How could this possibly, "make America great again?"
Great article. Instead of letting this issue of intentional extinction drop off the front page the NYT should run a daily photo and thumbnail bio of one of the many creatures threatened by this criminal policy change. Joel Sartore has done exactly that on his Photo Ark web page. People need to see the faces of these precious creatures that are counting on humans to save them from Donald Trump.
4
@Paul
I know that Donald Trump is a mortal danger to humans, but are you suggesting that Trump is an existential danger to both man and beast?
Have you noticed that Trump and his political party have a distaste for diversity. Whites are great as immigrants, but other colors are to be kept away. Some animals are OK, but a wide diversity where we welcome the presence of all species is just not worth the money or the effort.
1
This man is beyond despicable, I am overwhelmed with grief and fury that this travesty of an administration will continue for another year and a half. Greed rules our country now; the goal is the destruction of our environment and the extinction of all species that are in their way in the name of profit. Notice who is endorsing this gutting of the regulations which have helped endangered species for almost 50 years, and notice how the Interior Department makes no mention of any negative feedback in its release about the new rules. My worst nightmare is another four years.
2
I'm a conservative Republican who has never and will never vote for Trump and this new development is one reason why. I'm very attached to seeing bald eagles almost everyday from my log cabin at the foot of the Montana Rockies.
3
It's not "The Trump Administration". Does anyone really believe if another Republican was President, things would be very different? So-called conservatives have wanted to gut the Endangered Species Act for decades. Massive "deregulation" is a plank in the Republican Party platform.
3
We need the same excellent effort in identifying who benefits from undermining the Act, what percentage of the population they represent, and where they're based.
2
This is the worst thing this administration has done thus far, a total disrespect for other forms of life. Of course, with sons that kill rare animals, can one be surprised. The Democrats and hopefully some somewhat principled Republicans must take action, there is no other way out. This horrendous aberration must be reversed as soon as possible will this Planet as we know it stands a chance. Hence, impeach, impeach, impeach!!!
1
"Sing to the noble eagle; help is on the way; our government team of experts is a'rushin to your aid: I know you're not excited; an eagle is no waif; fly on up to Canada; this country isn't safe anymore; that's for sure.
From the song "Fallen Eagle" (1972) written by Stephen Stills
1
This is not just Trump's doing. He's hastening what's been going on through the administrations of repub and democrat alike, including Obama. Stop focusing on Trump and learn about your public lands; who controls them; the subsidy programs that you are funding (public lands grazing leases are one of the worst for taxpayers, the lands and environment, yet few people know about it) and demand that your news organizations cover it. Most don't cover public lands ranching. Don't know why. There are books on it that will open your eyes to what's really going on: "Welfare Ranching, the Subsidized Destruction of the American West;" "Grand Canyon For Sale," and "This Land: How Cowboys, Corruption and Capitalism are Ruining the American West." And, fyi, the public lands ranchers are only producing 2.7% of the nation's beef supply. The pricetag to the public, the land and wildlife for that 2.7% is off the charts. And it's not just the impact on climate change from cattle and sheep emissions (methane). It's the hooves on the ground, standing around in streambeds, pooping everywhere, and spreading invasive weeks that cause wildfires. Not to mention the killing of wolves, bears, cougars, etc. to protect ranchers.
You want to ranch on your own land? Have at it. You want to ranch on mine? No more.
During the Primaries Trump threatened everyone...men women...the handicapped,POW's, Gold Star Families...anyone who disagreed with him in anyway !! Now it's gotten to the point where the air that we breathe, our National Parks and our oil reserves...and even...the National Symbol of our Democracy the Eagle is being Threatened! What's up Fox Nation, GOP,Barr, Kelly Ann? Please explain what there is about this menacing chaotic, dysfunctional, divisive administration that is worth your loyalty and support? The reason I ask is that I can't see the MAGA he promised...Like when he promised Mexico would pay for the Wall and he'd have no time for Golf etc. Is it true that he could take a life and not lose your support? If even the Eagle is being threatened...what happens if Trump wants to bring back...DDT? Trump Supporters...Fox Nation...what are you supporting ?? Please explain your loyalty...Please??
2
Hey, the ONLY bald eagle that matters is on Trump's presidential symbol seal. Otherwise nobody really needs eagles! Let them croak. Conservation sucks money away for useless "wildlife". That includes absurdly saving a silly salamander or an insignificant mini hybrid marigold. Who cares? We don't need more distractions.
