000 wind turbines installed across 40 U.S. States plus Puerto Rico & Guam. “Alternative energy is not ‘green’ if it is killing hundreds or thousands or millions of birds annually,” said Dr. Hutchins. “Our wildlife should not be collateral damage in our effort to combat climate change, nor does it have to be. Improved regulation and science leading to proper siting, effective mitigation, and compensation would go a long way to address this conflict.” There are better wind energy designs than the ones we are using and they are easier to maintain. Let us rethink our current policy.https://www.eagles.org/take-action/wind-turbine-fatalities/
3
We'll see what Senator Udall and Democrats on the oversight committee are made of. Perhaps Mr. Nadler and his committee might draft additional articles of impeachment, as well.
3
Once again, NYT "forgets" to mention livestock production alongside mining, gas and oil development when reporting on the consequences to public lands of EPA rolling back protections on endangered species. Article after article in the NYT gives livestock production subsidized on public lands a pass when doling out blame on the continued destruction of our national forests and grasslands, watersheds and endangered species. Is there some grass-fed beef contingent at the Times that shields cattle producers from scrutiny? Are you OK with livestock production being subsidized (for the wealthy) but not mining and energy executives? For the love of God, get yourself some science writers who understand ALL the culprits responsible for compromising our shared public lands.
Chris Ketcham's new book, "This Land,"states the problem right in his book's subhead: "How Cowboys, Capitalism and Corruption are Ruining the American West."
COWBOYS (eg. the beef industry).
Please, NYT, stop giving them a pass.
6
I feel ill and helpless hearing of the Trump administrations choices regarding the changes to the Endangered Species Act. It seems to me that the way our current system allows an elected official to appoint individuals to head government agencies is foolish and dangerous. Never should any one individual have such power.. It is not reasonable that one person "Trump" should have such power, He "Trump" is not educated in any field but finance. Our system of appointment of leadership by leadership must come under scrutiny. I believe that special interest appointees must be excluded from the selection process. There has to be measures put in place to insure appointments of this magnitude are awarded to those who have real working knowledge of the fields which they regulate. Appointees with obvious special interest ideas and reasoning should be excluded from the pool of nominees. The Trump Presidency is undermining the desires and wishes of the American people and does not see this fact. The lack of deep evaluation and discovery of an individual before being selected for such important positions such as Secretary of The Interior or any other appointment for that matter is clearly wrong and potentially dangerous .The clear message sent from the Trump administration is that "we are arrogant, conceded, greedy and do not have concern for the future. Our current system of one individual hiring "unchecked" appointees is frightening. we need a major overhaul there asap !
6
"for the first time, regulators would be allowed to conduct economic assessments — for instance, estimating lost revenue from a prohibition on logging in a critical habitat — when deciding whether a species warrants protection." This is framed as a bad thing. The people who lost their lives in the California fire might think otherwise...
1
Such a shame the elite/corporate Dems are so interested in identity politics, and shoving millions more "immigrants" into our already overburdened systems that they are going to get hosed in the next election. This is the sort of thing they need to champion - along with middle-class issues.
2
Ah yes, it is, after all, all about the money. Who knew.
1
Most of us knew this. Makes sense.
Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution provides in pertinent part:
"...he shall take care that the laws are faithfully executed...".
4
“[Interior Secretary David] Bernhardt, a former oil and gas lobbyist, wrote in an op-ed last summer that the act places an “unnecessary regulatory burden” on companies.”
The questions and concerns that Democrats raised during Bernhardt’s confirmation hearings predicted this move. Ron Wyden told him,"You are so conflicted. You're going to have to disqualify yourself from so many matters that I don't know how you're going to spend your day,"
Evidently, Bernhardt chose not to disqualify himself. Why should he, since he knows why he got the job in the first place?
6
How does raping our country’s natural resources by multinational oil and gas companies who sell most of these resources overseas to other countries square with “make America great” - of course it doesn’t.
But it sure squares with Republican donors and this corrupt conman Trump and his cronies lining their own pockets.
The rape and pillage continues.
Vote my friends this has to end.
7
Talk about the ogre in the White House. His son and buddies like to hunt and will have more targets if he gets his ways. I remember when the environment and the creatures sharing our space was a nonpartisan issue.
3
This conman Trump is a death to our country by a 1000 cuts.
Clearly the game is to attack our country and democracy in as many ways as possible so that the American people have their head spinning while behind the scenes this corrupt president and his cronies rape and pillage our natural resources, and rule of law for their own short term self enrichment.
Vote my friends this hateful, corrupt conman Trump, his self serving “policies” along with the bought and paid for Republican Party has got to go.
4
The Tweeter-in-Chief has been trying to destroy our ecosystem since his 1st day in office. He has chosen inept and ignorant people who care nothing about the environment to ruin these agencies. Yes ruin, not run. They all must live on another plant because they sure don't care about this one.
4
Next he’ll be serving fried Bald Eagle when his buddy Vlad comes to visit. Hey, why not?
4
The Endangered Species Act was written to protect the Bald Eagle and major species. It quickly morphed into a bureaucratic power grab in which science was thrown out and
any sub species that as followed by some one was included. Further species who range touched on the US was included. The law needed to be reviewed and changed to reflect it's original intent and curb the bureaucratic power creep.
2
Time to say bye-bye to some of Americas favorite animals, but that's ok because we'll have gas for our cars. Maybe next they should sell off all that wasted land in the national parks. It's really too bad our children won't see how beautiful this country was once upon a time. I think I'll tune into Fox and see how they're spinning this latest GOP disaster.
3
As soon as I read this will allow for mining and drilling in areas where endangered species are I knew it's all about money. Trump's motto is "In money we trust."
5
Perhaps Trump and his cohorts should try reading the Lorax by Dr Seuss. It has pictures.
8
How does ignoring the effects of climate change “modernize” the Endangered Species Act?
6
Clearly, Fred Trump never read Dr. Seuss's "The Lorax" to little Donald.
Would it have made any difference? Who knows? Our kids loved the story and it taught them something that seems to have escaped Mr. Trump's Interior Department.
2
Another Trump and Republican disgrace. Where is the America I used to know?
4
These people must wake up every day thinking “ what can i destroy today?”
3
Artificial Intelligence would be a better leader for America - just leave it up to code and data to solve climate issues. This is a difficult article to stomach. Enough is enough. Thank you @Lisa Friedman for your great reporting on this story. With this kind of story that is so upsetting for majority of people, it would be nice to see a call to action for people to get involved.
6
Another reckless decision made by this administration. The stakes are getting higher and higher. Our planet is faltering. Mostly based on greed which in turn helps intensify climate change and the pillage of our planet, our home. Has the administration have no shame? Putting ex-lobbyists and those previously affiliated with some of the greatest abuses to our nation, to be in charge of agencies that were developed to protect our country from unhealthy environments for humans, wildlife and land is despicable.
We as Americans have a responsibility to the world to lead with integrity, thoughtfulness and respect. We have failed all 3 with this administration. And not just with environmental issues. It's everything. This administration should be researching new opportunities for business in an Eco friendly manner. Not revert to businesses in the past that have ruined our world. Retrain those affected. Don't promise the past. Or perhaps your afraid to present new ideas to your "base".
97
"Democrats were considering invoking the Congressional Review Act, a 1996 law that gives Congress broad authority to invalidate rules established by federal agencies, to block the changes."
Considering??? Of course they should!
I don't understand why there isn't a massive move to invoke the Congressional Review Act on a regular basis - regarding the environmental changes, the immigration policies, the health care changes, the civil rights policies and on and on.
4
This is so sad! I am having hard time believing millions of people voted for this administration.
3
In similar news, yesterday protections for critical Alaskan watersheds were removed by EPA to allow open pit mining that will damage salmon breeding areas. The Gov of Alaska has pushed the project, and the head of EPA has a financial stake in the Pebble Mines project. Not clear is whether/how much Trump will make, but it is obvious this admin is selling off the natural resources of the US to the highest bidder.
7
It is too bad that Nixon is too often only viewed negatively because of Watergate, and his very important accomplishments are not acknowledged. I have no interest in playing party politics, but it should be remembered that, among Nixon’s actions that are important to me and the country, are protecting endangered species and creation of the NEA. This last act was very controversial, even to arts organizations, because of fear of government involvement in their creativity. Unfortunately we now have a president who is only interested in tearing down important and successful programs. This is truly reprehensible.
4
Is it possible that when someone references endangered species,Trump thinks the conversation has turned to the 1% and grows defensive of them? He doesn't know Toledo from Dayton so why not?
2
Thanks NYT for putting this article above all the distractions of late. The well being of the world should be front and center and exposing those who would sell our future as well.
3
It seems to me that this was reverse engineered: The goal is to allow more resource extraction and development, and then determine how to modify implementation of the Act to achieve the goal.
5
What happened to yesterdays "endangered species"? Human beings, the talk of mass shootings on humans is already history?
Once again this administration is making it easier to destroy our animals, our vegetation, our wonderful landscape, our diversity, our safety and basically everything that makes life worth living.
6
It is always about how much money their friends and themselves can make.
4
Republicans have no regard for the environment and no has yet to explain to me how that can be viewed as being conservative. From what I can see they only care about providing the wealthy with the ability to make more money. Human rights, as well as quality air and water and food fall totally outside of their regard.
So I might support them if I only cared for money, but even if I was rich I would be embarrassed by their policies. They care nothing for ordinary working Americans and yet they are elected over and over again. A country really does seem to get the government that it deserves.
9
It looks like the Trump Administration could not find a way to protect the Republican Party under the Endangered Species Act, so they want to get rid of it. The theme here is that if it does not support Trump's friends, it has to go.
7
Republicans and this President once again demonstrate their one true loyalty is to special interests and above that, money.
12
Has there ever been a president in modern history in the world who has created and set in motion as much destruction as Donald Trump has in the short time he has been in power? Human rights, animal welfare, environment, climate change, national parks, immigrants, children, fueling hatred among races and ethic groups... the list keeps growing. How has it come to this that our country and our world is powerless against the whims of one man and his cronies? One would think we live not in a democracy but in an iron-fisted dictatorship.
27
I give up! Is nothing sacred with the Trump Administration? Even Nixon recognized the importance of environmental and species protection! Donald the Destroyer!
13
Teddy Roosevelt founded the National Park Service. Richard Nixon founded the EPA. How did the Republican party go so badly off the rails?
11
Why is a law not a law? What gives trump the right to change the Endangered Species Act?
18
As a journalist, it is incumbent for the author to comment that the President would certainly veto any attempt by congress to block these changes through invocation of the Congressional Review Act, and that garnering 2/3 support to override such a veto would almost certainly never happen. Alternatively, just don’t include the quote from Senator Tom Udall. But to include the quote without contextualizing how such an effort would be unsuccessful is bad journalism.
3
This administration is at war with nature and in the end with life in general.
7
Full speed ahead on oil and gas exploration and extraction off Mar-a-Lago!
6
Each state must have their own Endangered Species Act and Environmental Protection Agency. The only hope in these overwhelming dark days
4
This is what happens when you elect a real estate developer to be president of your country. First he denies scientific consensus on the human impacts on climate change and its effects on nature and human society. Then he appoints a former gas, oil and agribusiness industry lobbyist to become Secretary of the Interior, a cabinet post that oversees management and conservation of most federal land and natural resources.
Within one day of his Senate confirmation, in April 2019 the Interior Department opened an ethics investigation into its new chief based on charges that, as Deputy Interior Secretary, he had benefited his former clients by, among other things, intervening to block the release of a scientific report showing the harmful effects of a chemical pesticide on certain endangered species.
Is it any surprise that Interior Secretary David Bernhardt announced yesterday that the Endangered Species Act would be weakened - he called it “modernized” - making it easier for new mining, oil and gas drilling, and development in areas where protected species live? So who will protect the endangered species from the so-called protectors?
14
Has any of these lawmakers walked through the woods, saw a Grizzlies, a bald eagle, a Yellowstone bison?
In an era of increasing corporate greed, human created climate change, have they ever smelled a pine forest early in the morning, still dripping dew as the sunshine releases the sweetest aroma. I doubt it.
"Republicans have long sought to narrow the scope of the law, saying that it burdens landowners, hampers industry and hinders economic growth"
Some of our most beautiful places and the animals who make their homes there are going to be lost, forever because of greed. What are we leaving our grandchildren. We should be stewards of the land and sea. Not rapacious beasts.
Time to join the Sierra Club.
Monarch butterflies. I want my grandchildren to see them. And bison in Yellowstone and the rainbow rocks on Lake McDonald.
11
This is a form of dictatorship. The executive has bypassed Congress because they won’t undo the legislation and has written a regulation to say they basically won’t implement the Act as it’s intended. Political appointees in cabinet are directing government employees to go around the Act and are making their own interpretations of the law outside of science and legal precedent.
This threatens democracy as well as wildlife.
13
Meanwhile back at the ranch in the US the EPA is being gutted (already air quality is plummeting), the CFPB is being dismantled, Dodd–Frank is being compromised, the deficit is going through the roof, huge swaths of public lands are being sold off, world free trade is being seriously assailed, the justice department is being revamped with a slew of GOP biased judicial appointees, and all while the nation’s intelligence agencies and the FBI are being disemboweled.
27
What a shame for an administration that shall and probably will be held accountable for it.
Upon hearing such news, nothing else comes to mind for someone caring about the fate, (or more to the point the plight), nowadays endured by an already strained and depleted environment, which first and foremost includes its flora and fauna.
In our times where the future of many listed species weights into the balance for future generations, such news may just break the camel's back and sent much of the remaining wildlife straight into oblivion.
To some, wild animals living in their untapped habitat are yet seen as either a nuisance or an encumbrance and for that reason, given a swipe of an eraser on a document, these are to be biffed away at anyone's convenience and, therefore, taken out whenever it's deemed necessary to make more space hence sate the greed of individuals who finds here another opportunity to ramp up their lucrative projects even if that presupposes conquering storied wild areas.
As if, the overall situation wasn't already enough dire. So far, this is just quickening to pace towards the deterioration of this planet's dwindling ecosystem.
7
Wild bees are also endangered. Not honeybees: honeybees are livestock animals and are competitors of wild bees. You can build - well, plant - a Wild Bee sanctuary in your front yard or your backyard or both. Plant flowers and flowering herbs. Plant unhybridized bulbs and sunflowers. Put out little beebaths.
Some Wild Bees look like wasps or flies. Bumblebees are wild bees.
Maybe, there are endangered songbirds in your area. So put out sources of water for them and feed them. They are a pleasure to watch.
Stop driving a car. Stop or seriously reduce your flying. Struggle to be a vegetarian. It is sad and depressing but doing the above stuff will offer you some relief.
18
@Morgan Also plant lavender. In my experience they magically attract bees. Even after a rainy night just after sunrise i watch them being busy already.
8
@Morgan - I have planted a pollinator garden now for several years. The variety of bees still amaze me. They and I have an agreement when I weed. I move slowly and they don't sting me. :)
The monarchs are back again this year. Sunflowers are blooming, lavender abounds. My herbs are flowering. In between, I have flowers I like, dahlias. Folks, plant what is called Mexican Sunflowers. They are very beautiful. Folks, just plant and allow the insects a chance.
If you want bees folks, lavender is the way to go. They LOVE it.
I have a very protective family of robins in my rose of Sharon tree. So, my weeding upsets them. The weeds can wait.
My small bit of heaven here in suburban New Jersey.
3
The Trump administration is not the “U.S.” Using U.S. in the headline implies that this change went through the legislative process. Call it what it is- the executive branch, specifically Trump with Republican Party backing, changing law through implementation. The article acknowledges that the Republican Party was unable to do it through legislation. In a headline-heavy world, saying U.S. is especially sloppy and a mischaracterization of the government and the public.
What I would like to see is some analysis about how much the executive branch controls governmental agencies through appointment and implementation, and how that has or hasn’t changed over time.
But at the least don’t headline implying we have one branch of government.
12
Absolutely essential. Otherwise hunters can't shoot and kill as many animals as they would like to shoot and kill.
3
“They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.”
19
This administration hates nature and only worships the almighty dollar. I hate this. We can't replace lost species!
27
The vast majority of the GOP is old and white. They don't care that they can't take it with them, they just enjoy taking it away from everyone else. Their goal is to pave over the world, destroy every living animal, plant and frankly human who isn't a billionaire.
23
Every day brings a litany of new horrors. Everything 45 does is the opposite of good or righteous.
26
If only republicans were an endangered species...
27
@DREU. -agree. So VOTE Blue, no matter WHO
15
We were always ruled by the rich. At least the WASPs knew noblesse oblige and felt a duty to our country.
The swamp replacement by Trump’s ilk is just the lowest of the low. Vile, amoral philistines who would gladly let even the bald eagle go extinct so they can buy more material stuff. We’ve hit rock bottom.
30
@Anne Yeah what a cynical party the GOP is. And the few people with ideal leave GOP or are obviously a powerless minority inside GOP.
Drain the swamp Trump said. What he meant was: "I'm gonna take a huge bath in the swamp. The most beautiful bath the world has ever seen."
And he is also not afraid of inviting the extreme right wing to take this bath with him.
Opportunistic deregulation. No need to overthink. Just sad.
2
Another day, another disastrous ruling from this administration
23
This is what Republicans mean when they speak of a smaller government. There are no rules -- except for pregnant women and desperate migrants.
22
Is anyone surprised? Under Trump and Trump's GOP, American Democracy is also an Endangered Species!
America and Americanism as we know it is being dismantled brick by brick by brick.
He reminds me of the Joker in "The Dark Knight."
7
Crimes against wildlife are crimes against humanity.
26
Yes, I’m discouraged by the depths to which we have sunk in this once-great country, but I am very encouraged by the prospect of the 2020 elections, when we can boot these depraved individuals out of office. I don’t care which Democrat takes the mantel — the key is saying goodbye to Trump and his legion of enablers.
18
When it come to the environment it is not right versus left but dumb versus smart. Trump is turning the US into one of the most backward countries in the world. Other countries used to follow the lead of the US on environmental law. It is really sad as destructive forces have taken over the executive branch of the government. Losing a species is irreversible. No Democrat can bring back a species. Millions of years of evolution are gone for good. Trump is a throwback to earlier days in the US when the land was seen as just something to exploit for humans. But with all scientists have leaned in the past decades that view now is clearly mindless. The more enlightened people of modern society are now trying to live in balance with nature but it is a difficult task. Given power the right will destroy nature and take down humans in the process.
18
This whole climate change and extinction issue is also relative to our life time, that time line is a very short one but it may have catastrophic effects on our lives.
When it comes to Human versus Earth&Nature , the final settlement is very clear.
It is crystalizes following words from Movie Matrix.
The Architect: Denial is the most predictable of all human responses. But, rest assured, this will be the sixth time we have destroyed it, and we have become exceedingly efficient at it.
Mass extinction is the way earth changes the page.
9
You’d think some Conservative somewhere would look really deeply into that word and realize that they might think about conserving SOMETHING.
14
This offends those of us with both moral and scientific sensibilities. The Trump administration is attempting to put a price on the priceless treasures of the natural world.
10
Responsible stewardship of God’s beautiful Creation is one of our most important duties as Christians.