The environmental policies of the kakistocrats in the current administration are inevitably leading to the extinction of this species: Homo sapiens.
1
Agriculture and deforestation are the biggest threats to animals, if you ask me.
We knew if elected this crew would destroy government regulations in every federal dept.
apathy has no place in our ability to get to the polls and vote.
I wonder if any of these regulations will be reinstated. Ever!!!!!!!
Another disgraceful attack on our beautiful country. He is a stain on history and on all that is good in America. The only way to stop this incessant plundering is to vote him out. If he and his complicit GOP think Americans are not watching...they are wrong.
2
The GOP scorecard:
Life: Zero
Big Business: Everything
2
Perhaps it’s time for humans to go extinct.
2
Trump should be taken off the endangered species list.
1
With so much of life threatened by Trump & Co., please do not minimize the affects of gutting the Endangered Species Act. To act MAKE A DIFFERENCE, DONATE to:
1. Center for Biological Diversity
2. Conservation International
3. Defenders of Wildlife
4. Earth's Endangered Creatures
5. Grassland Foundation
6. International League of Conservation of Nature
7. National Audubon Society
8. National Geographic Society
9. National Wildlife Federation
10. The Nature Conservancy
11. US Fish & Wildlife Service Endangered Species Program
12. The Vital Ground Foundation
13. World Wildlife Fund
There are others, please let us know about them.
To life on earth!
5
Genuine question: which of the environmental groups would you all recommend as most effective in challenging the Trump administration's decisions on the Endangered Species Act in the courts? They will get my $$$.
2
For so called Christian Republicans, how can you not stop this terrible decision by the Trump Administration? Are the species created by your god not worth more than any human created profit?
3
I'm so sad.
Interesting...the American eagle screams, the American “president” tweets...professional jealousy?
Amen!
Alas, there is one endangered specie that is not on the official endangered species list. Indeed, the collective actions of the present administration might make it the most endangered of all. If you're not sure what specie that might be, you've not been paying attention.
1
Alas, there is one endangered specie that is not on the official endangered species list. Indeed, the collective actions of the present administration might make it the most endangered of all. If you're not sure what specie that might be, you've not been paying attention.
There are those who believe that the world is our oyster to harvest. There are those who believe that we have a duty to protect nature because of its beauty. Both camps would be wise to observe that the natural world is a complex ecosystem, and damaging any part of that system carries the risk of making the world uninhabitable for homo sapiens. When the warning canary carried into the coal mine was asphyxiated by poisonous gasses, it wasn't just a meaningless loss of a canary. I have no idea what the loss of a coral reef or a desert tortoise or a marbled murrelet means to our survival, but I don't think it's smart to allow any part of the ecosystem to fail.
2
A brilliant, moving piece from one of my favorite writers. I highly recommend The View from Lazy Point. The Trump Administration is endangering all of us, as not only is the Endangered Species Act being weakened, but so is the suite of regulations that have made the Clean Air Act such a beacon of achievement in tackling pollution. We all must vote in the next election as if our lives depend upon it. Because they do: ours, and those of so many other fellow creatures.
1
Commercial interests have compliant stooges in the White House and in congressional Republicans willing to remove all environmental safeguards and wildlife protections in return for huge donations to reelection campaigns. These unprincipled politicians are only concerned about protecting their places of honor in a system that reeks of corruption.
2
It's time for U.S. elementary, middle and high schools across America to campaign against these Trumpian regulations that would render previously viable wildlife habitat impotent to ensure survival of our most vulnerable. Canary in the coal mine? We are all canaries. Trump would kill us all.
2
At the rate we are populating the world, there will not be any animal habitats left in 500 years. No forests, no coral reefs, no clean air, no safe place to live. The exploding population is going to kill the planet's biosphere if we do not curb population growth and get to a sustainable number. Some say we are already past the allowable amount of humans considering how bad things already are. My wife and I have only one kid, if everyone did the same, we could half the population of the world in 80 years. Then keep it stable and try to fix what we have broken. Trump is just the latest insult to the Earth from us, we are all complicit with our waste and overconsumption. We are not worthy of living here, sad but true!
1
There is nothing beautiful or good that Trump is not willing to destroy, and it is our tragedy that such an irresponsible fool has been given the power to do so much damage. We must all support the people in Congress and the NGOs who are attempting to prevent his actions. And we must guarantee that he is not reelected. The lives of each of the animals on this list are more valuable than the life of the con man and accidental president who constantly defies the popular will to impose his unilateral will on us.
1
Trump and his GOP party do not respect the basic human rights of humans so why would they care about the rights of animals or plant species.
We are all in servitude to the GOP profit.
We are all subject to the abuse of the rich in their pursuit of the almighty dollar.
1
Trump eviscerated the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, on it's centennial, in similar fashion to his planned evisceration of the Endangered Species Act.
In July 2018, I witnessed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers bulldoze the nest of American Oystercatchers migratory birds who were protected under the Migratory Bird Treat Act ,or so I'd thought, for when I called to report this, I was told :"Under this administration, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act has been reinterpreted such that the incidental take of Migratory Birds is not illegal."
Prior to Trump's "reinterpretation "of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, it was a federal crime to Take (kill) Migratory birds. Under Trump's "reinterpretation" , it was not a violation of Federal Law for the Army Corps of Engineers to bulldoze the nesting area of a pair of American Oystercatchers and their chicks because the "take "was incidental .
I was horrified and traumatized upon witnessing the bulldozing. I loved and cherished this family, which had graced our beach with it's presence, and brought this traumatized Sandy victim a measure of solace.
This wondrous Oystercatcher couple had helped me overcome my trauma. I awaited their return every spring.We shared heartbreak, when various babies were killed.We celebrated the fledging of all three in 2016.
Along came Donald Trump, determined to destroy everything that is good and pure in this world.
All persons of conscience must join forces and stop the evil that is Trump.
3
The commenters who think maybe trump would not be so destructive if he spent time out in nature, or who think he's just oblivious to the destruction he's causing - my father could have been trump's long-lost brother, separated at birth. So I'm too familiar with that far-right contempt for any sort of grace.
Trump isn't doing this because he's nature-deprived or oblivious. He's doing it because he embraces sadistic, malignant cruelty. And he embraces it because it stimulates the pleasure centers in his brain.
There's no apparent cure for this, aside from excising this cancer from the body politic next year.
Vote! Your life, and the lives of your descendants depend on it!
4
Where can I get a list of the companies that support this selfishness? I will boycott them! If we hit their bottom line we can stop this in its tracks.
2
I'd sympathize except for how the Endangered Species Act has been so widely misused over the years, take for instance the writers use of the three "overs". as in overcutting, over hunting and over fishing. Which animal over the last 70 years has suffered from over hunting in the USA? None. All hunted species are thriving. Over cutting? I'm not so sure. Leopold said the axe, and rifle, and plow are the very same tools which wielded with care will conserve.
And then there are the listings themselves, what do you call a species that the UN international listing agency IUCN says "Originally, the Xxxx Xxxx was the world's most widely distributed mammal,...it still occupies 2/3 of it's range. Distribution is highly dynamic as xxxx populations are currently increasing in range and numbers in north-central and western United States and much of Europe. Dispersing individuals can be found in almost any European country except the United Kingdom and Ireland." The IUCN lists the animal as a species of "least concern", their lowest rating. Yet here I see it's photo on this very op ed. Millions have been spent and are being spent now in litigation fighting it's removal from the Endangered Species list.
Don't like Trump? Great, neither do I, but I just might vote for him next time, for reasons such as the ESA. Fix the ESA and there would be a lot less controversy. Let Wildlife Biologists manage wildlife. Stop using ballot box biology.
Environmental extremists have abused the endangered species act. You note the successes with the gray wolf but you fail to mention the attempt by the Obama administration to use the Sage Grouse to severely impact ranching, oil and gas exploration and mining throughout the west. It was an extremist agenda to control resource development in the west and it failed. Like the snail darter, the abuse of the endangered species act has forced its roll back.
I am so disgusted every day by Trump. He is a coward with no morals. Politicians and businessmen who continue to support him are equally corrupt, immoral and unpatriotic. Voters who believe Trump has their backs are sadly misinformed. He has never been for anyone but himself. Vote the Blue Wave.
1
People seem to want to pretend that they care about the long-term consequences of their actions but the pretense evaporates whenever genuinely to do so is 'inconvenient'. They love furry little critters but they'll vote, enough of them at least to elect him, for a dim bulb, a scientific know-nothing, who is quickly fumbling away what little time remains to act to avert, or at least mitigate, several looming environmental catastrophes.
Enjoy your little plastic single serving coffee pods while you can. A plastic straw to go with that? Should we send that by Amazon 20-minute express delivery?