Every multicolored butterfly, every speckled frog, every bee quietly pollinating the plants we will eat is a love message to us from the force that set the universe in motion. If we let this awesome Creation slip away—for greed—we throw away an irreplaceable treasure.
God gave us brains so we could be responsible. He gave us free will so we could choose to do GOOD.
12
This is incredibly cruel to not just the endangered species but to mankind as well. Trump is slowly, but surely destroying everything in sight for his political gain. Incredibly sad to see this happening. I sure do hope someone bumps him out of office before it’s too late.
8
When wolves were taken off the endangered list years ago (almost to extinction)the elk overrun the area of Yellowstone. they developed chronic wasting disease and got sick. They became overrun with ticks. There are already a problem with ticks due to wet and warmer weather due to climate change.
There is also a tick that has been brought over from southeast asia.
that is the whole purpose of protecting all species,, not just those that are endangered. It is an eco-system each species keeping other species in check
10
It's sad that human beings cannot keep their populations in check. Our global overpopulation is the root cause of the majority of Mother Earth's ails.
I want keeping -and strengthening -the endangered species act and the issue of keeping Public Lands public , and the environment front and center in the next democratic debates.
Habitat for ourselves means also for wildlife, and doing everything we can to protect endangered species because these animals protect the biology of our planet: these are the same issues. Don’t let anybody tell you differently. life becomes twice as threatened very quickly for humanity if habitat and biology; water and air and wild species and wilderness get wrecked.
No more being lead down the path of toxicity and Frankenstein style future.
I’m not anti tech.
There just is no tech that can replace our interconnected biology or our consciousness; or Clean air, clean water , healthy soils to grow the best organic food which also would provide provide a major carbon sink .
The time is now.
14
Life thrived on this planet long before we were here and it will thrive long after we are gone. Which if we keep dangerously destabilizing the ecological conditions necessary for human life, won’t be too long from now.
8
@Expected Value - we should be grateful enough for this living planet to fight for it, not shrug off extinctions saying something else will evolve in a few million years to replace them.
7
@gw
That is hardly what I am doing. My comment is more a rhetorical device pointing out the irony that the real loss over the long term will be humanity and its intelligence, a singular product of evolution possibly unique across all of time and space. It is quite the leap to assume I was shrugging off extinctions given that I connected the consequences of said extinctions to the extinction of the human race. I did say life would recover, I did not say that human level intelligence would evolve again. In fact most thinkers on this subject believe that human level intelligence evolved more or less by accident as a consequence of a number of extremely fortuitous events. It is not necessarily likely to happen again on this planet.
Dr. Sagan and more recently Dr. Tyson famously said that humanity is the universe's way of knowing itself. The project of preserving humanity is probably an undertaking of great importance given that our kind may be exceedingly rare even in the entirety of the known universe. By destabilizing the ecosystems on which human life, in spite of all our arrogance, still massively depends, we are gambling with our own species' survival as well.
As far as our beloved charismatic megafauna, as much as I personally feel a great attachment to these animals, perhaps it is true that I am not sure of the importance of that on a cosmic scale. New and unique creatures will replace them, but the universe will no longer be able to know them as it has in our time.
1
I vote for many things on the ballot, but this is at the top of the list. Trump must go back to Trump Tower in 2020. Leave the animals alone.
19
This is why the late George Carlin stated that he was no longer a participant, just a mere observer and commentator on the freak show that is humanity. As he wryly put it, Earth wanted plastic and didn’t know how to make it so it created humans. It got what it wanted and will dispense with them.
11
Kate, I agree with you wholeheartedly. Our parks and the beautiful wild life that live in them are our nation's treasures. My life and my children's lives have been greatly enriched by them.
It makes me and my family sad to learn that our treasures, our national parks and lands are under assault by this current administration and their greed. If our public lands are allowed to be mined, drilled, logged, animals poisoned and killed, what does that say about our elected leaders?
I join you in your great efforts to do everything I can to stop these assaults on "our" parks and lands. These places belong to every citizen of this country and we will not let this administration destroy them!
12
How on earth is this legal? Congress writes and passes laws and the administrative branch makes sure the laws are adhered to, they're not allowed to alter duly written laws.
12
Nothing is sacred! Nothing is holy. What do they think is meant by being a Christian? Do they believe god made heaven and earth ? All the creatures? And like Judas you sell them for 30 pieces of silver? I could understand if on the other hand they preach to us of wrongdoing s then sell our world so cheaply away. And didn’t holdup how Christian they are. They are monsters of greed. Hypocrisy at its highest.
21
Nature's Trust by Mary Christina Wood
https://billmoyers.com/2014/09/19/natures-trust-new-approach-environmental-law/
2
It is time the Rich supporters of Trump joined the Endangered Species list. May sound strange to put human parasites on the list but heck they have DNA too! Time to introduce some Darwinism to their business models and find other suppliers whenever possible. Call out every Trump business supporter and donor loudly and clearly. Publish your lists with reasons and update frequently if they learn to control their greed and corporate fascist tendencies with acts rather than empty unverifiable press releases. Don't rely on lawyers tying this up in court. The message is heard by the base and they will increasingly rape the public lands for money and trophies since they got the nod from Donald.
9
The really sad part is that it actually might not matter what we list as endangered if we keep loading carbon into the atmosphere at the current rate.
Cheers and good luck!
8
I am distraught and filled with the deepest rage. I know it's not healthy nor helpful. The only fuel that keeps me going is hope for record turnout for democrats in 2020: young people, educated women, suburbs, progressives of every stripe. I hope we can prove the pundits wrong. If not, we humans shall reap the hot hellish barren world we so richly deserve. And may Mother Earth and her other species have the last laugh. (Didn't Sixth Extiction predict rats as the winning species? So fitting a successor to humans...and a step up.)
27
@Bh
I put my bet on avian.
The horror show just continues.
25
Gary Frazer, the assistant director for endangered species with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, said that phrase had been removed for reasons of “transparency.”
I'd say the reasons are plenty transparent.
19
It’s about time we achieved some balance in environmental regulatory law. Of course everybody wants clean air, clean water, and sustainable habitat for all God’s creatures, and that includes mankind. However, expansive environmental regulations have been used as weapons over the years to shut down much needed housing development, thus driving up housing costs, retarding job growth since employees can’t find decent affordable housing, therefore resulting in acute housing shortages in many areas (eg Bay Area) and even exacerbating the homelessness situation.
NIMBYs, of all political stripes, who profess to be for affordable housing, when confronted with housing proposals in their own communities invariably object, saying “I’m for affordable housing in the right place, but not here.” They have pursued the proliferation of new environmental regulations, with help of their local political representatives, to stop housing from being built in their communities. Senator’s Ted Kennedy and Lamar Alexander, not generally thought of being of the same political persuasion, were both against the Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound, because it would negatively affect their view-sheds from their homes in Hyannis and Nantucket respectively. So much for wind power!
Unfortunately, environmental regulations have been used as a means to segregate the “haves” from the “have nots!” So un-American! It’s time for reasonable environmental policies to serve all!
2
Developers build housing to make money, not to provide housing. There are plenty of places to build housing without killing endangered animals.
6
@Bill Weber Hear hear!
1
All this is doing is protecting industries that have harmed our environment before. In truth not protecting endangered species, if they haven't slipped below viability levels, is good business. Each species, whether we like it or not, whether we consider it a nuisance or a benefit, is part of the delicate dance of life on this planet. It's not our job to hasten extinctions. As a species that proclaims itself to be wise, this decision is anything but.
We need all the flora and fauna on this planet from the smallest one celled organism to the largest whales. Species do change and go extinct. However, they don't need to be rushed into that state by our actions.
10
When the Endangered Species Act was passed during the Nixon administration I knew this day would come. It is against all historic human behavior to leave nature alone - it has only ever been a question of when a resource becomes scarce and therefore valuable.
Like many of Trumps decisions, this will face challenges. It may be turned back . But as humans continue to overpopulate (latest prediction is 11 billion before we stop - though no reason for stopping has ever been offered) and the climate crisis narrows all options, in the end will see all ' reasonable ' people agree we must sacrifice everything to survive. In fact, by refusing to seriously act on climate change out of fear of economic turmoil and simple inertia, we demonstrate the same choice.
4
There is no more room in my box for this - the last of the last straws. I'm apoplectic because I don't know what more I can do. I contribute money to environmental organizations that focus on endangered species when and where I can. I make phone calls and send thoughtful letters to my state and federal representatives. I stay current by reading peer reviewed scientific articles that pertain to the environment and climate change. I volunteer locally, answer phones and stuff envelopes when needed. But I am getting old. Physical impairment prevents me from moving deep into the wild lands that once sustained me. I wasn't normal back then. My emotional scars were far too deep and numerous for a girl not yet woman to bear. For my healing, I chose solitude in nature. It took many years. I found my niches in the Alaskan and Canadian arctic, in the mountains of California Montana, New Mexico and Colorado, and also in the varied desert landscapes of the western Great Basin. Midway through, I realized that my ability to travel to and live upon our public lands was my embodiment of the American Dream. I still marvel at the notion that a girl in need of healing found her cure in American wilds.
27
Thank you for your efforts! It does make a difference!
5
I’m reminded of Fermi’s Paradox.
Basically, if there are billions of solar systems similar to ours in the Milky Way galaxy, and a corresponding number of planets capable of supporting life, “where is everybody?”
Hypothetical reasons abound for this absence, but the most plausible may be
1) it is the nature of intelligent life to destroy itself
2) it is the nature of intelligent life to destroy others
One needn’t be an astrophysicist to understand that life on this planet is a miracle. Just look at the other planets in our tiny corner of the cosmos.
Humans, having risen to alpha predator status is the pinnacle of evolution (so far).
I suppose it’s just too much to expect that they’re also intelligent.
20
@Thom Marchionna: Enrico Fermi was a very insightful man. His construction of the first nuclear reactor was a very equivocal act.
1
Maybe they observed us and took a pass on friendship.
7
I couldn’t stop crying - no, sobbing - reading this. I’m sorry to all creatures great and small. I’m sorry, Earth. Unjust, staggering, and beyond humbling - the wretched embodiment of the modern human - the Capitalist.
Thank you NY Times for keeping us informed, though it is getting difficult to read the news even in a progressive newspaper. Truly, we need an article for where/how to access emotional support and cope with the despair felt as a result of the brutal reality and insult that this administration visits upon us daily, through direct or unchecked mandate. I must find the courage to become more of an activist; begs the question which is more uncomfortable- putting myself out there, or processing the pain of injustice/doing nothing to change it?
22
While it is ever increasingly difficult to try and stay positive during these grim times, what keeps me going toward 2020 is donating to or volunteering for organizations like Field Team 6, started by Jason Berlin, whose mission is to register democrats. They need help in every state. Volunteering with like minded people keeps me sane.
3
@Emely
Put yourself out there by connecting with the groups called “indivisible” or local dem groups who are doing grass roots work to bring out the vote by canvassing democrats and some independents.
You will find many friendly people and the focus is not on changing people’s minds so you don’t have to worry about confrontation.
It is about reminding people to vote.
It helps with the feelings of helplessness to be doing something tangible with other like minded people like yourself, who normally might not be active like that.
3
@Emely - wherever you live, someone is trying to save habitat for other species and they need your help. The experience is richly rewarding. You learn about biology and natural systems. You learn how government works. You discover talents you never knew you had and courage to stand up for what you believe in. Plus you meet the most wonderful people. The only antidote for despair is getting involved!
4
Is there truly nothing that can be done to halt the willful destruction of our planet until the election? Surely there is some legal action that can be taken to stop this horrific action.
21
@RKD: Many people assert that we are all just too minute to destroy the Earth.
Wonder what's next on the agenda - eliminating National Parks? This isn't a country just for the oil, coal, gas and timber industries - it belongs to all of us.
27
@Andy: To Trump, federal lands are assets to auction to the highest bidder.
11
This is exactly why the GOP supports Trump: his presence enables them to wipe away everything they have wanted to for decades. I have been shocked since he was elected, but this is the final straw.
Tomorrow, my donations to Democratic Presidential candidates begins. And so does my political activism.
31
PBS aired last year a documentary about mass extinction.
In final word , a scientist said, what is happening now is break neck pace of climate change compared to two great mass extinction of past.
Trump is really up to job, he wants to break the neck of our life.
15
The Bald Eagle is no longer an endangered species. It's now an animal of least concern.
6
It is now a species of least concern only because the Endangered Species Act protections gave it cover to recover. Wild how when conservation laws work some folks use their very success to try and invalidate them.
27
@Dan
Are you that ignorant???
Why do you think the bald eagle is not endangered?
Clue:
It’s not because people/business interests decided spontaneously to stop destroying them and their habitats...
Can you guess?
Answer: The law protected them that is why. Without the law they would be gone.
2
@Dan: The bald eagle is now just another pest that picks up garbage from our dumps and dumps it on our homes.
Trump heard the base roar “drill baby drill” and he is delivering. The new rules serve up ANWAR on a silver platter to drillers. It opens up vast public lands in the west for strip mining.... forests have to be chopped down and sold off first. Money money money! Big times for logging, mining, drilling, pumping fossil fuels!!! Oh it’s kissing babies stealing lollipops, clean air and clean water. Money money money!!!! Base thrilled with cheap gas for their Ford F250 pickups. Burn baby burn! It’s getting hot in here.
11
While he is destroying the country, why not turn the Statue of Liberty into a Trump casino?
I have ceased being surprised, but I am by no means numb.
16
@Joanne: We all grow more attuned every day to how totally sick in the head humanity is.
3
"The path of the righteous man ( everything-everybody) is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men ( Trump and his ilk)."
3
Man I hope that Op-Ed about living in a simulation is correct...
5
Hah, I was thinking near the same!
The history of preserving pubic for conservation and public enjoyment of nature reached its peak with president Teddy Roosevelt, who established dozens of National parks, National monuments and historic parks, as well as setting aside huge sections of mostly western lands as national forests for the benefit of all of us. He was followed by another republican, Howard Taft, who established what later was to be known as Zion National Park and Glacier National Park. He also proclaimed a number of new National Monuments. Even Warren Harding during his brief tenure as president proclaimed several National Monuments. And post WW II, Nixon signed the very Endangered Species Act Trump is now emasculating as he did with many other environmental policies.
What happened to the Republican party under Trump that is now eerily silent to the president's willful desecration of the grand conservation heritage so effectively pursued a century ago and his insane and harmful attempts at commercial exploitations of our precious public lands? The damage will be irreversible if Trump wins another election. We owe our children and those who follow them the duty of electing a Democrat in 2020.
19
@Rudy Ludeke: Teddy Roosevelt personally shot more than 20,000 individuals of what we now call "endangered species".
2
@Rudy Ludeke: Teddy Roosevelt personally shot more than 20,000 specimens of presently endangered species.
May I suggest reading This Land: How Cowboys, Capitalism and Corruption are Ruining the American West by Christopher Ketcham. Much there about the history of the Endangered Species Act and the betrayal of many species it was meant to protect. Heartbreaking and now made worse by today's action from Trump's Interior Department. The worst betrayals of endangered species from the past are now being openly institutionalized by our government.
13
Thank you for sharing this read. Trump’s latest acting BLM czar William Perry Pendley, has not been senate approved and is an anti government zealot, according to a recent Washington Post article whose position to act in the public interest is questionable. Republican Teddy Roosevelt is credited with establishing our national park system and Republican Donald trump will be credited with destroying said system.
1
Another distraction?
2
This poor planet is doomed.
13
@Meg
Our planet is not poor , is not helpless.
Geologically it has still 4.5 billion years to go
Earth has last word when it comes to deal with its habitants.
4
@Meg: The planet will spin on. Humans will become another stratum in the geological record.
7
@Meg
Truly,
We are not going to make it ...….....
2
Non-rich Dems are an endangered species unless they get smart
3
@MB: According to Trumpism, I am too smart for my own good.
Huh? So non-rich Dems (whatever that means) don’t want wildlife and natural parks? Care to explain?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Bernhardt
This is YOUR Secretary of the Interior. Not Trump's. Yours. These people are supposed to work FOR the people of this country. They do not. They work for themselves and their very rich sponsors. Bernhardt was a oil lobbyist. Who do you think he answers to ? The people who buttered his bread ? Or you ?
28
On the day that Donald Trump crossed the threshold of having told 12,000 lies since his inauguration, he put into place new laws to destroy America's wildlife.
Donald Trump is a small, wretched, ignorant, contemptuous example of what the human race will become, if we don't vote them out of existence.
30
The only thing we the Americans can do , vote out this President.
November 2020 , if you are not going to vote to stop this devastation, no need to write a comment.
25
@su: The headwind of voting into the Electoral College nullification will sink us all.
3
How many comments must I start with a declaration of shamelessness. Bald eagles, our national bird, would likely be extinct without this act. Oh, the irony...
13
These people and the planet cannot co exist. If they don’t, the earth would perish.
1
Ok... sorry I voted for Trump. I cannot again.
21
@Really
Even if it is distasteful to you, I hope you vote for the Democrat. Abstaining or voting for a third party candidate is effectively a vote for Trump.
7
I hope you mean it
3
Does not President Trump realize that the Bald Eagle is part of the National Seal and the country's heritage?
Perhaps he has something new in mind like a Badger.
8
Let's remember: the true Americans voted for Trump. If you think gutting the Endangered Species Act is criminal, then you are just showing that you are indeed, a registered communist perhaps, who would use the American flag for cleaning grease off the engine block.
I'm afraid that the two-party system that we have has had unintended consequences. Because we don't have a multi-party system, where gradations of thought on different issues could be advanced by different parties, with a two-party system we end up having an opposition party -which is always the Republican party - to stand athwart history in the words of Buckley - that is extremely opposed to everything, including common sense.
In a multi-party system, the party that would gut the ES act would be considered extreme, and only a few people would be partial to it. But in the two-party system we have, this extreme view can become the nation's policy. Health care is the same thing. The Republicans have taken an extreme view there as well (let's just destroy it).
This is nuts. But unfortunately it is also the reality.
5
Such short-sighted, unconscionable madness and greed. My heart breaks for this planet we all share.
17
It’s another environmental blow from an administration that can’t separate good from evil. Refuse to shop at or in any way support businesses and individuals that back this awful man. It’s the only thing he understands
8
The reason that we have these firewalls is that the extinction of these species tells us we will soon be next. Mother Nature ALWAYS has the last word, not Exxon, not Shell, and certainly not the politicians in DC.
10
The American Petroleum Institute praised the new rules put forward by the head of the Department of the Interior, David Bernhardt, the former Oil Industry Lobbyist. Any other questions?
14
Sad and pathetic. This is what you voted for, my fellow Americans. Get used to it.
9
Republicans won't rest until everything is dead, as long as it brings money to the 1%.
19
One more thing that makes me miss Richard Nixon. Shows you how bad DJT and his co-conspirators are.
6
Very retrogressive step.
4
The time has come for this Administration to face extinction.