3
Trump’s ignorant obdurance and mulishness continues to amaze me. The only reason he is going after animals facing extinction is because he can. This is what power means to a mentally ill person and it is very, very tragic. This is the same power Mitch McConnell wields gleefully when he keeps life-saving legislation from coming forward. Legislation like gun control, which everyone wants. Of course, the very wealthy will get a tax break or two and Russia under Putin will continue to terrorize the United States and European Union, spread hate and confusion and keep everyone fighting each other. Of course we can do better than all this evil, but it will take a great amount of work, something Americans are not used to doing. There are a lot of Presidential candidates, but maybe we need a lot. And more. A lot of people talking about what’s happening to the U.S. and what we would like our country to be.
1
Thanks for listing the endorsing organizations. Want to stop this, boycott beef. Nation wide. Let them know how angry you are with all they understand: profits.
1
The 4th "over" is overpopulation".
Homo sapiens is an endangered species -
Nature always wins in the end.
Trump, the Trump administration and the Republican party form a collective environmental wrecking ball. We need to usher these environmental toxins out of office!
1
I'm positive that when a democrat takes back the WH in 2020 this cruel rule will be changed back to where it should be. This however is not only a Trump policy, it is a republican policy, which should give all Americans another reason to vote out every republican possible from Congress and state legislatures.
VOTE VOTE VOTE!!!!
2
Yes, to say the least. Trump is the greatest threat to our environment and very existence in the history of this nation. His policies and actions are insane. Why do his Republicans allow this to happen? Other than the criminally rich (and those who only care about getting there at any cost), how can ANYONE support his ignorant narcissistic sociopathy?
Let's hear someone try to justify, with TRUTH, their support for Trump. I'm waiting.
2
Get rid of the wind farms if you really want to save wildlife, especially rare and endangered birds.
The left is great at never reporting the dirty secret of these insipid and ineffective wind farms: Up to a million birds are killed worldwide from these giant turbine fans.
1
@Cjmesq0
It's no hidden fact that wind turbines cause a problem for migrating birds -- but so do mile-high office towers with reflective glass and CLIMATE CHANGE!
At least that's something "the left" acknowledges, while Trump and the Republicans do this.
The republican response is “you can see then in zoos”
Humans and our animals equal over 96% of animal life in earth, and that percentage grows by the minute. Mitch will read you bible verses that say this is god’s will. We are given absolute dominion.
The republican dream is to turn the US into an extractive economy where we sell off the natural resources we collectively own, our oil and gas and coal and wood and water and the fruits from our lands, sell it all to foreigners for the enrichment of a few American oligarchs. Protect other American companies with massive tariffs so they do not face global competition and can limp along in the Britain has since 1919.
The Mitch and donnie show will create the new America, another Russia or Saudi Arabia or Iran, with even a national religion they can use to kill debate
MAGA!
1
This president is piece by piece removing every regulation and protsection for the environment, workers, children, immigrants. And people continue to see him as good for the country (which consistes of people and the environment) and support him. There is a serious case of mass delusion here. Are we zombies ready and willing to walk off the cliff?
1
Into the holds of the ark, in the end, we will be left with nothing but capital and the few industrialized, domestic species that replace the wild ones jettisoned over the gunnels.
Not the meek "shall", but the meek MUST inherit the earth.
Resist by living small.
1
The logic appears to be: kill the "canary in the coal mine".
1
@Robert FL - excellent summation.
You are right, Trump policy is: Kill the canary in the coal mine. Then no one will hear it.
1
We have a leader who does not find any sense of elation in seeing or living in the midst of a diversity of living things. It parallels his disdain for cultural diversity, where he does not believe that other religions and other nationalities have anything that can enlighten or entertain us. Our leader is unread, intellectually empty, with only one interest and that interest is Trump (and Trump progeny) and filling their world with material goods. If we could send him to the bleak spaces of Mars ---set him and his family up on that distant planet, empty of all varied kinds of living things and fill his larder with fast food and his landscape with gold, and surround him with loudspeakers and videos constantly repeating that Trump is the greatest ever----he would be deliriously happy and we here on earth would also rejoice.
1
ESA? Meh! Doesn't matter a whit in the long run since we Fossil Fuel Addicts keep on burning mass quantities of the stuff that's making Our Only Home unlivable for many species - including you and me, fellow Users.
Tragic - enraging, in fact - that we'll take so many of the Birds and Bees along with us in our greedy, narcissistic Race to Perdition.
So go fuel up the diesel, 4WD urban SUV, good buddies. Leave all the lights and TVs running in yer' under-insulated, overheated/cooled, McMansions while you fly off for your badly-needed long weekend to (fill in the resort).