19
In northern Indiana there are two lakes formed in 1938 by damming the Tippecanoe river for hydro electric generation. Until 2015 the lakes operated at a constant level, with electric generation when enough water was available. The lakes have more than 1500 cottages, and are amajor tax base for the area. In 2015 a Fish and Wildlife agent with NO proof, orderd at minimum drainage quantity to preserve the downstream Mussels, who have survivred just fine for 77 years. The lake association soon found out that F&W does not have to explain or prove their actions. Despite the testimony of naturalist experts, F&W will not justify their action. Go for it Trump, the resident of 2 counties in IN are all for weakening the power of the EPA.
1
Tom - You mean the dams and reservoirs on the Tippecanoe River, which have or have had fish consumption advisories due to mercury and PCBs?
Seems like all 1500 of those cottage owners might someday want help from the big, bad Fish & Wildlife, the ruthless EPA, and several million fellow American taxpayers to reduce or even remedy those problems.
Also, I just googled it, and it doesn’t seem all that hard to get documents that explain the mussel protection decision.
6
@Tom
Gee Tom because somebody, assuming you are correct about this decision, made an error? Don't you think that rolling back EPA regs might be an even bigger error?
How can you be so parochial? Your little backyard narrative proves exactly what?
Good luck when your neighbours start pouring varsol down the drains. Or pouring excess paint or oil from their oil change into the yard or the lake. Or rat poison, nothing like a little warfarin to liven things up. Or hey how about DDT? Those mosquitoes...you gotta manage them.
1
Disgraceful!
This administration has totally sold out to the fossil fuel industry. This alone should be enough for anyone, regardless of political affiliation, to vote them out of office. Bruce Springsteen called Trumps election a real con job and he was right. Wake up America! These types of actions make America weaker and poorer. And really it’s all motivated by greed.
8
Can’t the Democrats do some quick PSAs that target the heartstrings just like the Humane Society does with videos of sick and dying eagles and bear cubs? How can we not reclaim and win the narrative here in about two days?
7
Hey, we (our children and grandchildren) are the endangered species of 2050 onward! So why care about the bald eagles - they are just the canary in the coal mine anyway!
Maybe republicans don’t have kids or grandkids!
6
We are in an age where Richard Nixon looks like an Angel compared to today’s Republicans. Who would have thought?
13
Crude oil prices are falling. What is the point of harvesting cretaceous carbon products? It only enhances Donald's buddy Kim Jung-un to propel missiles by high grade kerosene RP-1 with liquid oxygen.
4
This proposal is wrong !!!!
2
I suppose that the president's supporters will now come out to pronounce how great it is that endangered species are more threatened. They will be convince us how great an idea it is to have a reality TV star participate in scientific debate and dictate to us what is right and wrong.
9
The earth has become imbalanced, from a geologic, biologic and economic perspective.
Ironic as to how the latter is affected by the two former. The GOP has only a short-term vision; one that is unsustainable, if only they are unable to take the fruits of autocracy. Regardless, all will pay a significant price; unfortunately, the GOP couldn't care less about their mark on history.
4
Deregulation is another theme of the Trump Administration.
The whole point is for the 1% to make as much money off our public lands as possible before someone stops them.
And here we sit.
20
Thinking of all the species that are already threatened, this action might well mean the demise of the one in most danger today, the GOP.
5
@Ed From your mouth to God's ears.
5
We need an anti-development tax incentives. Once the incentive to improve the environment is monetized, people who only think in dollar signs will quickly change their ways and developers, like Trump, will no longer be able to profit by ruining the earth.
For every acre of land you own and do not develop you get an X% tax break. For every acre of land you own and return to its native ecosystem you get an even higher tax break.
11
Anything less than a full-blown revolution in this country will leave us at the mercy of the Republicans. As Thomas Jefferson said, "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
10
Jefferson founded the Republican Party.
What is your point? The Republican party of Jefferson in no way resembles today's Republican party. Jefferson is probably rolling in his grave at how it turned out.
2
@Change Happens
A very different party than today's GOP.
Theoretical question: If an American Bald Eagle were to swoop down on Trump on the WH lawn, would Secret Service be prevented from killing it since, presumably, it's a protected species? Asking for a friend.
5
@Susanne Hicks I would hope the service would honor the eagle as it represents our country. The victim, not much honor there.
1
Somehow, in the next few weeks, this is going to be a right wing move to call all of us who are saddened (to say the least) by this, socialists, leftists, extremists. So i can only say this, to those ones who claim to be independent, or Bernie supporters: stop your madness and support the democrat nominee.
8
This ongoing presidency seems to fit the description of "cruel and unusual punishment" toward ourselves, our nation and our future.
9
Every day, with every new policy I shake my head in disbelief. I wonder what will be enough; when will the line be drawn? What will it take for some republican to call out this horrible period in our society and call an end?
Then I wake up.
8
So why are we only hearing about this NOW? These rules were published over a year ago as proposals, with a comment period, as is required for federal regulations. I'm seeing this story all over the media today (and that's a good thing), but I wish it had had that level of publicity when there might have been time to organize opposition, submission of comments, filing objections, writing legislators, etc. Now it's too late and a done deal. What the heck, it's not like anyone ever cared before about bald eagles or polar bears or a myriad of tiny uncharismatic species that may play roles we don't even know about, right? Kill 'em all and let (ahem) "God" sort it out... my heart is aching.
3
This administrative act by the Trump administration should help the GOP...
... get listed on the ESA list!
1
Those Christian Trump supporters apparently don't care about protecting God's creation.
21
The Republicans are like Locusts. Just consume with reckless abandon.
Do they believe in anything? If the future is a dystopian one, it will be because Republicans led the way.
Unbelievable
11
This is nothing less than a wholesale theft of our American heritage, brought to you by the Greedy Old Politicians and djt’s Grift Administration.
If y’all thought people were mad about their treatment of women, minorities, and gay people, just wait until you see how mad people get about messing with nature.
Call your senators and congresspeople, early and often.
Do not left them get away with this.
14
As a thoughtful citizen of Canada and here I am probably on the saeme wave length of citizens of the world, we are all shocked and saddened of course by what the guy in your White House is doing to your country. But now it seems he wants to extend that damage to not only the human species but also to Mother Nature.
This man and his cabinet of fools must be voted out or the wonderful world we all inhabit will no longer be. VOTE AMERICANS, VOTE IN HUGE NUMBERS.
20
With all respect, where the heck are the Democrats!! Speeches will be made — maybe? — but nothing actually will get done by Pelosi/Schumer.
You better believe if this were an issue Republicans cared about, and they were a minority in Congress, they’d still find a way to block action from the White House!
4
No surprise here. This is standard procedure for Trump and his Republican allies. Elections have consequences, and it was very clear that this is what we would get if Trump were elected. I just hope that "progressives" have learned from 2016 that the Democratic party cannot be divided again in 2020. The perfect cannot be the enemy of the possible.
9
Never give a conservative Republican a choice of environment or money. They will take money every time even though it means dumping on their own grandchildren.
19
The idea is it's OK to wipe out an entire species if it's lucrative to do that. If Trump wins in 2020 it would be a disaster for the entire planet.
15
Trump celebrated the "Year of the Bird" by gutting the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 on its centennial.
I witnessed the devastating results firsthand as I'd been blessed to have an American Oystercatcher couple nest on the beach outside my home.
At 5 a.m., I witnessed an Army Corps of Engineers Komatsu truck bulldoze the American Oystercatcher nest.
I called the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and was told :"
"Under the current administration, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act has been redefined such that the incidental take of migratory birds is allowed."
The family had managed to make it out alive. The babies continued to return to their nesting area, nestling against the tires of Army Corps of Engineers Komatsu trucks, until the day when one baby was killed. The baby had been left with no safe refuge, on a beach packed with humans, whizzing vehicles, pipeline stretched from barges in the ocean spewing black sand onto the beach, and Komatsu trucks traversing the beach 24/7.
I witnessed the parents searching for their missing baby. It was heartbreaking.
Soon, bald eagles will be searching for their missing eaglets,
or eaglets will be left to starve. The same will be true for whooping cranes, piping plovers and all endangered species.
My heart is breaking.
"First they came for the Migratory Birds
Then they came for the Jews.
Then they came for the immigrants.
Then they came for the Endangered Species
They WILL come for YOU !
24
God this is so sad......just heartbreaking.
4
I do not understand what right we seem to have to obliterate parts of our environment.
Speaking of environments, why is Trump Tower so well protected by the Secret Service? I walked by this past Friday and saw the Trump lookalike entrepreneur (go for your money!) and a side street completely blocked off with massive gun protection (are these my tax dollars?).
Why is the Donald worth more than another bird?
9
Will wind farms be held responsible for their tragic ongoing bird kills? Eagles were just starting to re-establish in Northwest Ohio, then the wind farms came. Oh well, it was good while it lasted.
I am not sure that we can wait until 2020 to vote this greedy administration out of office. It is going to take years to repair the damage, and considering the climate crisis, we may already be too late. I broke down when I read the news this morning. It is one outrage after another, each and every day. But this weakening of the Endangered Species Act is like a punch in the gut. And all for what? Mining and drilling so that these wealthy grifters can make money at the expense of our children's and the planet's future? God help us all.
11
Please contribute to the major environmental organizations that litigate on behalf of all life.
Earthjustice.org and Environmental Defense Fund are some of the ones I contribute to. Others are The Nature Conservacy and League of Conservation Voters.
Contribute to Democrats at state and national level.
Also, contribute to other causes that are in peril with Trump, to support basic human needs.
We must do all we can to fight and win against this sick administration.
9
Republicans used to be conservationists:no more. Lobbyists, Citizens United and Luddite thinking, reinforced by decades of fomented, doctrinaire ideology foisted by entrenched regional politics and religion, have closed some minds forever.
3
To paraphrase Nixon, if the President does it, it's not breaking the law. He has no obligation to follow laws enacted by Congress. Does he?
1
This is exactly what Trump promised to do. As another commenter suggested, the names of the corporations (and individuals) who support this action must be held accountable for their actions. In so many cases with this crowd, there are people out there who are supporting Trump because they receive tangible benefits. The future is only about maximizing investments. Names must be published and the reasons for economic boycotts made plain. We were once a future-directed nation, but the focus is presently somewhere in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.
9
@aoxomoxoa
Read This Land: How Cowboys, Capitalism and Corruption are Ruining the American West.
You'll find the names there. Many are the Republican members of Congress and the Senate from Nevada, Idaho, Arizona, Oregon and Washington. Protecting (and being paid off by) ranchers, oil industry, mining interests.
3
How is this legal? The endangered species act is a law. It has not been repealed.
Independent of the (morally wrong, cruel, awful) intentions of the administration, how can the administration just decide to ignore the law? Are they just assuming that there is no one to check them, or is there any legal basis for their actions?
15
As an avid backpacker, trail runner, hunter, and conservative who believes we have a God-given duty to care for this Earth, this is incredibly disappointing.
The Endangered Species Act was among the best bipartisan bills passed in history. Nothing in true conservative political philosophy suggests we should be rolling back this very reasonable bill.
Hopefully a future president will restore these vital protections.
16
What do your expect from administration where the president's outdoor experiences are mostly limited to the golf course, with the occasional ski trip? Not to mention to keep the lobbyists for these interests on tap for the next election cycle.
13
"Another contentious change removes longstanding language that prohibits the consideration of economic factors when deciding whether a species should be protected.
Under the current law, such determinations must be made solely based on science, “without reference to possible economic or other impacts of determination.”
Gary Frazer, the assistant director for endangered species with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, said that phrase had been removed for reasons of “transparency.” He said the change leaves open the possibility of conducting economic analyses for informational purposes, but that decisions about listing species would still be based exclusively on science."
Not a single decision the Trump administration has made has been based on science. Whether it affects wildlife, nature, food safety, health - especially those of women and children - they are based on politics. Guess "transparency" means "we're honest that we don't care about people."
11
Seriously? Does he want to kill everything?
22
Greed in action.
These people are sick souls.
26
Just keeps getting better, huh? Trump is acting like a petulant child lashing out at everyone and everything in his path. He's become so unhinged even Anthony Scaramucci has turned against him. "The Mooch" says Donald has to go, and is imploring some credible Republican to challenge him. Big trouble in Trumpland.
8
...Because we’ve already got plenty of nature, but rich people aren’t rich enough yet. Duh?
17
The Republican Party will be on The Endangered Species List soon.
20
@steve t
Let’s make sure they are.
Call your senators. Give them an earful.
7
@steve t
Let's hope.
3
@steve t. Yes make sure they thrown out... VOTE Blue, no matter WHO
2
Other than money, golf and himself, the president doesn’t care much about anything does he. I’d hate to be the guy who gets stuck with the chore of writing his biography.
10
Please send these thoughts and comments also to your legislators no matter what party. Only they can stop this.
8
The comedian John Mulaney once likened Trump to a cartoon rich person. (“When Trump makes a decision, he must think to himself: ‘What would a cartoon rich person do?’") It is like he wants to be the gluttonous villain chuckling in his tower as the world burns. This horrifying decision is the worst example yet.
11
@MG
I guess we all need to be the meddling kids and find our own Scooby-Doo so that we can make sure the villain doesn't get away with it!
Where is Scooby-Doo when you need him! Ruh-roh!
2
Rioting in the streets .. turning over cars ... breaking windows does no one any good.
We have to be patient as there is little we can do now. But we MUST work on all the doubters and "My vote will not count..." people and explain just how much every single vote counts. In November 2020, we and they get the chance to dump this evil regime.
9
In the need for greed our grand charlatan further embraces the interests of his good buddies.
What will he do next that harms the environment and ecosystem.
3
This latest disgusting administration move exhibits a sad contrast to the recent report of the Australian subdivision that was removed to provide sufficient habitat for the little penguin. Time to recognize the actual monetary value of out natural world and the biodiversity it supports - priceless. There is no way that short term economic gain for the few outweighs the value of our natural world and the life on our planet.
7
So basically the fate of our entire heritage - human plus all fauna and flora - depends upon 2 old narcissists. In a world of closely approaching 8 billion people, we have left it all to them - to putin and trump. How have we not found the power of the people?
We are now accepting a violent mowdown by corruption, greed, and evil. The only light in view is found in the thousands of voices in the streets of Puerto Rico who somehow took back their democracy post-Maria. I pray they keep fighting. Viva los Latinos b/c they have heart and maybe that is all that matters in the time of trump and putin.
Is this what putin and trump most fear?
In Russia, a murderous dictator tests nuclear missiles to reach every corner of the earth, while risking deadly reactor accidents for his own nation. He plots to destroy the west while the old man trump in America grasps his hand and embraces him. Two peas in a pod.
In America, old man trump and his crew of fossils - the so-called "family values" party- could care less if our children die of lead, creatures are decimated by poison, bees annihilated by chemicals that then spill out to destroy our waterways and food, not to mention fracking, drilling, and coal ash flows.
The most privileged on earth, how can we destroy nature, natural resources, ecosystems - those upon which we depend 100%. We win only by protecting our earth 100%, it's not a two-way street.
We have lost our way, we need to find our inner puerto-ricano and FIGHT!
13
@ All the commenters here:
I share the outrage at the changes to the Endangered Species Act; not enough adjectives to express my despair. One line in particular got to me: “And, for the first time, regulators would be allowed to conduct economic assessments — for instance, estimating lost revenue from a prohibition on logging in a critical habitat — when deciding whether a species warrants protection.” That will mean that big money and big oil/logging/coal etc. win, wildlife loses. (Also note that when the government has leased federal lands for logging, etc., it has been done at rates very favorable to corporate interests, which causes economic harm to the rest of us.)
As I write this, there are 1,658 comments from across the U.S. Please, everyone, ACT NOW. Sharing your feelings here is fine; what will you do to help stop the rollback? Write or call your representatives and senators; members of Congress care what their constituents think. Donate to environmental groups such as Earthjustice, Friends of the Earth, the Environmental Defense Fund, so that they can continue to litigate against the MANY environmental protections that this administration has overturned or is seeking to abolish. Wildlife can’t speak for itself…we must speak for it.
9
Some of the comments are missing the point. It is not our president, our government or our legislators who are to blame. We the citizens and the human race are to blame for out-populating the endangered species.
4
@djwhy I believe the Endangered Species Act was enacted by Congress, which the old days was the will of the people.
3
Money can always be made, but once a species is gone, it is gone forever.
8
Clean air and water, with functioning eco-systems are necessary for human beings to continue to live on this Earth. This is not a partisan issue. Do Republicans believe they breathe different air and drink other water? Do their children and grandchildren not need these basics? Endangered species protections protect more than animals and plants, it also preserves their habitats from development and pollution. Trump is a criminal. He and all those complicit in the looting of our natural resources for profit will have stolen our children's lives, and any worthwhile future they might have on Earth. It isn't immigrants that are taking our stuff, it is the current government. They are taking things we can never replace.
3
Somehow it doesn’t surprise me.
Cleaning up trump ‘s mess is going to be a long road .
12
Dear NY Times:
"Weakens", really?
weakens is way too weak a word for what this man is doing.
please consider the power or "weakness" your words have.
6
Golly, I wonder where all that money in Trump's reelection campaign fund is coming from ?
12
The Republican Party itself is an endangered species heading straight for extinction.
6
The fox guards the hen house.
5
Undoing America Again
6
Climate change IS an economic concern. It's just one that operates on a longer timescale than a single fiscal quarter. The Republican party's stance on climate change gives the impression that they plan on somehow short selling their stocks in the planet Earth when things go south and reinvesting in some other inhabited planet.
5
it is ridiculous when you cannot walk or use public land because it's a possible habitat for an endangered species even though there is no endangered species on the property. Unfortunately 99% of all organisms have gone extinct actually in the world.
Great quote from Carl Sagan
"Extinction is the rule. Survival is the exception."
As of right now science can't discern from the milankovitch cycle and human influence.
1
@akeptwatchoverthewatcher
Attaboy! Consume!!! Exploit!!!! Good for you!
7
@akeptwatchoverthewatcher Your comment has no merit. First, where I live we have 5 national parks and many national monuments or historic places.
Some of those parks, at times, will have short time-frame restrictions to protect breeding birds of prey. When breeding is done, restrictions lifted.
The parks and monuments may have areas closed to vehicles but open to foot traffic, mostly to insure the land is not degraded.
I invite you to really visit our public lands. Not just sit in an armchair and make comments that are not truthful.
3
@akeptwatchoverthewatcher
Please name a few of those places where you cannot walk because of endangered species.
2
The Endangered Species Act is small change compared to the environmental effects of global warming. Of course, the changes proposed today by the Trump administration are horrendous, but that just means it's any random Monday. And we can't forget that, behind the scenes, there are ten or a hundred times as many deplorable actions that go on daily.
But the inaction on global warming is by far the greatest threat to the planet. It endangers countless species and ecosystems as well as the world's poor and lower classes. These people and creatures will have few options in the face of sea levels rise, killer heat waves, massive floods, or the collapse of food supplies.
The rich can always move to less inclement climes. They can take their super yachts or private jets to safe harbors in Siberia or Antarctica. Or at least they can as long as the rest of us agree to honor their money and their wishes without question.
6
A lot of young couples that I know are deciding not to have children, primarily because they are not sure what kind of a world would be here for these children. These are generally very bright, well-educated people. I think that the same trend is probably happening in the U.S.A. What is this going to do for the group intelligence of the next generation, and humanity’s ability to solve issues such as environmental catastrophies?
11
@Sylvia Poole, look at the expansion of the Big Bang. Matter reaches its apogee and then starts collapsing back into its origin. It won’t be long now until we’re walking back into the ocean. Then the cycle repeats. I’m bored already by it.
2
@Sylvia Poole
This is good it will lead to less people thinking that way due to self Extinction. But don't be confused these young people are more selfish than brilliant. Most of these people don't want children to interfere with their lives. Traveling and lattes are much more important than children.
1
I said I know many of these young people: they are not that shallow.
There is a larger dynamic taking place that all Americans need to look at--our desire for cheap goods and low prices. This drives companies to externalize full production costs (pollute) to lower the market price. So they go to the government to ask for relief from what is raising their costs. Perhaps it is time for Americans to be prepared to pay higher costs for a cleaner and healthier environment. All in favor, vote for Elizabeth Warren!
If we keep wanting cheap gas, plastic bottles of filtered water, and cheap burgers, we are contributing to electing people like Trump.
10
It's actually consistent with the GOP approach in general. Plants and animals occupy the same level as immigrants, poor people, Muslims, non-whites; i.e., not worthy of any kind of protection. If it's every man for himself, then why would you expect any consideration for the other inhabitants of our world? Two things come to my mind at this point: 1) Trump is very spooked about things that might yet find their way into the public understanding of his crimes and traitorous behavior; and 2) I am very afraid of what happens when Trump won't let go after losing the 2020 election.
8
Jobs! Jobs! Jobs! American citizens are far more important than species.
2
There will be no American citizens if we allow for the devastation of our lands. No farming I.e. next dust bowl, no water I.e droughts because of climate change. No potable drinking water, because our waters are polluted due to deregulation on chemical waste. No breathable air because of deregulation’s on fossil fuel emissions. No wildlife, no fish, no bees, no land that Americans can enjoy because it’s all a desolate wasteland. Not a bright future under the GOP.
5
Very short sighted
3
@RGV Nonsense. When Trump and his cronies are finished with environmental destruction and have facilitated the extinction of may species that have a place in our ecosystem, what will be your response then?
1
What better to deflect attention from last week’s horrid incidents in Dayton and El Paso, from Trump’s dispassionate response, and from the inevitable focus on gun control.
4
Wrong, wrong, wrong! but not unexpected. Every cabinet secretary and bureau chief seems to have been hired to devastate the agency they run. The Trump administration is ruining America while taking quick profits wherever it can.
9
Mr. Trump is all about himself. I think it is important to keep in mind that as Mr. Trump disassembles protections put in place for our environment, that he will walk away and leave us all to deal with the results.
With the Endangered Species Act, the species that die out on his watch are not coming back, just like the detained migrant children who died on his watch are not coming back.
6
If we had a grid for degradation across the major points that matter most for this generation, the Trump administration would score high indeed
When will this end?
2
Trump to World: Drop Dead (as it might be opined by the Daily News)
5
It's not just endangered species that this administration has weakened. Other species come to mind, like humans.
12
How much more proof do we need that it isn't possible to vote for Republicans and be a good person?
19
Mr. Trump, are you seriously considering reelection?
Decisions like this environmental insult point more to electoral suicide than electoral success.
What percentage of American citizens do you think will be pleased by this weakening of the Endangered Species Act? Mr. President, what percentage will be outraged?
How is mining or drilling on lands where endangered creatures live going to benefit the vast majority of voters? [hint: It isn’t.]
Sir, your political skills are NOT improving.
6
@Tom W Many in my home state possibly welcome the roll-back of environmental and the Endangered Species Act-until the adverse impact of decreased tourism is realized.
The late Professor Emeritus Tom Cade of Cornell University, who is credited with learning how to consistently get Peregrine Falcons to breed in captivity- and who used that knowledge to release a new breeding population into the wild - died last February and received a lengthy obituary in this paper.
Any of the thousands of his students, summer field technicians, graduate students and colleagues who are still alive owe Dr. Cade this much: Fight this plan as hard as you can. Contribute to the coalition of advocacy groups that will surely be fighting this in court. And then vote this destructive administration into extinction.
9
The President of this country is a greedy, self centered and ignorant man. He cares nothing about life on this planet, about our children, our environment, our heritage of laws and civility. Everything he does proves more each day he is unfit to lead this great nation. He is following Vladimir Putin's direction to destroy us from within.
7
Why not explore the availability of oil, etc. right outside the Trump properties? I'll bet he would quickly approve drilling there, wouldn't he?
12
Supposedly lots of Christians are Republicans and actually believe in Noah and the ark God commanded him to build to save all the animals on the planet. Wouldn't God want them to do the same?
4
Making American Great Again...... one endangered species extinction at a time. Sad!
6
I will read this column, probably several times.
Right now, I feel no "at the root of my very being" to read this. I KNOW what is the truth.
Humans are the endangered species. trump is ensuring this outcome for the short-sighted short-term profit of his chumPs.
donald trump IS Soylent Green. He is the catalyst of Soylent Green. He will be ultimately responsible for Soylent Green.
(See Edward G. Robinson and Charlton Heston at their very best.) This a MUST SEE before November 2020.
Only the ultra-wealthy can live and breathe. The rest of us, well, you'll see if you have an open mind.
The rest of you, good luck.
NYT, PLEASE PLEASE print this. I don't mean any harm, just a GIANT WAKE-UP CALL. That's what Mr. Heston called for in his role. His participation in the NRA has no import in this comment. None whatsoever.
1
Well, now I guess this makes it easier for the 1% to have that polar bear cub rug they always wanted...
6
So do Trump folks still consider themselves the “real” Americans? What patriots would willingly risk the bald eagle for more profit?
3
In the face of global warming and all responsible nations trying to curtail emissions in an effort to save the planet, this act alone is impeachable.
6
Enough already, and again and again, with every headline saying " Trump....".
It's not just Trump. It's the Republican party and it's donors.
8
We are not God. … we must forcefully reject the notion that our being created in God’s image and given dominion over the earth justifies absolute domination over other creatures.
2
Do all endangered species vote Democrat? Is there some upside for Trump and the Republicans here that I’m missing? Or maybe it’s all about being consistent- destroy the environment, immigrants and women’s rights, democracy, etc - and let’s throw the animals in for good measure.
3
This is my very first comment ever here, but one must have the nerve to speak out even when not accustomed. It is vital so that other living things have the benefit of an environment they can thrive on, as we have been given, that the stewards of the nation and its blessed abundance don't wither away into a baron wasteland. Extrapolating out into our future our world which we have been magnificently born into will be as baron as the thoughtless and heartless leaders who implement this rotten soulless venture. Our humanity, granted immense power over our environment can grow, shape, or destroy it without the preyed upon wildlife inhabitants being able to tell us. Look at the amazon and the increased deforestation no doubt emboldened by our "leadership". Remember we set the stage for the world to follow. We the people and our associates influence our future so we better wield it, or generations after us will indeed suffer the consequences.
539
@Andy S
Contributing your opinion should become a habit; it has for me. Clarifies my thinking, helps to know that supporters of sanity are legion. In old age I've learned that the existence of opposites in almost any arena explain the evil to balance the good. We;re stuck with it. We must resist. Democrats must save our country from the destructive policies that keep being passed by Republicans in the Senate whose only interest is money and perks as long as they're reelected.
47
@Andy S I had the same feeling, I just had to comment on this article.
21
@Andy S I dont believe you have anything to fear. Since Trump has taken office, tens of thousands of bald eagles and birds of prey have been spared vs. Obama's lax rules that allowed the murder of these pristine creatures.
Turns out renewable energy isn't so safe for things in nature flying into wind turbines and solar arrays.
1
This administration over and over again has proven itself to be so thoughtless, selfish, and ignorant.
Enough is enough.
#VOTETHEMOUT
9
Another sick move by a very sick man who is beyond any redemption. The democrats need someone to defeat this insanity.
10
I honestly wonder if Trump is trying to accelerate the destruction of earth...it feels like it can't happen soon enough for him and the GOP. I think everyone should read Jared Diamond - Collapse as we are headed the way of thepeople of Chaco Canyon, Easter Island, and other civilizations,who collapsed due to ignoring the balance of available resources... Can everyone truly be that obtuse? cut more trees....look at Brazil....drill more oil...earthquakes from fracking...ice shelf breaking off in record time....
3
Vote Democratic for Senate and President AND vote IN women.
Repubs are beyond redemption and have been for years.
8
That’s because Donald’s presidency is itself an endangered species.
3
Truly, the only thing that should surprise us, is that it took as long as it did, for this to happen? Was it raining at the Bedminster Links, and this seemed like almost as much fun as driving a cart on the greens?
I still recall waking at 3 am the morning after the election, and saying, "NO!!!!..really????......can't be!" ........ If only.
7
Before the corporate oligarchs begin to spend billions gleefully tearing up our national lands, they should consider that the current White House catastrophe will be over January 2021 and that these protections will come quickly roaring back.
9
What Trump and his cronies don't realize is that humans will soon be on the endangered species list too.
7
@Laurence Hauben Yes, poor people.
The rich have been shopping for houses and citizenships in the new good climate zones.
Don’t expect justice, the world just stinks.
The arrant hypocrisy of this is impossible to overstate. This administration constantly decries the administrative state, claiming that Congress has delegated too much power. According to this principle, fanatically pushed by Stephen Miller, only Congress can legislate. So all the OSHA and EPA and CFPB regulations that protect people should be dismantled. (A couple of the right-wing Supreme Court Justices are already salivating over the possibility of invalidating most federal regulations. They are waiting only for the case that gives them a chance to do it.)
But when Congress passes a law like the Endangered Species Act, which impinges on the profit-making of the corporations and mega-rich people that are the only citizens that exist for this administration, then they regulate away the legislation and ignore the will of the people's elected representatives.
How will our grandchildren -- who will live in a world of failing agriculture and unbearable climate, devoid of most of the wildlife that we are privileged to see -- ever forgive us?
Some future historian will undoubtedly invoke presentism and argue that we just didn't understand now what they will know then. But we do. We just don't seem to care. And that is so much worse.
6
I sincerely don't understand how people in Red states - who presumably do more hunting and fishing than people in urban Blue state areas - aren't outraged by things like this.
How is it that "conservatives" don't believe in conservation?
It is really quite shameful.
10
I hope this won't prevent young people in the US who want to study science and work on biodiversity protection and climate change from following their interests. It is vital to have scientists to keep working to challenge this political anti-environmental movement.
2
remember three long years ago when the GOP said unilateral actions were un-American?
is there anything that this man won't ruin?
6
Since the first month of Trump's administration I have believed that it looks as though he is on a mission to destroy our country.
I honestly cannot think of any other explanation for his actions.
4
The reason the Endangered Species Act was enacted was to end economics-driven environmental degradation of habitat. Recovery of endangered animals was turned around as destruction of the habitat was halted. Landowners should be compensated when the Act impacts their ability to turn their holdings into income. However, if the federal government owns the land, no compensation needed. Mining, oil and timber interests should have no say in changes to the rules.
2
Governor Bullock has succeeded in getting Dark Money out of Montana. I hope he gets the nomination and beats Trump so he can do the same in Washington-but I will vote for any Dem and if we all do that they will win!
8
The way I see it is simple. Capitalism has entered it's savage phase. As more resources are required but less are available, this savagery unleash's itself for the benefit of...all of us who only still see capitalism as the way to go. Before the environment has a chance at being THE priority, the imperative of capitalism, making and selling for profit, must change to other ism's perhaps as yet unknown, or if known, unliked. So what chance has a forest, or bear or even a bald eagle got when a single idea, capitalism, has us all in thrall...
5
"They also make the case that the law is not reasonable because species are rarely removed from the list. Since the law was passed, more than 1,650 have been listed as threatened or endangered, while just 47 have been delisted because their populations rebounded."
So by their own admission, the very act they are trying to weaken isn't capable enough in protecting and bringing about endangered population growth so mind as well just trash the whole thing right?
5
Let the rape and pillage of the country’s natural resources commence , what short sighted greed is upon us
12
He must be really scared. Hmmm, maybe Epstein left some evidence? He's pulling out all the PRESIDENT'S GREATEST HITS to get El Paso and Epstein off the front page: Endangered species, Immigrants, Protect the Wealthy, Clinton Conspiracy, His crowd is bigger than Beto's crowd, another North Korea "we're talking - we're not talking - we're talking...," GET A CLUE MAGA'ers - He's playing you like a fiddle and your actually intelligent and former integrity laden Senators and Representatives are so scared of tweets the run for the hills - and then re-election - and then for the hills.
10
His ambition to destroy America “from sea to shining sea” will only stop when Mar-A-Lago collapses into the ocean.
9
Donny Deutsch made a point recently about the 1-issue trump supporter: Deutsch said, "You own it all."
You don't get to select and only be responsible for your one issue reason for voting for trump. You don't get a pass on all the other stuff trump is doing and the GOP is supporting with their silence.
The House and Senate should vote on this change to the Endangered Species Act, trump should not get to weaken it all with the stroke of a pen.
Only existing wealthy will be able to take advantage of these environmental changes, not you and I.
This is just as bad as the National Park lands they've enabled the wealthy to buy and develop. Remember: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/19/bureau-land-management-federal-lease
7
It's very sad that these things no longer surprise me. I've come to expect them. But when our world disappears, I'll know exactly who to blame.
6
Very bad. This President and his motley crew don’t have a clue. The work is in peril and they deny reality.
4
Extractive capitalism run amok.
Hail to the Chief should not be played for Trump. I vote for Abba's Money, Money, Money...It's a rich man's life.
2
And the hits keep on coming. That’s more than enough for me. It’s time for me to change parties from a lifelong Republican to a newly minted Democrat. I am embarrassed and ashamed at what my party has become. It is most ironic that a Republican President signed the Endangered Species Act (Nixon). We are destroying this planet and all for the sake of money. What good will money be when we no longer have a habitable planet?
16
Outside my patio as I write this magnificent osprey circle high over Long Island Sound. Forty years ago there were few osprey here. Environmental action including the banning of DDT helped re-establish their plummeting populations.
Trump and his band of Red State enablers continue to wreak havoc on progressive legislation designed to make America a better place to live...environmental protections, healthcare, minority rights, a woman's right to choose, etc., etc.
Republicans have become so evil that nothing is outside their reach. But their day of reckoning will come.
They are fighting a losing battle against truth.
9
Doesn't the Republican Party live on the same planet as the rest of us? Don't they have children or grandchildren that will be living on this planet ? Nestle is pumping water from the Michigan Aquifers to sell bottled water. Salt water is infiltrating the Long Island Aquifers. Did the Republican Party find Air and Water on Mars? The way they treat planet Earth, makes it seem as though they have an escape pod.
557
@Patrick They absolutely do not live on the same planet, and that’s the problem. If you are rich, climate change is only a minor inconvenience. You will always be able to travel to better climates, plenty of food and clean water, and can relocate if necessary. Why should they care about the “other” people (or animals)?
46
@Patrick, Yes, they live on the same planet. But when (not if) there is a struggle for resources and survival, guess whose money and connections will put them first in line. And when Florida goes underwater, Trump will buy an aircraft carrier to convert into his houseboat, ready for use the minute he gets out of jail.
36
@JerryV Buckminster Fuller said in a speech I went to in 1975 there was actually enough food to provide for every person living on this planet. The problem is distribution, and people from different countries wanting to take credit for "saving" anything. There are so many jerks who were never taught kindness.
6
Why is this a surprise? There isn’t a Republican alive that could care less about anything but making money and if a species goes extinct in their relentless pursuit of making a buck, ah, what the heck.
5
This is disgusting and sick. Yet I am not even sure that this madness will be more detrimental to endangered species than the left’s willingness to welcome millions upon millions of immigrants. The country is full. Natural spaces are scarce. Stop population growth now!
2
WILD ANIMALS make up about 5% of the total biomass on Earth today.
When will all mindful officers at the federal, state, and local levels take appropriate, lawful action to counter this administration's actions? And I am not talking about yelling at them. That part was yesteryear.
We must be committed to preserving and conserving wildlife and wild places now.
6
Heartless towards animals for profit = your soul is dead.
9
For trump and the Republicans nothing is more important than to make money. These are disgusting people.
8
This was a signature piece of legislation with - of all people - Nixon cheerleading it. The Republicans should be embracing it and fighting for it the same way Dems are fighting for health care.
Am I in a parallel universe? Maybe I am, I've noticed lots more facial hair on men lately just like that episode on Star Trek...
5
@Sean We live in Chicago, blue city yet one of the worst in recycling, 8 lanes of stinking traffic as our lakefront and no low emission zone or even decent cycling lanes (the new ones on Elston Ave are half of the time more suited as jetski lanes, undoubtedly constructed by a “preferred” construction company).
Let’s start with ourselves.
3
Trump is an abuser in so many ways
Why should the environment get a pass?
6
Nothing is sacred to this administration. Only themselves. Kill a few bears or make them go someplace else, so what. Same with the Bald Eagle and the other endangered species. The Bald Eagle has tons more majesty that DJT.
9
I guess the conservative Republicans are not conserving much afterall.
13
They are conserving the “green” that’s burning holes in their pockets.
2
This administration is a wrecking ball for everything I deem sacred. We need to show Trump and his band of Merry Men the door in 2020! It can't come soon enough!!
11
I wish the NYT would produce an extended compilation of all the programs and departments the Trump (dis)administration has wrecked so far. I think we would see the basic goodness that he has destroyed, the country we were and may never be again.
20
Here, here. People seem to think that federal regulations are bad, but they also want safe medicine, food, air travel, roads, cars, and research, and clean air and water and all the rest. NYT, please show what is being destroyed by this heinous band of thieves who do not know the meaning of public service.
8
He hugs the flag but destroys the country ... and Republicans and their supporters are sitting on the sidelines applauding the destruction.
10
But that is their goal: destroying democracy and decency in the US.
What is really scary is their moves to endanger humans whom apparently they prefer to see eliminated!
1
@Lagrange, you are correct. I was always suspicious of people that wear the flag. First of all, it’s against flag etiquette. They should read about the proper way to display the flag and the don’ts. One of the don’ts is: articles of clothes should not be made in the flag’s design.
I laugh at the camo wear that is so prevalent amongst right-wingers. I was looking through an outdoor catalogue. Camo bedding, curtains and pajamas. Sounds like great birth control. “Honey, where are you?”
1
Everyday the terror this administration enacts against us and our shared legacy is almost overwhelming. We will not be overwhelmed. Support NRDC Audubon etc. Stop this mania with any and all legal tools available.
8
For action like this and the creation of the Environmental Pollution Agency, I will never support the GOP until this circus leaves town.
4
There are a remarkable few that will profit by this backwards decision. Likely big donors,, buying influence.
Let us begin by declaring Trump Tower a nation Historic building. And all Trump properties in the US and abroad. So that he cannot develop them. Remodel them,, without a long standing and long winded committee reviewing every plan, alteration, colour scheme,, and reducing their resale values to near zero. New York Historic Preservation Committee,,, are you listening??