Life's longing for itself doesn't care if humans are part of the makeup. It'll happily replace us when we've killed ourselves off.
MAGA!
1
The only species on this planet which intentionally destroys its own environment - man.
1
As a biologist, I am more than sickened over the assault on our environment. The ESA is what distinguishes our country from other nations - this and our public lands. All are now under assault. if you live in a western state, you wake up to a daily barrage from our so-called representatives and Senators i.e. Barrasso. About a year ago, he made a trip to Wyoming where he discussed the plans to weaken the ESA - so it has been in the works for awhile. And surely under the guidance of the Republican Party - a party that once was a champion of the environment.
When I lay my head on the pillow at night, I think of where I could run away and hide from this madness. Canada mabey? But when I worked with the Canadians, they would marvel at our environmental laws - of which they do not have. Costa Rica mabey? They do care deeply about their environment because they rely on it for ecotourism. I just don not think I can take more of this madness.
5
“...gutting regulations that make it effective...”. Another failure to ‘take care that the laws be faithfully executed’. Department by department, agency by agency. Thank you, Speaker Pelosi- for all the, leverage. Positioning.
A secondhand byproduct- all the environmental, civil rights, name-your-nonprofits going to court for the past two years to challenge this administration (add in the states that have sued/challenged rules, policies)- are spending a lot of donor’s money (and our state tax dollars). As with attempting to bankrupt the federal government so it can’t do its job, we may see these last challengers also drain their coffers. A win-win for corporations, developers, crony capitalism.
Leverage, indeed.
The anti-pollution argument in this article is much more persuasive than the case to save the endangered species. Although I doubt that the Trump administration or the good people at the Western Energy Alliance really know the extant to which any particular species should be protected, neither do the ecologists, who just want to mindlessly save everything. How is anyone to know when it's time for any one species to exit the stage of life, as will happen to all of them, including our own? We should just control the pollution by industry, and let the animals evolve on their own.
@David Godinez I am very much anti-pollution, but "just" controlling pollution will not be enough.
For example, the populations of pollinating insects are in alarming decline, destroyed by pesticides and monoculture. Do we declare most or all pesticides as pollution? I'd love to -- some of them are definitely doing more harm than good, including to humans (developmental harm to kids' brains; cancer). But even if this radical anti-pollution policy were magically enacted tomorrow, we'd still have the problem of monoculture -- a loss of habitat merely for the convenience of large-scale corporate agriculture. This type of monoculture means "food deserts" for pollinators. What do we do then? Use tiny AI-controlled drones to prevent the collapse of our food supply as we know it?? (Well, someone in Silicon Valley has probably already invested in that, ugh.) Comprehensive, multi-modal preservation is needed.
At a certain point, wild species just can't adapt to a new normal. Are you aware that 90% of the mammals left in this world are us and domestic livestock? We are taking everything.
3
What is worse: “mindlessly saving everything” as you write, or mindlessly destroying everything? What is a better mission for human beings: selfishly expediting the extinction of most living things, including ourselves, or working to preserve the remarkably unique environment that allowed us to come into existence in the first place so that more generations of humans and other living creatures can experience it firsthand?
You’re right in your doomsday outlook that eventually all life on Earth will end. In a couple billion years the sun will expand into a red giant and fry the planet. It’s possible that before that happens another killer asteroid will abruptly hit the reset button for life on Earth. Yes, there are many forces that can extinguish life on Earth. But we are the only potentially destructive force that has the cognitive ability to decide not to be the destroyer. What is so awful about the idea of cherishing and conserving (as in “conservative”) what we have while we can?
Monte Ladner
Rising out of the New Mexico desert, there is one of the most improbable monuments to human achievement – the 650-room dwelling of the Anasazi Indians. Built around 900 A.D., it is 670 feet long, 315 feet wide, and is five stories. Until the advent of skyscrapers, it was the largest building in North America. It contains 200,000 pine beams that are 16 feet long. How, one asks, could something so mighty come out of a barren desert?
It didn’t. When construction began, there was an abundant pinyon juniper woodland, with a ponderosa pine forest nearby. The Anasazi’s irrigation systems collected available water into valley bottoms. But as life continued there, the woodland and forest were cleared, the soil began to erode, the water ran off and went underground, and life got much harder. Elaborate roads were constructed to transport firewood, now 10 miles away; pine for construction and repair was 25 miles away, all relying on brute muscle for transport. The Anasazis died away by 1200.