4
I remember clearly when the Endangered Species Act was enacted. There had been several attempts to add language that would allow economic factors to be considered. Every one of them failed. Congress, and President Nixon, knew that nobody would try to drive endangered species extinct unless there was money to be made doing it. So EVERY time the act was invoked there would be profits to be made by killing off the bald eagles, grizzly bears, or other species near extinction. It was noted that someday there might be exceptional circumstances, in which case Congress would pass a new law to that effect.
This Trump scheme does not "change the way the Endangered Species Act is applied." It VIOLATES the very core of the act. Trump swore an oath "to see that the laws are faithfully executed", as the Constitution mandates. Of course, he and Bernhardt and all Trump's other minions son't care about that.
11
It would appear that the Trump administration has weakened protections for endangered species and stool pigeons.
5
Why should anyone be surprised? Donald has already endangered morality, kindness, and human rights! Is it any wonder that a “species” would be a target for Donald’s path to wealth, and opportunity for his family and others! Nothing matters to the Trump family except what will fill the Trump till! Shameful!
Sorry endangered species. Try to survive until 2020.
7
I despise the president and at this point most of the republicans. And hate doesn’t sound out of the question either. Will stormtroopers be at my door?
12
In the infancy of his presidency, Trump sought a photo op with a live eagle. He made the mistake of reaching for an aspirin and the eagle, who was, of course injured, snapped at him. This is his revenge. The fiasco is documented on YouTube.
4
Sadly it's only about money ... under the pretense of job creation ... you really have to be a creep to support this king of legislation. I just can't believe where we are, talk about a nightmare based on corruption and greed ... again, who is actually supporting this stuff ... Hannity and Limbaugh for their bank accounts ... I understand ... but the average Joe ... like me ... what's in it for them?
6
Trump. His rhetoric is killing people. His decisions are endangering the planet. I have always looked to the American system with some admiration. But today, after three years, we have to face the fact that such a system does not have the antibodies to free the United States (and the World) from Trump. In times of populism, American presidentialism (and the presidentialism at all as a political system) needs a new level of balancing. More power for the elective assemblies, less power for the individuals. More shared decision, fewer executive orders. In Europe, populism has generated Hitler and Mussolini. And we are still paying the price.
4
When the last tree has been cut down, the last fish caught, the last river poisoned, only then will we realize that one cannot eat money.
--- “Native American saying”
20
Isn’t a us president obliged to be a good steward of the natural resources of his country? I reckon it is hard to build a case and indict him but to me this administrations policies are pure recklessness and trump should be taken to court and put behind bars and stripped of his wealth. There is nothing that could justify the environmental destruction this will lead to. No one in 2019 must be allowed to act in in complete disregard of scientific evidence. Anyone can see and any president presumed to have at least average intelligence knows the consequences of his actions thus must not be allowed to act this way.
9
I have just broken down in hot tears. I truly do not know how much more I can take. I have reached my limit and at this moment decide that my mental health is more important than any news on any media. I'm shutting down and shutting off until Election Day. Let it all blow up; I cannot care a white anymore lest I suffer a total breakdown.
14
@Isaac
Exactly how I feel
5
@Kim: I don't care what happens to this country anymore. I mean this. I just want a sense of personal spirit and peace of mind in my life again. Those are the most important things the USA has lost. We exist in a world of manufactured apocalyptic panic, and I am sick of it all. I must save my mind first, and my struggle to live with bipolar disorder and PTSD will be made much easier because, with this reply, I'm done with the media. I wish you all the very best.
2
why is this UNEXPECTED ?
3
The Obama devotee says, ''We all know that climate change is now the greatest threat ever to hundreds of species.''
The real world thinker responds, '' “We all know that climate change is the greatest propaganda sales job since people were talked into paying real money for warm bottled water.''
@L osservatore; just remember your words when in 25 years the majority of the population of the earth will be struggling to have clean drinking water let alone enough water to grow crops.
12
Are you suggesting there is a “bottled water industry” being propped up by people’s belief in climate change?
You know bottled water is bad for the environment, right? And therefore people who understand climate change is real wouldn’t be purchasing them...
4
@L osservatore
Mother Nature does not care what you think or what I think.
The science is overwhelming. Glaciers are melting all around the world. We are seeing bigger, wetter stronger storms all around the world. The weather keeps setting records for warmest ever, day, month and year. All of those, and much more, only happens if global warming is real.
But you think, as does our "Fearless Leader," that global warming is a Chinese hoax.
Tell us all about it in 10 years time.
7
This administration is attacking all that we treasure as Americans. The protection of endangered species, the quality of our air and water, our national parks, our precious lakes and rivers are all at significant risk with the Trump's administration disdain for all regulations that protect our environment. Denial of climate change represents an existential risk to all the people on this fragile planet. The only way to regain our sanity, our principles and our values is to remove the current occupant of the Oval Office in 2020.
9
Republicans are, pure and simply, Complete Nihilists believing in and willing to enact extremist laws only to accommodate their donor corporate interests in the pursuit of higher profits regardless whether doing so will destroy our fauna, flora, the material environment and, ultimately, human life itself. Vote everyone of these political sociopaths out of office in 2020. The preservation of all life depends on it!
12
I am sickened by this. When will this
nightmare end?? PLEASE VOTE 2020
(Mitch must go)
21
The Republican party has to be crushed, smashed to dust and hopefully fly away with the Whig's. Everything Trump touches dies. Period. Shall we allow him and his sycophantic destructive allies 4 more years to make this nation into a third world country? I want to make Republican's irrelevant for at least 2 full election cycles. Then we will make progress. Crush them in 2020....i mean seriously crush the life out of them and take away all power. They are not representing America, only their high dollar contributor's. Personally, i hate their cowardly guts.
20
Just deplete it all. That’s all they care about. No thought for the future of the planet for their own offspring or anyone else. Just what they can grab for themselves now.
14
Is there a way to stop this man? He poses a threat not only to the United States but to all humanity. And now also for animals.
18
What is this see how much damage one president can do to this country with virtually no resistance? Our senators and congressmen just sit idly by too cowardly to oppose this maniac and his new AG honcho. Our “president” is clearly acting now as an effect dictatorship. People we need to stop this train wreck we can’t afford to sit and watch them destroy our country in favor of robber baron, investment firms and Saudi money, while taking away food stamps from the hungry.
12
The current administration is like an invasive species crowding out and killing everything everywhere it goes. I look forward to its extinction.
21
But if only
1
Is there's anything more precious than our endangered wildlife? They are unique g_d's creatures. They deserve to live in peace in their habitats. They are voiceless and defenseless. Wiped out on whim. Certainly the habitat that sustains them is equally precious and defenseless. Its magic sustains us all directly and indirectly. Dr. Evil has no bounds. We knew he'd come gunning for them. As he is gunning for everything that moves, breathes and is good. We are all in his crosshairs. Yes, we are all in his crosshairs. Everyone should be feeling vulnerable.
9
Animal and plant diversity is critical to our survival. Everything is connected.
3
When is enough? America needs a Brutus.
13
If anybody needed a reason to vote in 2020, well there you have it. I don’t want to hear anybody say like they did in 2016, oh, I wish I’d voted. This is the most anti-person, anti-human administration we have seen in the last 150 years.
12
Many environmental organizations are fighting back successfully. The Center for Biodiversity is one I would recommend.
10
Surely lawsuits will be filed to slow this despicable effort until we can vote Trump out or impeach him. This is outrageous, and I trust that World Wildlife Fund, Audubon, Trout Unlimited, Ducks Unlimited, The Nature Conservancy and more will be filing suit ASAP. Get this action on hold, then get rid of Trump. We should all breath easier in just another 15 months.
7
Education, foreign policy, immigration, health care, guns, abortion, voting rights, etc. and the rest are issues that can be repaired, no matter how long it may take and how much damage Donald Trump and his gang do to them for their own selfish monetary gain.
But the environment in which we live cannot be repaired.
The shameless Donald Trump and all Republicans must be defeated in 2020.
6
Classic example of ... watch what the DO, not what they SAY. Now Trump has s prepped to kill off animals. How disgusting. We are a nation filled with heads held low. The world laughs.
7
Eric, Actually you are mistaken. The world cries and rages at all the injuries the Americans are suffering at the whims of 45. The allies fear being dragged into an unjustified armed conflict. Those who are stateless are horrified at the ways in which 45's rhetoric inflames bigots and we all despise how his dependency on the "approval" of the NRA will mean insufficient gun regulations. And the world cringes every single time he twitters or opens his mouth. Please vote Better in 2020.
4
Ya know something? There is only one candidate who has gone way out on a limb to get our vote. His platform was pretty simple. He believes that climate change is real and it was brought on by humans. I have to think at this time he is correct. Sadly, he will not even make the next debate because he isn't popular like Warren or Sanders or even Biden. He made a statement on the first debate when asked "what do you feel is our greatest threat to the geopolitical world today?" He answered "Donald Trump." He received the longest and loudest applause from the audience. I am not particularly promoting this candidate but it seems he is about the only one who thinks this is the highest priority to our existence on this planet. It's a shame he won't even make the next debate. But as Governor of my state he hasn't done to bad of a job. Especially when it comes to our environment. Gov. Inslee may not be popular but he certainly isn't wrong.
12
He has my vote next year in the primary.
2
This breaks my heart.
14
The cost of renewable energy is going down and the cost of fossil fuels is going up.
Any country that actually does math is investing in the future not the past.
The future is energy sources that create nearly free energy once installed, combined with creating technologies that work with nature instead of against it by, for example, rotating cows with crops to fertilize and aerate the soil,
We need to take the government from the Right, because they are replacing humans with corporations and claiming they have Constitutional Rights.
6
@McGloin Except when the oil and gas industry owns the politicians
2
Like we expected anything less from this toxic administration. This is just one more reason to add to the list to illustrate why it is imperative Donald is a one-termer. As VP Biden has said — we will likely recover from four years of this mess, but eight? Definitely not.
12
We as humans can become an endangered species if these environmental issues are not fixed. Within a few short generations we will begin to see parts of the world that will be uninhabitable and extinct of human existence.
9
There isn't a hint of this important development anywhere on the Fox News website.
20
Woe to the world! The enviro-frenzy notwithstanding, we need a little balance here.
When "more than 1,650 [species] have been listed as threatened or endangered, while just 47 have been delisted," and the impact on humans is not permitted by law, clearly there is a need for some reasonable revisiting of the Act. Not abolishing, adjusting.
Should we strive to be good stewards of the planet? Of course. Should that mean animals first, humans second? Of course not.
1
What exactly do we need that warrants depleting our resources long term? Nothing.
11
Delicate balance. Read much? Facts do matter
@Therese
Managing, not depleting. Reasonable people can disagree on how we manage, but I doubt anyone's goal is depletion. It's this sort of fraught language (on both sides) that paints this as a zero-sum game. It's not.
Is there a Planet B somewhere out there?
20
@Jörg yes, and it can be found at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., S.E., Washington, D.C. 20003.
How about suits from Sierra Club et al??? They will happen and that will stop Trump & Co until the courts rule, right?
8
@Linda H probably not. such lawsuits take years...and then there are the appeals.
Evidently the only sacred lands in America are golf courses.
31
Talk about an enemy of the people! Shame on Trump!
16
Why am I not surprised!
4
Everybody who voted for Jill Stein in 2016, or wrote in Bernie, or stayed home in protest because you "weren't enthusiastic" about Hillary. Soak this in. Yet another assault on the environment to please big business. Yet another far right position taken by Trump in order to please his supporters.
You real proud of yourselves for voting for Jill or staying home? You really showed Hillary, didn't you? Don't complain about any of this stuff. Just look in the mirror. You did this.
28
@Joe Bastrimovich, in the grand scheme of things most moderate Democrats haven't tended to differ much from Republicans when it comes to substantive protection of the environment. Corporate regulation is key, and it almost seems to have taken the nightmare of the Trump presidency to prompt mainstream discussion of genuine, lasting reform. It's not always clear that Hillary Clinton would have facilitated such a discussion (no matter how much more capable and responsible Clinton would have been within the span of her administration).
1
Why does everyone just jump on board with these stories with zero referances? This is nothing but conjecture based on some other people's opinions. What are the new rules? What is the purpose?
I know you are all Trump haters so the only possible reaction is anger but at least know what the new rules are instead of getting outraged at opinions based on other opinions. None of you know anything but what the headline states and you're all so triggered it's about laughable. Words like disgust, horrifying, immoral, evil, going to kill the children...
C'mon people you don't even know what the rules are.
Maybe it means property owners in Minnesota won't be barred form developing their property because their land could support a polar bear? It's almost that silly right now.
1
Clearly you're the one who didn't read the article, as it stated exactly what the purpose is. Although the given intent is a very clearly a run-around. Really, what is your point here? You didn't give any actual alternative intentions other than a made-up annecdote.
4
Clearly you're the one who didn't read the article, as it stated exactly what the purpose is. Although the given intent is a very clearly a run-around. Really, what is your point here? You didn't give any actual alternative intentions other than a made-up annecdote.
1
@Realist I thought that the article may be a bit extreme. Then I read your comment. Glib, angry, poorly worded (referances?), bad attempt at humour...you swayed me...to their side. Unless you are writing satire (God forbid), please refrain from commenting. You are just increasing their point of view.
1
Every time I think that Trump is not actually the anti-Christ he adds another clue. Job 12: 7-10 "“But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind. "
Revelations 11:18 The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”
You'd think that last line would give Evangelicals pause. I am not even that religious but every bad thing Trump does sure seems to have a bible verse saying he is bad.
13
Of course. You know, it'll take generations to undo the Trump years.
14
If this decision changes your mind on Trump, I have to ask - where have you been hiding since 2015?
8
We have to get this guy out of office. Will take 10 years to undo his nonsense and we cannot afford to have another term with his destructive behavior.
13
Voters (and non-voters), you are to blame for this entire debacle that’s unfolding in the US.
11
This administration, so destructive towards our national unity and character, is poised to destroy the winged symbol of our country. How darkly fitting.
7
To all those who see the horror of this administration in all it does and says, including this despicable act: we all need to support whomever opposes Trump in 2020; if it's Homer Simpson, then it's Homer Simpson 2020 (at least Marge will have a moderating effect).
The consequences of this presidency are like an aggressive cancer: the longer it goes untreated, the worse the prognosis. We can't be stuck on seeking perfection in a candidate; we must stop the cancer.
15
Humans are the endangered species. Americans support Trump and will perish.
6
Just remember that none of this stuff is getting reported on Fox. The Trump loyalists will only listen to the spin that these changes are good for the economy. When / how do you get these people to wake up???
8
Is there someone in the White House that gets up every morning and thinks about what other evil and mindless and nasty things they can do to the planet and human beings?
17
@David, yes. His name is Steve Miller.
5
Remember this act of violence against our endangered species whenever you hear someone saying that their vote doesn't mean anything or that there is no difference between Republicans and Democrats. Then remind them of it.
Then tell them to get out and vote because that is the only way these pestilent parasites will be stopped from damaging, degrading and debasing our nation and it's resources.
8
My neighbors and I are fighting a proposed multi-use trail down our dead-end road that abuts a state park, a park hailed as one of Iowa's best, along the Des Moines River. The trail would require bulldozing through mature forest that is home to several endangered and threatened species and one never-before-named plant species discovered by Iowa State researchers. Pretty much everyone is against the trail except for the local chamber of commerce, which is headed by the local economic development director. They will win, I am sure. Bottom line, money rules and nothing else matters. But we humans are not going to be able to keep this up much longer. The only good news is that life will go on after us, because it is an amazing force of nature. But I feel sad for the youth of today who may not get to experience true wilderness (or even possibly have enough food and water). What a shame.
6
This fraud and pretender is a clear and present danger to our nation. When will Congress stand up to this exploiter?
Defenders, unite!
10
The raping of our environment under this president is disgusting. All for special interests and the almighty dollar. Get out and vote next time! No excuses.
9
The bald eagle has been the United States' national emblem since 1782. The bald eagle was saved due to the Endangered Species Act. What will become of the bald eagle now? We will lose our national emblem and a whole lot more. Another sad day takes place in the world of Trump.
5
"Ever since President Richard M. Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act into law in 1973, it has been the main United States legislation for protecting fish, plants and wildlife, and has acted as a safety net for species on the brink of extinction. The peregrine falcon, the humpback whale, the Tennessee purple coneflower and the Florida manatee all would very likely have disappeared without it, scientists say."
GOOD GRIEF!! Nixon!! I don't know what the circumstances were that got him to sign this Act, but even NIXON was not against the environment the way this foul administration is.
7
I hope someone is compiling what is now a very long list of all the Trump executive actions that the new Democratic president will want to reverse the day after the inauguration. Every. Single. One.
6
More emotional handwringing about the evil Mr Trump. But in the same way that all of the “great” things President Obama accomplished have changed things only a teeny, weeny bit, so these changes will have only a very minor impact. The change that now allows economic impact to be considered is very reasonable. Human beings with constitutional rights to liberty and property should not have those rights taken from them because 1 subspecies of a species of small fish with a thousand very similar subspecies is potentially threatened. And it’s not just conservatives who believe there should be balance. In a somewhat different context, remember all those rich liberals (including Ted Kennedy I believe) on Martha’s Vineyard who fought successfully to keep climate change preventing wind turbines from ruining their view? This provision will add some balance
Virtually every comment here is screaming about how bad this is without substantively arguing why the new rules are inferior to the old. Have you looked at the various aspects of these rules taking into account the economic impacts and real world consequences? Are you certain that the status quo struck the right balance on every issue? Why? Don’t just simplistically state “more regulation good, less regulation bad” like an automaton.
1
Can those concessions be reversed or revoked? If so, Democrats should announce they’ll do so at the first possible occasion. Just so oil companies know what their investment will be worth: $0.
7
The people who are commenting here seem to see all new environmental regulations as positive and all roll backs as negative. Anyone who doesn't agree with a new initiative by an environmentalist as evil and anyone who agrees as virtuous.
Reality is more nuanced than that. Looking at the situation rationally, there are many rules, recommendations and initiatives that do more harm that good. The push for ethanol to replace fossil fuels did not reduce manmade CO2. It increased costs for gasoline and food, increased the fertilizer load and farm runoff into waterways, increase algae blooms and dead spots in the oceans and freshwater supplies.
The UN guidance to substitute biofuel palm oil for fossil fuels released more greenhouse gases than burning coal and enriched oligarchs while impoverishing indigenous people and destroying rain forests.
When Australia went from 100% coal electricity to 80% coal/20% wind they experienced summer blackouts. When the EU switched from gasoline to diesel, air quality declined.
It is a mystery to me how it is possible that the Obama Justice Department instituted wetland regulations that put an octogenarian rancher in jail for digging a creek fed watering hole on his private property with a state permit when not a single molecule of pollutants left his property. Meanwhile, NYC dumps one million gallons of raw sewage into the navigable waters of America every single year along with partially treated effluent and no one is in jail.
1
@ebmem
And yet, you haven't pointed out any "nuance" to these particular roll backs discussed in this article that suggests that the collective freak out is unwarranted.
Regarding your sad elderly rancher, I assume you're taking about Joe Robertson, who had a long history of violating federal and state laws and was put on notice that he was violating the CWA multiple times. He wanted to make a point, and he made it. It's intellectually dishonest to pretend that his case is representative of the enforcement actions DOJ/FDA/the Corps brings re: Section 404 of the CWA.
But hey, all of the mining companies, all the railroads, all the commercial and residential real estate developers, gas and pipeline companies--- basically any industry that develops anything at all-- thanks you kindly for taking the bait and rallying around "Joe" to protect his Freedoms(tm). They've pulled the wool over your eyes so hard you don't recognize that what you're really doing is cheer leading for their right to destroy the environment and pass that cost onto you, the consumer. It's sad.
5
@ebmem, - Yup, when Republicans aim to improve things, they design things in such away that any protections will not protect, but instead to harm.
After all the conservative mantra idea is to comfort the comfortable and to afflict the afflicted.
The push for ethanol in gasoline really helped out the brewery industry big time. - However my favorite is something called "Clear Skies" that allows for increased mercury to be allowed in the air we breathe. Hey if mercury is so good; shouldn't it be fed to the wealthy Republican school age children?
So, if wildlife is dying out because of the lack of habitat, this new scheme plans to reduce it even more. Ah so Republican. . . .
Sick just sick.
3
It must be incredibly frustrating to be so much more informed about this than everyone else. Only someone who’s in favor of shredding protections for endangered species really knows what they’re talking about, after all. Suggestion: write out all of your comments on this discussion thread on a couple of sandwich boards you can wear, and then march up and down a downtown street corner repeating them into a bullhorn for a few hours. That’s how opinions like yours are best publicized. Be sure to let us know how it goes!
4
The problem is that animals like eagles and grizzlies cannot adapt to human encroachment unlike pigeons and crows, for example.
I suppose adaptability is in the genes.
1
Are Trump's proposed changes not subject to the Administrative Procedures Act?
1
@DrexelDragon
They are and I guarantee that this issue will be litigated.
1
I find this story and these actions hard to believe. I live in a community visited by scores of tourists from the United States. I have met people from the west coast, to the deep south to the north east. I hear the same things regarless of their region or political stripe. They praise the natural beauty of Canada's sea coasts, mountains and forests, and the chances to see wildlife, along with the national parks and reserves our governments have set aside. On Vancouver Island, bald eagles are common, something many US tourist find hard to believe. While our country isn't perfect by any means, and more needs to be done to stop the growth of pipelines, tanker traffic and to facilitate the transition to a green economy, the legal protections and regulations in place help protect natural places and the species tourists from the US and other parts of the world come to see, but more than this, these regulations create many more places, far from sight, where creatures can live in peace. Each of us, individually, can, and must, do our own part, by using less, walking more, buying less, eating less red meat, and organizing politically, as our 'leaders' abdicate responsibility to protect the natural world.
8
We [ie the media] call other governments that the US has 'issues' with 'regimes', because that seems to imply a level of lawlessness.
I have a serious problem with behavior of tRump 'presidency' - and have been using 'regime' for it - since it is violating so many of US foundational principles.
4
The chickens come home to roost. What can be done by Executive action can be undone by Executive action. How many opposed to this action have rooted for Presidents to acquire such power through recent decades?
The fundamental problem is that with both the Executive Branch and the Supreme Court, people tend to root for them to have the power to do what those same folks want done, ignoring the fact that when different individuals occupy those positions, the power will still be there.
The traditional conservative view (no relationship to what is called conservative today) emphasized separation of powers and a show-me-the-need attitude toward anything portending Executive overreach. Unfortunately, Congresses dominated by both parties have more and more ceded power to Presidents and the Executive Branch, even going so far as to abrogate their most sacred Constitutional duty, declaring war, even while funding such in Korea, Viet Nam, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc.
What we need is for Americans to pay attention to institutions, not just individuals and individual policies. Power is power, equally capable of doing good and bad. Recognizing this reality, the Founders formed a government with co-equal branches and left substantial power within the purview of the states. Yes, "good" is more slow to achieve that way, but so is "bad." The plodding ways of Constitutional democracy are designed to limit the "bad." If you prefer efficiency, oligarchy/dictatorships such as China may be for you.
6
Yet still the Democrats won't impeach. As horrible as Trump is, he's making the Democrats look worse and worse in terms of their ability to do ANYTHING. The longer he goes unchecked, the more appalling this will get, and our nation will go down as approving of it in history books because we did nothing to try and stop it.
12
HK Guy,
Actually, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler said last week that an impeachment investigation is now in progress.
Nadler and the other chairmen are currently gathering evidence and building their case.
They're also awaiting decisions from the courts regarding Congressional subpoenas that witnesses from the Trump administration have been ignoring.
Trump's bogus claim of "absolute immunity" to prevent compliance with Congressional subpoenas may very well be considered as further obstruction of justice and abuse of power in his articles of impeachment, which are likely to be drawn up when all is said and done.
6
It's going to take marches and protests and sit-ins and anything else to have any kind of influence at all on these pathetic Republicans. The age of the internet has made us all express our anger online and then go back to our meal or our house cleaning. The house we really need to be cleaning is in Washington and organized, advertised mass demonstrations must happen. Let's stop the writing and start acting.
21
VOTING. That's what it takes.
4
It cracks me up that people call this administration conservatives.
There is nothing conservative about off shore drilling, weakening endangered species protections, shrinking or precious national parks.
These people are robber barons, plundering our resources for a buck.
Those double chins are from over consumption.
25
I despise him. I hope this drives voters away in droves.
24
Mandate? Trump lost by 2.8 million votes! That’s a negative mandate.
21
Does this Trump mis-administration do anything right? I mean decent. I don't mean extreme-right, selfish and life-destroying.
6
Is there no legal recourse? At least keep this despicable action caught in legal limbo? The only possible salvation is mass voter rejection. Plus sabotage and blockades before the destructive equipment and corporations employed to implement evil deeds of extinction.
7
I'm starting to have doubts about this Trump presidency...
4
Another in a long line of shameful acts in the name of dying fossil fuel industries. I'd say expose the money behind this but all we need to do is check the hotel bar of any Trump property.
7
Who else to better trust the well being of endangered species in America than an oil lobbyist!
14
Please leave the wildlife alone. Please leave our State Parks and National Parks alone. Caring for the environment should be a non-partisan issue. The greed of these politician is appalling.
12
Why destroying the environment of one's own country is not 'treason' is beyond me.
Perhaps Congress, the FBI, and even the big military brass should reflect on the definition of 'treason', and then oust the 12-year old who is selling the heart and soul of American simply because he can (and that he's a greedy so-and-so).
12
Just when you think it can't get any worse....
Trump and his cronies have no shame, no morals, and absolutely no concern for the next generation.
13
This is sad and utterly stupid.
With that said, it no longer matters what any individual or entity thinks or how it acts.
With global heating, climate crisis, population explosion, runaway pollution, loss of habitat, et cetera already on a roll, ramping up over time, baked in for decades to come:
These species (as well as homo sapiens) were already doomed.
4
As other commenters have said, the ultimate crime Trump is committing is his crime against innocent animals, ecosystems, parks, public lands, and the biosphere itself.
His gutting of the Department of the Interior, EPA, BLM, NPS, NOAA, and other agencies is criminal.
He's taking away OUR public lands and handing them to people whose eyes are blinded by greed and domination.
Congress should move to reverse Trump's assault on beauty, clean air and water, and noble creatures.
And yes, along with many other reasons, Trump's hatred of our biosphere is a reason to impeach him, and to work hard to vote him, Pence, McConnell, and all the other earth-killer politicians out in 2020.
15
Why is it that those who hide their actions in the darkest places claim that what they want is "transparency?"
10
Two weeks ago, I saw a humpback whale off the coast of New Jersey. Nothing could have prepared me —I was reduced to tears— for the power and grace of this perfect animal in its natural setting.
This species was brought back from the brink in large part because of the Endangered Species Act signed by NIXON. Had Trump spent more time in real nature instead of groomed golf courses, maybe he would have some understanding of the fragility and beauty he is willing to destroy, permanently.
Destructive father and hunter sons, both equally disgusting. Does it even register that their own children and grandchildren will have been robbed of things no amount of money can buy?
13
Question for the so-called pro-lifers: if the life of threatened animal species can be snuffed out based "economic costs to protecting endangered species,” how is abortion any different for a species that is more threatening than threatened? How are abortion laws anything but "regulatory burdens" on the businesses that provide services?
How do you justify killing off entire species simply because they are in the way of profit on one hand but require people to give birth to unwanted or endangered embryos on the other? Where is the moral consistency?
My guess, there is no moral compass but expediency.
10
This would be the most important reason why I would vote next year - not immigration, not abortion, not even healthcare. This is it! Without a safe environment there is no life and there is no future. We all aspire to do good and hope that some day, generations that follow us will be equally inspired to do some good. This rule will ensure that there will be no future generations to speak of. This is the end of living and beginning of dying!
7
Trump and the Republicans like oil and its financial profits a WHOLE LOT MORE than they care about a Bald Eagle or any other bird or animal on the planet. Do they have souls? I doubt it. I heard this news this morning and it was awful to hear.
The comment from C. Feher Oregon was especially descriptive of the danger we are all in and facing in the future if D. Trump is elected again.
And the words of Winston Churchill quoted here are worth paying attention to.
Apparently money makes them happier than seeing a butterfly in nature.
6
I want to make a monetary contribution to the organization best suited to fight these horrific people and their deplorable behavior. Does anyone have any suggestions, such as The World Wild Life Federation or the Humane Society? Thank you.
5
@Jeri P The Natural Resources Defense Council is a good organization that's been filing a lot of lawsuits against the Trump administration.
5
@Jeri P
NRDC (National Resource Defense Council) or Center for Biological Diversity have done major work protecting our environment. So has Earth Justice.
2
@Jeri P
NRDC (Natural Resource Defense Council) does superb work, likewise, EDF (Environmental Defense Fund), and The Sierra Club. You can be sure your money is used responsibly and effectively by any of these. Let's Make America Green Again.
4
Turmp is the man who, during his inauguration speech, went on and on about "American Carnage". It seems that American Carnage was his policy statement.
9
Here's a Headline:
Trump administration weakens every law, every rule, and every guideline that once defined America, our system of democracy forged by our founders, and every intrinsic process of checks and balances once up held without question across the land. Citizens are left polarized, scared, mis-informed, demoralized and for most , poor, in debt, without decent health care, robust employment, protected land, clean air and something better for those who come after them.
In other headlines:
Ivanka has a new fragrance line out, Rancid.
6
it seems like every day they manage to bring us even closer to (or maybe over) the brink. for me, the environment is paramount. everything else is gravy. without the world, there is no economy, and there is no future. may everyone commenting here work toward keeping wild places and the animals that belong to them in good health. give what you can, be it money, time, letters to representatives + senators, or followers on Instagram (NRDC, Save the BWCA, EDF, EWG, Audubon Society, and so forth). there's something you can do TODAY to fight this kind of reckless evil.
5
Trump's Deconstruction of the Administrative State marches ever on. What will be left in even a year?
4
If someone had told me to my face years ago that one of these days I'd be missing W, I would've told them where to go (I'm not a Republican) or asked them if they were off their meds. Now, as much as I hate to say it, I do miss him. I didn't think our country could ever be lead by such a wreck of a human being as Trump, but the surreal has become a reality ( more like a nightmare).
3
@memyselfandi
And Nixon committed a crime, but he also signed the Endangered Species Act and other meaningful legislation. Trump has not one redeeming quality.
4
The species that should become endangered is right-wing Republican. True conservatives are fine in the mix.
8
Simply put, weakening the Endangered Species Act does not make America Great.
6
The endangered species do not do anything to fatten trump's wallet - the oil and gas companies do.
Trump and his family should be put on the endangered species list and in their case extinction would be a benefit to the world.
7
Growing population. Shrinking public lands. Brought to you by the same corporations that are trying to takeover everything else.
9
Protect the birds Trump. We need the distraction of their voices.
5
Which companies supported and profit from this?
7
One of the weird side effects of the Trump presidency is that I'm learning about a lot of good things that Nixon did.
I really hope someone doesn't have to look back in 40 years at the Trump presidency and say "Wow, Republicans used to be a lot better."
7
The more quickly we extinguish other species, the sooner we do ourselves in. Bad thing, or not a bad thing?
4
The main problem with many of these so called protections and regulations is they take a life of their own and never get removed just 47 species have been removed that I should the problem a good law or regulation does its job and disappears
Just 47 species?
So do humans constitute one or many species?
3
Because their populations haven't recovered. Maybe we could work harder at making recovery programs more effective?
1
The environment belongs to all of us and future generations. Trump and GOP cronies will make their short term profits at the public's expense. Is it in the national interest to drill for more oil? The future is going to be oil-free.
7
For the last 30 years, Dems have used the executive branch agencies to expand beyond legislative intent and abused the judicial system to sue and settle.
A good example is the 2008 decision in Mass. et al vs. the EPA which resulted in a Scotus decision that CO2 was a pollutant that the EPA could regulate under the Clean Air Act, a lawsuit where the defendant was on the same side as the plaintiffs. No science required. No one on the federal government side argued that the CAA was not an efficient or appropriate law to regulate CO2 and that Congress never intended to regulate CO2 under the CAA. The correct Scotus decision would have been that even if CO2 was dangerous [a scientific decision they were not qualified to assess], it was a political decision how to regulate it best left to the political branches.
Next step, the EPA puts together the Clean Power Plan. It imposes huge costs, 80% of which are borne by residents of red states. It waits until 2014 to impose, Democrats believing it will bring electoral advantage. Too bad it violates the CAA and is blocked.
Trump implements CO2 reductions that comply with the CAA, and he is criticized.
The 2008 Scotus decision took accountability off the Dems so they came up with a partisan CPP, which did not even reduce CO2. The Democrat House passed a carbon cap and trade bill in 2009, but Reid did not even offer it to his 60 vote super majority. Why take a political risk when they can just impose an illegal regulation?
1
@ebmem
Oh please. Conservatives use the courts to get what they want, too. Hello, aren’t you salivating over all the lawsuits they’re ginning up specifically to challenge Roe v. Wade? It’s called impact litigation. What do you think Citizens United was? Or Hobby Lobby? Or that dumb affirmative action case with that whiny girl that didn’t get into UT Austin? Or any of these ridiculous lawsuits by florists and bakers who want call themselves “cake artists” and want their pastries to qualify as religious expression? All conservative impact litigation. Get over it.
“The correct Scotus decision would have been that even if CO2 was dangerous [a scientific decision they were not qualified to assess], it was a political decision how to regulate it best left to the political branches.”
That’s exactly what the Court did. They said that it falls under the CAA (they “interpreted the law”! that’s what cons are always bleating that judges should do, right?) and then EPA created a regulatory scheme. EPA is a federal agency, which is part of the executive branch, that implements the CAA in accordance with congressional intent. If the CAA applies to pollutants, and CO2 is a pollutant, than the CAA applies. That’s literally what you claim you want judges to do—apply the law.
“Too bad it violates the CAA and is blocked.”
Wait I thought that you believed that these issues shouldn’t be brought to the courts and that judges weren’t qualified to opine on these things? Which is it?
3
This whole Trump campaign to put fossil fuel interests ahead of the American people's interests is counterproductive in so many ways... we are quite self sufficient on fossil fuels already; our renewable energy companies were becoming more and more viable, and our workforce was starting to transaction from jobs of the past to jobs of the future. Trump's war on the environment has nothing to do with what is best for America and everything to do with the GOP getting the biggest bribes.
13
Perhaps, instead of focusing exclusively on healthcare and immigration -- both crucial issues, no doubt -- the Democratic candidates for the presidency should talk more about the Trump administration's assault on the environment and America's native species.
Global warming is certainly the most urgent concern for anyone with a functioning brain; but I think Americans need to hear a lot more about the more incremental devastation being wrought by Trump for his donors in the fossil fuel industry and the ranching, gun and hunting lobbies.
Surely there must be some contingent of Independents and even Republicans who value the preservation of this country's natural treasures, as well as things as basic as breathable air and potable water.
I understand that, to a degree, the candidates on a debate stage are limited by the often superfluous and inane questions put to them by the network debate moderators. But they shouldn't let themselves be boxed-in by the moderators' inadequacies. I find it hard to imagine that a majority of Americans don't care about the appalling rate of species extinctions and the despoiling of national park land.
Given the likelihood that most of America's woefully apathetic electorate will never visit candidates' websites to learn of their policy positions, it might be helpful to hear the candidates address these issues in the debates. I suspect it would be the first time some viewers ever heard about the Trump administration's war on the natural world.
10
The tragedy is that with all the distractions Trump creates by his other actions and tweets, few will notice this. It is far more important to watch what Trump does than it is to listen to what he says.
21
The US is now officially a third world country where laws and rules are passed with the explicit intention of benefiting developers or mining interests with complete disregard of the environment.
36
It seems there is a hard right group, attached to the White House, whose sole purpose is to come up with new policies that are becoming increasingly evil and bizarre.
I was unaware the President took an oath to govern for mining interests, against defending the environment of the US.
28
The development in the US is more than worrying. When will the people of this country react seriously to stop the destruction of their beautiful country; a country that the major part of the world used to have respect for, and which is no longer the case.
How can anything like this take place in what we called a civilised world. I am stunned.
35
@Concerned,,,I thought we were a government for the people by us the people?? I did not realize a President could do so much on his own without Congressional approval. We might as well have a King !!
4
Of course he did.
27
At some point this national nightmare will end. Assault on the environment, assault on immigrant communities, assault on transgender communities, assault on reproductive rights, assault on international trade, assault on friendly alliances, assault on common decency...... Yep, they will all end. God bless America.
16
My dream is a new president who begins to right all these wrongs on day one and doesn’t stop until they are all overturned.
5
What are Americans waiting for ? Get out on the streets and protest on a massive scale already! How much more abuse will you take from this administration?? This is beyond belief.
43
What is WRONG with these people?
30
@curious
What isn't wrong with these people?
5
America the Great.
5
How do these people sleep at night?
17
For the love of our children, our country and our planet, IMPEACH NOW.
30
There's an old saying that when mankind is done, rats and cockroaches will dominate the planet.
Insert your own punchline here...
12
@jer
And Keith Richards.
1
@jer, For starters: They’ve got a home in the White House.
1
We're going to kill ourselves off and we're going to deserve it.
20
These changes are not to reduce regulatory burdens on the American public. They're designed to reduce regulatory burdens on B U S I N E S S and to increase P R O F I T S.
No wonder the President loves the uneducated.
31
Led by the president, the attempt to destroy the things that have made our country great are being destroyed one by one.
I hope that the voters will realize how this all affects their lives and the lives on their families and that we will be able to correct these destructive measures once DJT is but a bad memory!
12
It is not unrelated that the Trump administration seeks to kill off endangered species and. at the same time, tries to make immigrants an endangered species.
Its callous regard for plant and animal life is synonymous with its callousness toward crying children, separated from parents at the border.
What is ironic is the President criticizing a film about hunting humans, now withdrawn from distribution, while ICE hunts down immigrant families in Mississippi and elsewhere.
9
When a fuller and more accurate history of this presidency is written hundreds of years from now, it might be written by someone indoors breathing filtered oxygenated air because the Western forest fires are no longer seasonal but constant; she will take a moment to sip her daily ration of water and then pause to look at photographs on her office wall of bison, wolves, bears and eagles who joined the Passenger Pigeon by the end of the twenty First Century.
Nevermind his "fake news" tweets, his policies on Immigration, his emolument violations, his use of race as a political weapon... perhaps destruction of the continent and the planet might be enough to warrant condemnation and action from any Republican... but I doubt it.
Look for me next summer, I will be contributing money and campaigning for whomever the Democratic nominee is and whomever is running against Susan Collins in Maine.
19
Quick hurry, everyone go and visit our national parks before Trump sells them off, because he will if he can.
19
@Eskibas
This has long been a fear of mine. Trump comes from a world where nice things are for the wealthy and privileged and everyone else exists to serve this "elite". He would build condos into the walls of the grand canyon. Private cabins throughout Yosemite, Yellowstone, Olympic, Redwoods and other grand parks. How about an exclusive home with a picture window looking out of Lincoln's eye in Mt Rushmore?
How much would you pay? Spa resorts in Joshua Tree, you get the picture.
It is a horrifying vision. Trump is like Roman Craig from the movie "The Great Outdoors" except on steroids, coke, and meth all at the same time. Undeveloped real estate (National parks, national forests) drives him crazy.
4
I'm curious if those who sat out the 2016 election regret that decision? Really curious.
24
@Character Counts...and I'm just as curious how many Trump supporters have changed their opinions. I know of 3...what about the rest of you? Vote Responsibly ….it's important.
3
Hubris and greed are going to relegate the human species to a minuscule blip in the history of this planet. Humans are not going to destroy Earth. It will simply shudder, as it's done through countless cataclysmic events in its billions of years, and then go about circling its small star in an out of the way corner of our galaxy for several billion more years. It's unfortunate. It's quite a beautiful planet and we were lucky to have it.
8
None of your comments against what he is doing matters. He is only interested in monetary gains for the only people he cares about - rich people. It makes him feel important that they are in his pocket.
13
This is appalling to read. I can’t believe that this is even an option. This is just pure cruel. So it’s ok for one species to wipe out multiple ones for their own selfish gain. To not even benefit us, it’s merely a ploy for money and power. We should be helping this planet and everything on it. This needs to stop immediately. We must stop this.
14
Just one more effort to further degrade our spectacular natural planet. Capt. Bone Spurs takes great pleasure in wrecking relationships, nature, decency, and the future of mankind. Evil in every way.
11
Trump had better be careful.
He supposedly hates flies. Someone should tell him that his careless environmental policies might cause an imbalance that'll unleash a torrent of flies on his golf courses while he's playing (which seems to be every other day.)
10
Appalling. In one day the administration targets endangered species (that’s all of us, by the way) AND poorer legal immigrants. How Republicans sleep at night I will never know.
11
This is unbelievably short-sighted and driven by 100% greed. We all benefit from the peace of the wild, and individual wild lives matter. This move is immoral. The GOP is a poisoned pool; all vestiges of honor, integrity and true patriotism have evaporated, as wildlife tragically will due to a weakened ESA.
9
Environmental Defense Fund has reported that they helped restore 30,000 acres of the monarch butterfly's habitat in California's Central Valley. This migratory pathway will help combat the loss of 86% population decline from last year. Most of the land is donated from cooperating farmers setting aside land to plant friendly habitat and new EDF sponsored legislation in CA dedicating funding to butterfly conservation.
7
Which environmental organization will file suit? I will make a big donation. This is how I will fight back!
25
There is a fundamental danger to placing an economic value on species in trouble, or dismissing the value of those with yet unknown ecological or anthropocentric benefits. I wish we (voters, politicians) recognized the value of biodiversity and how humans are assisting in its destruction more than we claim to. Some losses are irreversible.
16
@Barrett Klein:
Your comment is spot-on.
Relatively few humans stop in their day to ponder the fragility of our planet, and the now swiftly moving deterioration of our environment will all too soon result in not only the extinction of myriad species of life, but also Homo Sapiens.
We applaud ourselves as the "most intelligent life on Earth." As current conditions show, this is sheer hubris and self-delusion.
Sad.
Bigly sad.
It is really sad to watch how the US is going down the drain. “Weed out the sickos” in 2020. Sure, you still have to live with the court of nine.
14
Honestly, it is like these evil people wake up everyday and their goal is to destroy and depress as many people, nature, and the earth as they possibly can. It is so much worse than I ever imagined it could be with this man in power.
32
This man in power, AND the majority of Republican lawmakers who stand silent, or worse, endorse his words and actions.
2
Under Trump, we may be the earth's most endangered species.
16
@Didier
We are also earths most dangerous species.
7
@Didier:
Absolutely, without question.
To the benefit of the rest our planet, sadly.
We had such potential to be superb stewards of this fragile blue marble space; instead of worshiping the very existence of nature -- which includes our own unique species -- we invented money and ever since have prostrated ourselves it its altar.
All too soon now, barring a truly remarkable awakening to Reality, the planet will be relieved of our presence, as Global Warming crosses the tipping-point of no return; Mother Earth will then get along nicely without our utterly inept (at best) stewardship, until the Sun exhausts its fuel.
Perhaps before that inevitable end, a truly rational, spiritually and morally healthy intelligent species will evolve to actually care for this planet, in sharp contrast to our own failure to do so.
1
Really, what a joke this administration is. But not in any way a ha ha funny joke. The execrable acts keep coming. This summer alone, Trump makes a speech touting his environmental credentials (not only non-existent but malign), and within weeks he denies publication of a dire climate change report saying the findings don't comport with the administration's viewpoint! And now this, right on the heels of studies showing the threat to countless species, to available water, to arable land. On this issue alone Trump and everyone associated with him deserve a good trouncing--if not long jail sentences-- in 2020.
12
If we are now asked by the Times to ignore the years of clear abuse of this law by progressive politicians wanting more power over employers, then the pursuit of truth has been jettisoned before we even got started.
Are you NEVER going to be independent journalists any more?
Every Dem administration, and especially the Obama crew, vastly complicated the enforcement of wildlife-protection and environmental laws to the point that mudpuddles in driveways became endangered water resources. I kid you not.
These politicians' enemies were the independent farmers, landowners, and anyone hiring worlers.
3
This is deeply distressing. This president, his administration and his family are destroying everything worthwhile and valuable for the planet--the lives of people and animals, the environment, the list goes on. We must vote him and the GOP out.
13
Public lands -- Shrinking under Trump.
Endangered species -- Dwindling under Trump.
Folks, these are some of the Crown Jewels of America.
12
Not content to ruin the lives of most humans on earth, now the evil Trump administration wants to destroy as much flora and fauna as possible. When the bald eagle ceases to exist in North America, Trump can gleefully declare that this was part of his disastrous legacy. Why he so hates the world I will never know.
3
We have all see the video of that eagle that threatened him. It is payback time.
4
Ridiculous. Yet another reason for blue states - which is where the money is - to seriously consider seceding from the Union and join other allies in trying to face the great crises of of our time : global warming, immigration, environmental degradation, and political instability .
It’s already too late on many of these issues, but let’s at least initiate some damage control and make a humane last stand.
6
@Gwen Vilen:
Succession is prima facie a false solution: borders have zero impact on the effects of global warming, nor, obviously, any natural phenomenon.
The ONLY possible solution is not more division, but somehow the nurturing of unity and clear-eyed determination to save ourselves before it's too late.
(Make no mistake -- I am NOT stating that global warming is in any way a natural phenomenon; our species, with our presumably Big Brains, is the sole architect of this ultimately fatal phenomenon.)
Strong men, real men, real leaders would fight to continue the protection of endangered species and their habitat.
However, the individuals in power who are determined to clear habitats which will further endanger these species are anything but strong, real leaders. They certainly appear to be greedy cowards and bullies.
5
The chickens come home to roost. How many opposed to this action rooted for Presidents to acquire this power through recent decades? What can be done by Executive action can be undone by Executive action.
The fundamental problem is that with both the Executive Branch and the Supreme Court, people tend to root for them to have the power to do what those same folks want done, ignoring the fact that when different individuals occupy those positions, the power will still be there.
The traditional conservative view (no relationship to what is called conservative today) emphasized separation of powers and a show-me-the-need attitude toward anything portending Executive overreach. Unfortunately, Congresses dominated by both parties have more and more ceded power to Presidents and the Executive Branch, even going so far as to abrogate their most sacred Constitutional duty, declaring war, even while funding the same in Korea, Viet Nam, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc.
What we need is for Americans to pay attention to institutions, not just individuals and individual policies. Power is power, equally capable of doing good and bad. Recognizing this reality, the Founders formed a government with co-equal branches and left substantial power within the purview of the states. Yes, "good" is more slow to achieve that way, but so is "bad." The plodding ways of Constitutional democracy are designed to limit the "bad." If you prefer efficiency, oligarchy/dictatorships such as China may be for you.
3
There will always be a way to obtain energy. When a species goes extinct, it is gone forever. And no one can say that the world will be improved by extinction. Even if there are no moral reasons to oppose extinction, there are practical ones.
Scientists who study ecosystems know that each species is part of an intricate web of life. Start cutting the threads, and we will all suffer.
7
These actions are just one of many full-on assaults tearing away at the fibers which sustain human life on earth. I work for a scientific society and our members represent federal and state agency employees. These people are not only being squelched at work, they are unable to gain the training and share their science, learn from others, due to travel and conference attendance limits. These are the people studying and protecting YOUR natural resources. The general public has no idea how much work goes into species and habitat management. It's easy to become detached and loose sight of our environmental reliance in a modern society. But natural resource management takes a lot of work. Recall the NYT reported in May that One Million animal and plant species are at risk of extinction. I'm no scientist either but I can translate it for you ... "it means WE are at risk of extinction".
6
Actually the one species whose disappearance would alleviate all of the planet’s problems is, let’s face it, humans. The planet was doing just fine until we parasites came along. And hopefully it will recover once we are gone - when, not if.
1
You know, we may not ever again have clean air, clean water, public lands to enjoy, and the peaceful feeling of knowing that we are coexisting with all of God's creatures on this magnificent planet where the fact that we even exist as sentient beings is literally mind-blowing and awe-inspiring, but we are living in the Golden Age of Television, so there's that.
7
How can the claim be made that the Act "hampers industry and hinders economic growth" when at the same time the same people claim the economy is the best it's ever been? You can't have it both ways. Trump the Destroyer strikes again.
23
In 1973, Nixon a man whose morals were questionable at best signed the Endangered Species Act into law. As corrupt as Nixon was, he knew that our land, our natural resources and wildlife needed to be protected. Unfortunately, that’s a far cry from DJT, his staff and the GOP majority Senate’s intentions. They don’t seem to grasp this idea at all, but rather appear complicit in weakening many of the policies that keep our land and resources safe in order to promote corporate interests in the mining, oil and gas drilling industries. What’s next is my question? Has this President gone too far? Will co-opting the Endangered Species Act and other protective polices in favor of future monetary rewards be worth the price of our children’s and grandchildren’s future? It’s high time that DJT was held accountable for his words and his actions.
13
Monsters. All of them. We need to vote them out, every last one of them.
39
I thought Trump and his supporters like white people and felt they were being invaded, replaced, and in danger of extinction. Maybe he's fixing on providing other species on the endangered list with assault weapons, like he has for his own.
5
First immigrants, next Middle Easterners, then Latinos and Hispanics, European, African, and Asian nations, poor people of every sort especially those with expensive illnesses, off-shore areas containing petroleum, ordinary folks' savings accounts.
What’s left to go after?
I guess endangered species are about it.
23
First immigrants, next Middle Easterners, then Latinos and Hispanics, European, African, and Asian nations, poor people of every sort especially those with expensive illnesses, off-shore areas containing petroleum, ordinary folks' savings accounts.
What’s left to go after?
I guess endangered species are about it.
6
This is so typical of Trump to weaken "the nation’s bedrock conservation law credited with rescuing the bald eagle, the grizzly bear and the American alligator from extinction"
Only a bully would go after those who cannot defend themselves.
Clearly another example of the ongoing dark, destructive, and hurtful side of this administration.
15
This is so typical of Trump to weaken "the nation’s bedrock conservation law credited with rescuing the bald eagle, the grizzly bear and the American alligator from extinction"
Only a bully would go after those who cannot defend or help themselves.
Clearly another example of the ongoing dark, destructive, and hurtful side of this administration.
4
If I were a Democratic strategist, I would be gleeful just for the free gift of something to hit Trump and the GOP with again, and again, and again. This may play to his base, but it really severely limits any chance to broaden that base. Bad policy, bad optics, and bad timing.
7
Another horrible thing that won't impact anyone's vote. If voters don't care about the racism and corruption, then they won't let this change their minds.
4
Protest with your pocketbook. Don't buy any products produced by companies who benefit from this ruling. Use as little plastic as possible. Refill a plastic bottle or better from the taste point of view glass jar or thermos with your beverage of choice. (I almost never buy plastic water -- hate the taste!) Maybe invest in a seltzer maker? Reuse every single plastic bag including the ones you drag your veggies home in. Don't be seduced into thinking that fresh is better than frozen. (Often it's not.) Try to buy things in re-use glass bottles. (Paper containers for liquids are often plastic coated.)
We all have choices --including the president of Amazon who decided that NYC was not the place where he wanted to establish a new headquarters when he learned he would not get lots of tax breaks and other goodies if he moved his company here! CHOICE.
9
These are not just endangered species, many of them are also keystone species. That means the entire ecosystems in which they live could disintegrate. I am beyond disgusted that the big oil and gas companies come before our commitment to our children’s and grandchildren’s earth. 2020 is coming! Let’s right this great wrong!
21
Can someone or some organization please organize a major demonstration protest in Washington D.C. I'll be there,. Look at Hong Kong fighting for what's right and we need to do the same peacefully.
12
Around the world, not just DC. And for homosapiens, also animals and now even sooner likely to become endangered -- as many groups of them now are, or remain, under TrumPutin et al.
1
Do you believe in keeping America strong for your children and grandchildren?
The vote against Trump, the GOP and the oligarchs that own them in 2020.
We can stop these predators, if we act together.
17
There is a pattern here, and the pattern that President Trump repeats is carelessness.
Why? Because he only cares about one thing –himself .
15
What's truly horrific is that this isn't even a data-based decision. It's an ideological one, and one that is held by a very tiny majority of people.
I'd like to see a single rightie defend this.
Just one.
10
There should be little doubt these changes are about making a buck, and none of them including #45 care about the planet. In the world of #45, the only endangered species are white people, which has been easy to figure out in his polices, spoken words, tweets etc. Oh by the way I am an older white male and disagree with this administration on every protection policy they have reversed. Why would #45 care, he has only known concrete world, and the almighty dollar, and you can bet the person(s) he did this for are big donors and will be even bigger donors in the future.
5
Our nation's public lands are OWNED BY over 300 million Americans, not by President Trump and his administration officials.
And, millions of Americans strongly support the protection of endangered species (example - the bald eagle, the animal symbol our country), and also a whole network of protections regulating harmful chemicals and pollution, and the reckless exploitation of our natural resources.
Plants, animals, air, water, and multiple other aspects of the natural world, support the physical, and in many ways psychological, well being of all humans.
One of the fundamental aims of Trump and his gang of vandals seems to be to attack the whole system of "the common good" of our country in order to make the rich richer.
If we attack the nurturing foundations of the natural world, we attack ourselves.
8
This is great news! Finally the push back against environmental extremists has begun!
1
Because you don’t want clean air, water or beautiful majestic wildlife? I don’t understand how this isn’t bipartisan.
10
@Peter B
Are you being sarcastic or do you really feel that saving endangered species is not the right thing to do (among other things the ESA does)?
5
The environmental and climate denial policies of the Republican Party are an existential threat to the future of all life on earth. Period.
In 2020, vote as if your and your family's lives depend on it--because they do.
10
This is a criminal act and the criminal actors feel embolden to come out into the “open meadow” because the criminal forces within the GoP are in power.
Let them feel free to come out of their lobbying and corporate suites to think they can just erase years of hard fought legislation.
Yes, this is a crisis. However, it is an opportunity to turn this type of American corporate vulture-culture into the next endangered species...!
5
“U.S. Significantly Weakens Endangered Species Act“
Of course they did.
5
Trumpublicans must sit around trying to decide what their next assault will be on the natural environment. Every day they show their contempt for what should be treasured and protected for the next generation to enjoy. When the younger generation fully understands the extent of this crime and acquire the vote, hopefully this dreadful party can be consigned to irrelevance.
5
Some people actually claim, incredibly, that Trump isn't doing anything, so it's not as bad as all that. These are people who don't read articles like this. Trump and the Republicans are going down their list of repressive, destructive, inclusive, and backward-thinking 'initiatives' that they have been carrying around in their back pockets since Reagan. And if any of them lose their personal copy of this list, Fox News is right there to remind them of it all. They are indulging themselves and glorying in it. By denying facts, they avoid the guilt of all these wrongdoings...even adding that they are doing good in some way.
Once a species is gone, it will never be back. It's horrible that so many people don't care about the environment. Have they no sense of beautiful and natural things? Are they really so thought-limited, so disconnected from it, that they see nature as infinite...too big for us to damage permanently? Seriously?
4
Of course he has cancelled protections for endangered species. Is there really any surprise here? Elections have consequences and these consequences are the reason I had to knock myself out with valium on the night of his election...because of the barrage of destruction that this monstrosity metes out on a daily basis. I KNEW what was coming, in all its horror and debased glory. Shame on every single Trump supporter out there, including ex-friends, ex- family, and ex-business associates. Shame on all of you. You will never be forgiven for what you have done.
4
After this administration has destroyed the government, the constitution, our courts, our immigration system, our electoral process, our economy (oh it’s coming just wait), our environment, our very lives - what will be left?
Is this how greatness is defined?
4
Last summer, while fishing on a small lake in Connecticut, a bald eagle soared above me on the warm air currents.
As a child, this was not something I ever thought I would see.
As an older adult, I'm beginning to think I never will again...
8
Animals, especially endangered ones, do not vote and if they did, they would vote Democrat.
7
Hmm... I think they would vote Green!
2
@ROI That is a vote for trump.
1
Donald Trump is sadistic; in words, in actions, and in affect. He is now writing his political obituary as all but the most mean spirited members of his base will be left by 11.03.20.
7
I have said this repeatedly.The man is the true anti-Christ.
When will the American people realize that we have an administration that has declared open warfare against the American people, and the world we all live in ? He is trying to destroy us in anyway possible.
He is so ignorant, and so unsophisticated that driving animals into extinction has absolutely no meaing to him.
I absolutely abhor this degenerate. The very sight of him sickens me beyond belief !
12
Everyday just gets more disgusting.
9
Thomas Merton said the end of world will be legal. How true.
7
We're killing everything and destroying natural ecosystems on an industrial scale as it is. Our economic system is essentially a death cult.
We need a circular economy. Capitalism is insatiable.
8
Any creature with wings is in jeopardy now. Angels, all animals including humans are subject to threats by the non believers of common sense scientific principles.
Breathing clean air in modern America is up for grabs. Republicans don’t care about clean environments for citizens.
Voting these people out of office is the only way to save our country.
Vote vote vote!
The very air we breathe and water we bathe in won’t be safe with republicans in Congress
7
I have said this repeatedly.The man is the true anti-Christ.
When will the American people realize that we have an administration that has declared open warfare against the American people, and the world we all live in ? He is trying to destroy us in anyway possible.
He is so ignorant, and so unsophisticated that driving animals into extinction has absolutely no meaing to him.
I absolutely abhor this degenerate. The very sight of him sickens me beyond belief !
7
Not much profit from protecting endangered species and they never make campaign contributions.
10
It is crystal clear that the officials in the Interior Department and at the E.P.A. are in thrall to the fossil fuel industry. That’s where they come from to begin with.
That is a “transparent” fact. By all means, let’s be “efficient” and see how many species we can eliminate as quickly as possible.
12
The action by the Trump administration, and Interior Secretary David Bernhardt will be catastrophic for much of America's wildlife, even if Democrats sweep in in 2020. We are already seeing disasterous changes in the populations of many common species of birds, and trees and wildflowers.
As an avid amateur naturalist, I can say without doubt that many, many common species of beloved songbirds have had drastic drops in their populations. In fact in many formerly rich and diverse habitats, we are seeing perhaps 10% of the the birds that we saw ten years ago. It is heartbreaking to wake up and not hear Robins, and Song Sparrows, and Baltimore Orioles singing a beautiful chorus every morning in the summer.
Let us look at Bernhardt's recent activities, and then decide whether he was chosen to look out for the national parks for Americans or for the interests of his industries: According to DOI visitor logs obtained by Documented, David Bernhardt had a meeting with oil lobbyists that was not published in his public calendar. American Petroleum Institute CEO Jack Gerard and API lobbyist Carrie Dominitch met with Bernhardt on September 22, 2017. At least two of API's member companies, Halliburton Energy Services and Noble Energy, were among Bernhardt's former clients at Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber and Schreck. From the report by Documented,
Notes from meetings not published in Bernhardt's calendar are not available for analysis.
19
Republicans prove that they will sell America to the highest bidder.
The Republican Party is a business, and a get rich quick scheme.
Nothing more.
17
@Grove
But, people will keep voting for them.
1
Are citizens ever going to get mad enough about these things to actually do something besides write articulate passionate comments?
I feel like the battle cry for "2020 can't come soon enough" is not going to work. With our corrupt voting and electoral college there is a very good chance that Trump will be elected again.
I think impeachment is also pointless and will only make democrats feel better and make republicans more entrenched and committed. It won't impact the corporate agenda in the slightest. The corporate lobbyist and there puppets in congress know when to strike and when to stall to get what they want.
When is someone going to arrange a march or something that sends a real message that we are not going to allow this planet to be destroyed?
All your comments are correct and we know better than the people in Washington. We just have to believe it and do something about it before our children are stuck living in some dystopian world. The longer we wait the harder it gets to fix things.
9
Next on the list is loosening controls put on men wearing top hats and handlebar mustaches that tie young damsels to railroad tracks.
6
Unconscionable! I have absolutely no doubt that if this country (and the world) survive into the distant future, this administration will go down as by far the most horrible in our history. It is abundantly clear that Trump could care less about the world his grandchildren/future generations will live in......if indeed they are able to live.
8
The only thing greater than Trump's ignorance is his ego. "Stable genius" he is not. He is dismantling the life blood of the country in the name of profits for his cronies. If the Democrats do not get voters out in droves what will be left after a second Trump term will be a country on life-support. And to hope for the GOP to turn around and deal with the environment or Trump's despotism is the wishful thinking of a child who discovers there is a bogeyman in his closet and whose parents are unwilling or incapable of rescuing the child by opening the closet and getting rid of the danger. The people who don't believe in global warming or climate change or whatever name you attach to what is clearly a downward slide racing faster every year in destroying an ever widening range of species and the beauty of the planet are delusional. Vote Trump out of the oval office and vote the GOP out of the Senate and let's get to work on a job that should have started years ago before the GOP became the shameful abusers of our democracy.
11
I have been an animal rights activist for a while now and this administration does irresponsible and truly wrong things for money.
They make federally owned lands available to cattlemen and push off wild horses and burros that have roamed these lands for thousands of years. The horses and burros end up in trucks headed to the slaughter pens for a few dollars a piece.
I could list instance after instance that would infuriate you.
I email and call my congressmen and I'll keep doing it to try to protect the animals and the lands they live on.
The Trump administration should be good stewards for all living things of the United States but it been just the opposite.
10
We will become the endangered species. It's only a matter of time. Keep voting Republican.
6
2020 can't come soon enough.
4
This administration's daily onslaught on sane governance is akin to the worst "Scooby Doo" episode ever. The caricature villain continues to unleash his pernicious plans against the world but the meddlesome kids never win.
4
What a surprise! Every time Trump gets in trouble he enacts another evil policy to show the GOP he still belongs to the evil empire they are constructing. This is Trump's way of saying please folks give more time I'll do all those evil chores you expect. It's a cinch he hates America but why does the GOP? Conservatives should want to be conservationists. Don't dig coal, teach new technologies. Stop dirtying the air with carbon emissions and bring on clean air technology with jobs in red states where jobs are needed. It's puzzling to me.
5
With respect we have heard from Day One that this or that Trump Administration policy was going to end our world as we know it.
Remember Net Neutrality and those apocalyptic claims? Remember assertions that Trump would tank not only the US economy but the world economy as well? And that Trump was dragging us into nuclear war?
Well here we go again!
Just how many times does Cassandra get to be so wrong but go on being publicized by the MSM?
One begins to think that these stories are more ideological than factual.
Just sayin'...
1
The apocalypse is grandly unfurling, brought to you by Trump. Maybe you have a point about the net neutrality affair, but in reality it has not had time to show clear effects. As for tanking the economy, have you heard of the trillion in extra bucks for the deficit? No? How about the trade war that may, just may, redound to the replacement of the dollar as default currency for oil commerce? No? Just askin’.
1
I don't approve it but at least they are consistent in something!
We do not need any more heat trapping fossil fuels. When are truly caring smart forward thinking American citizens going to bury the Republican Party for ever!
Vote Blue.. The future if your family, country and planet depend on it!
2
The focus in this article is understandably on charismatic large animals that we all love. But underlying and unmentioned is the rapid extinction of insects that are the source of food for much of the larger life on earth, and that performs vital ecosystem services like cycling of nutrients, pollination and protection of crops.
And the main cause of this now is industrial agriculture, the largest user of land and water, and the source of destructive pesticides and fertilizers, as well as a major contributor to climate change. As with renewable energy, we have ecological solutions to this that the pesticide/GMO industry opposes.
This is really one of the major reasons for the change in the law--to protect current destructive industrial agriculture.
It is past time that we start talking about this. Major media sources have been and continue to be highly complicit in this silence.
8
@Doug
Flight Shaming. The Swedes are onto something.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/swedes-are-switching-planes-trains-here-s-why-n1027666
@Doug
Absolutely! We live in southern Iowa where agriculture is limited because of the hilly land, but there are still numerous farms. Since 2005 when we moved here the numbers of bees, wasps dragonflies, grasshoppers, butterflies (all of them and not just monarchs which get all the attention), and lightning bugs have plummeted. This is undoubtedly because of pesticides. This year, because of poor planting conditions, there have been only two pesticide spraying aircraft flying over the house on the way jobs. Strangely enough the numbers of bees and wasps as well as butterflies have increased significantly.
2
Not long after the close of the second world war, a gathering took place in the upper Mojave Desert; among those in attendance were Dr. Bertrand Russell and Dr. Edmond Jaeger, the dean of American desert naturalists.
Around the campfire one evening, the topic under consideration was Right and Wrong.
After listening to the discussion amongst his distinguished colleagues for a fashion, Jaeger turned to Russell, whose white wispy hair and pipe smoke were outlined in the flames, and said, "The environment, since it cannot run away nor defend itself, must be protected. And THAT, sir, is the difference between what is Right and what is Wrong."
Seven decades later and in the face of the greatest natural calamity facing the Earth since we humans arrived on the scene about 300,000 years ago — including the sixth global mass extinction in the planet's history, now well underway (and our very first to experience) — that definition of absolute morality has gained orders of magnitude greater currency.
The damage to the environment, writ large — and what had still remained of our natural heritage on 20 January 2017 — being done by the kleptocrats and theocrats that now comprise the "Right" and the equally amoral corporate heads whom they actually serve is as breathtaking as it is tragic. Increasingly, much of it is also irreversible. It is this damage that constitutes the TRUE "infamous crimes against nature".
8
What was the that mandate again? He lost the popular vote by close to 3 million votes.
10
The article does not speak of any legal actions to block the implementation of this order. Perhaps Congress might be able to mitigate it through their budgetary powers.
This is just one more example of the tremendous damage the Trump administration is inflicting on our environment, and on people as well. We don't need more oil. We already have plenty of natural gas. What we need is immediate action to reduce carbon dioxide through combustion, in cars and trucks and power plants. To do this will require major sacrifices on our part, and substantially alter our lifestyle and modes of transportation.
Trump MUST be defeated next year. Otherwise his actions will become entrenched (and perhaps permanent). It makes me want to move to Canada.
6
@Mark:
I wholeheartedly agree with your sentiments.
it's utterly mind-boggling that these clueless cretins simply cannot see beyond what is a de facto worship of money.
Their blindness to the horrific impact this rupture of the vitally needed protections of our planet's most fragile species will have goes well beyond breathtaking stupidity; the loosening of ANY facet of our battle against Global Warming only goes further to ensuring OUR extinction.
That is a fatal irony.
Ostensibly human beings are the most intelligent species on Earth. Thanks to surreal actions such as this abandonment of critically needed protections -- which to date have shown remarkable successes (the very symbol of our nation, the bald eagle, for just one), calls into question the egocentric assumption that Homo Sapiens is very bright . . .
The critical, URGENT need to purge these deliberately ignorant elected and appointed officials who put MONEY before species SURVIVAL cannot be overstated.
Only humans can prevent humans from this blindness to reality. Given recent behavior, the outlook is grim indeed.
R. I. P. to our future, now much much sooner than we think.
As the Cretin-in-chief likes to say,
"Sad. Bigly sad."
Indeed.
1
Lines Written in Early Spring
William Wordsworth - 1770-1850
I heard a thousand blended notes,
While in a grove I sate reclined,
In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts
Bring sad thoughts to the mind.
To her fair works did nature link
The human soul that through me ran;
And much it grieved my heart to think
What man has made of man.
Through primrose tufts, in that sweet bower,
The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;
And 'tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes.
The birds around me hopped and played:
Their thoughts I cannot measure,
But the least motion which they made,
It seemed a thrill of pleasure.
The budding twigs spread out their fan,
To catch the breezy air;
And I must think, do all I can,
That there was pleasure there.
If this belief from heaven be sent,
If such be Nature's holy plan,
Have I not reason to lament
What man has made of man?
11
I think that these types of actions that President Trump continues to take in changing policy could very well affect the upcoming election in 2020. I truly don't believe the majority of people commenting and bashing President Trump actually care about this particular bill, but it's clear that his constant wavering on issues and controversial ways could change the election outcome. This is an unfortunate change in legislation and goes to show that environmental protection and sustainable energy sources are important issues.
If only the media gave this more play instead of the endless coverage of the inane tweets
1
This is just one more example of the federal government (trump)
hollowing out the federal government. By putting people in charge of government agencies that they formerly opposed. He has found a way to essentially shut down entire divisions . epa , fda , justice dept., scientific evidence , public housing, For his need to be stroked and agreed with on all things , the country and the entire world is being destroyed. This is so like Nero fiddling while Rome burns except it is trump and the entire world will pay the price.
5
Our President is truly an terrible man. I can't understand why Trump would do this. I sometimes think that Trump does terrible things just because he can.
14
Analysing the motivation of sociopaths is simple - it all comes back to some kind of advantage or benefit for them personally. They truly just do not care about anyone or anything other than themselves.
4
Of course they did.
I am surprised they have not ripped these protections up long ago. It fits in with their theme of heartlessness and moral destruction.
11
Well, of course.
They've already ruined our institutions, our democracy, our credibility, our society and our schools. Why not ruin our GREATEST treasure, the actual land of the free.
20
Worst decision ever by the Trump administration. I have been fighting against this outcome since 2017 through donations to not-for-profits and letters to my legislators. All for nothing. I feel defeated and exhausted by these decisions to ruin our lands and destroy the animals that live on them. Do my actions matter, is my voice heard in this country? I think not.
16
Because, of course he did. If there is yet another way he can foul the planet, he will do it. He is like Dr. Evil, but not as funny...
8
In Hong Kong hundreds and thousands of people have taken to the streets risking beating, imprisonment and their livelihoods to protect their freedoms.
In the US an evil maniac and his party are dismantling full speed ahead every protection of government apparatus that are the basis of civilization at an unprecedented pace.
Why aren't the American people in the streets by the millions to protect their natural and institutional heritage? What are they afraid of? Or are they too numb and indifferent to care?
16
@Jay Karno I wonder the same thing but maybe people are afraid of our militarized police forces who sometimes kill innocents. I think a national march against Trump and his destructive policies is due.
1
Once again we see that this is an administration without mercy or compassion, not for migrant children and not even for animals. The Bible says "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’", so it is already in His record how they treated these poor and defenseless creatures.
4
There is not a single human, animal, vegetable, mineral, or moral that is safe from DJT and his people.
17
Another over-reaction to regulation that has proven to be beneficial. The ESA has been successful in preserving species, their ecosystems and habitats. We should listen to the scientists who guide our policy in preserving endangered species, especially now as we ourselves are becoming endangered from climate change: just imagine the projected increases in mosquito borne diseases (Zika, dengue fever, encephalitis, etc.) from the increases in temperature. We need more intelligent leadership when it comes to environmental issues.
1
Just another reason for voting Trump out of office. Fortunately, administrative rules can be as easily reversed as enacted. And those companies taking advantage of the lax environmental rules under Trump should be warned they will be crushed by the inevitable re-enactment of those rules later after they have invested under Trump's lax rules.
7
Who is surprised by this?
7
Trump is trying to distance himself from Nixon the only way he can...
5
There's little more I can say about this miserable excuse for a president. I'll save my most useful words and actions for 2020.
11
Why does Trump have the power to override an act of Congress?
14
Today Birds. Tomorrow Man.
The daily attacks on science and the environment only seem to make the voting population numb. Regulations exist because the market does not work to protect humanity's survival. I am not sure if these people realize that when humanity is decimated by its own action, that cockroaches will still live?
5
I don't think even John Muir could convince this Republican party that we are on the Titanic and it has hit an iceberg the size of Texas.
8
As a species, we really deserve whatever happen to us.
6
This is gratuitous provocation, and in the light of the mass extinctions - pure evil. Nothing less than a sort of sadism.
11
Climate change will kill everything anyway. Is it better to languish in a slow painful decline to extinction, or to be put out of misery quickly? The living will envy the dead.
3
@R. Turner That's ridiculous. Right now, many of us have lives that we treasure, and there is still great beauty in the natural world. Yes, the coming decades look grim, but, we should still try to mitigate the disaster as much as possible. None of us knows how this will all play out, but we do know that further polluting the earth will make things worse and hasten disaster. We should ALWAYS do our best, even up to the last day...
2
@LooseFish Thank you, LooseFish. You are right, we don't know how this will play out. May we have the strength we need to do our best and to endure to the end, or at least until 2050 (2030?) when we will have a clear idea of how it will end.
@R. Turner Good! Take heart, and be well...
My entire 35 year career was spent identifying, protecting and conserving threatened, endangered and sensitive species and unique natural areas. When I read this headline I choked up and then got so viscerally mad I almost broke the recumbent bike I’m doing my PT on. I vow to spend every spare hour I have the next 15 months working with grassroots groups to banish these heartless, ignorant, evil, shortsighted, greedy people from both state and federal governments and the presidency.
25
Another step closer to the Abyss of Environments Death. Trump and his henchman are doing their best to kill all of our natural wonders both beauty and in life. There is nothing that embodies our nation as much as our outdoors and our democracy. Both of which have been shattered by this President and those surrounding him in this Administration.
Nothing is out of reach of these people. As they say . . . be scared, very scared.
6
If there's a choice between good and evil, Trump always decides on evil.
13
Yep!
Imagine another four years of this stable genius.
8
This is just another way that Trump has to get the economy boosted up, by taking away every environmental restriction so businesses can just plunder our natural resources. God forbid he gets two terms, there will be nothing left. Then the next president will have to try to undo all the damage, damage that will be irreversible!
All I have to say is he better get that "better then Obama care" plan ready! There is going to be plenty of sick people!
5
Biodiversity forms a shield protecting each of the species that together compose it, ourselves included. No species lives alone. When we allow one species to die, we erase the web of relationships it maintained in life, with consequences to its entire ecosystem. Human-caused agents of extinction are synergistic. As any one of the agents intensifies, it causes other to intensify also and that accelerates species extinction. As species extinction mounts, biodiversity reaches a tipping point at which the ecosystem collapses catastrophically. Those most uncaring and prone to be dismissive of the biosphere and its magnificent, life-giving biodiversity are often those who have had the least personal experience with it. Ignorance is based on lack of understanding. Every creature in the biosphere has taken millions of years to evolve. Displacing wilderness and accelerating extinction is ignorant and permanently destructive. Our accelerating extinction rate now threatens the life-giving capacity of our one and only planet including its ability to support human life.
(Abstracted (with light edits) from biologist, E.O. Wilson: "Half-Earth.")
6
So....
Of course they did. At this point we should in no way be surprised at the Administration's Mr Burns level of general crappiness towards everyone and everything. Of course there's no justification for it whatsoever. they're not actually trying to create jobs or protect jobs. It seems like what Trump's inner circle wants more than anything else is to make everyone's lives worse.
5
As long as this administration is in office, the only way to save the planet is by making it a terrible investment to drill for oil and gas. If that market stays then everything else goes.
2
Glad the NYT is reporting on this, but these quotes beg for some follow up questions.
"It’s a shift away from conflict in favor of more collaboration and cooperation"
What? Collaboration and cooperation with who? Between the government and big oil/gas? I am sure they have the best interests of the bald eagle in mind. Thank goodness we have groups to sue on behalf of wildlife.
Vote in 2020.
7
Making unlimited profits cannot be the only reason to ruin the land
its just wrong
5
I can’t wait for the Trumps to be the endangered species in the next election.
9
The Trump maladministration finds a new way to misbehave each and every day.
How many more such dunderheaded actions do people need to decide that voting FOR Trump is counter to the better interests of society, both in the US and around the world.
Outrage implies that some action deviates from normal acceptable behavior.
When Trump and his Republican enablers do things that ALWAYS deviate from normal acceptable behavior, there is no point in being outraged, because they are not worthy of that sentiment.
They are beneath contempt.
We need to retire them all on November 3, 2020, by a landslide so big that there is no question that they are being rebuked.
4