As Mr. Safina gracefully reports here, we are looking at another case of resource exploitation for the sake of terminal prowess. Knowing all we do, we can do better.
5
A bunch of years ago, while a resident of Pennsylvania, I attended, by invitation, a meeting of the board that guided the work of a big, moneyed conservation organization in the Keystone State. I was struck by one fact upon taking my seat in the audience area of the room: None of these people have hiking boots on and, in fact, none of them look like they spend anytime out-of-doors at all. Trump is the same. And, tellingly, so the people he choose to run the departments of Interior and Agriculture. Nor the Fish and Wildlife Service. This is not only tragic but a sad commentary on just how out-of-touch the ruling class is with our country's natural heritage.
5
The climate crisis is raising extinction pressures on thousands of species. The endangered species act could be a powerful tool to force action - which is why all of those racing to cash in while they can are working to gut it. Greed will kill us all.
66
This makes me want to cry.
78
@Elizabeth
Don't cry, Elizabeth -- get out there and fight! Or go ahead, then, cry. And THEN get out there and fight!
For all I know, you may already be fighting. In which case, remember that there are a lot of others fighting alongside you. We do not have to take this lying down.
We have tools at hand to fight back and we have the will to do so. Moreover, we have the wild world looking out for our backs. And that may count for more than we realize. Which would you rather have
on your side? Donald Trump in polyester golf pants in a golf cart? Or a herd of bison? I'll take the bison any day.
6
@Elizabeth
It should make you want to VOTE!
4
Every single day, this president pokes me right in the eye. Whatever I consider important, he trashes. His basic policy is a return to out-and-out feudalism. He and his faithful rich friends will be the lords, and those of us who survive the coming global climate catastrophe will be their serfs. From tax breaks for the rich, to pulling out of the Paris Accord, he's engineering a new oligarchy.
107
@Incontinental
We should keep the Endangered Species Act because the actions of trump and his gang is going to put us all on it.
7
I live in Canada and I feel sick to my stomach when I read this and see the damage to our planet your president is causing. A man who has probably never once appreciated the beauty and wonder of nature.
148
@pealass it is terrible. Behind disgusting.
But I should say that Canadians seems to have a total blind eye to what is going in their own country. Who was pushing tar sands pipeline at the US? Who is logging the heck out of the some of the last great stands of temperate rainforest? Canadian. And yes, still, even under supposed liberal wonder boy at the helm.
2
@pealass
You are correct that our admin is doing grave damage. However, please do not ignore the devastation of your own western forests or the fact that you and I live in cities that, by their very existence, blight the planet. The problems of our natural world are not the sole product of this current administration.
1
@pealass
I agre with you whole heartedly, BUT please do not refer to this beast as "your president". He is a truly despicable individual along with his administration, causing harm, and grief EVERY day. I hope I can live long enough to see him thrown in prison.
5
This morning I awoke to the sound of trucks and beeps behind my house. I live on a lake so there should be no trucks making beeps behind my house.
Seeing trucks from the city, I quickly ran to the backyard.
"What's going on?"
"Oh, there's a tree down. We need to go clear the path."
Really, they didn't need to clear the path. I've known about the downed tree for months. The last time I climbed over it, I startled a groundhog and a couple of chipmunks who had made it their home.
Knowing there was little I could do, I asked
"Could you please take care not to damage the plants growing along the bank. There are several species of butterflies and bees that are using them for food."
Of course, I got a blank look.
At lunch, I watched as a worker turned his loader around behind my house. There went the plants for the bees and butterflies. I'll see that bare spot throughout the fall and winter now.
After lunch, I walked along the lake to the small park at the end of the lake and saw that almost all of the swamp mallow, which had been abuzz with bees and butterflies just the day before, had been cut down. A lonely blue heron flew away, startled that his hiding place was no more.
Tonight, I go to the city council meeting. I'll use the public comment time to address how we can be better stewards of this small lake on which no endangered species live.
But, I'll be animated by the thought of all the endangered species who are in danger now of losing their voice.
159
@John I can relate to this. Happened to me more than once.
12
@John sorry for your loss. did you get a short video or do you have a before and after picture you could share at your meeting?
13
@John
Thank you for turning up at the city council meeting. This is your opportunity to educate them and your fellow citizens. Be polite.
18
Today's TV commercials bounce from big pharma ads about ill pills to the next juicy burger. Yes, there is a connection.
4
Trump's GOP has become the party of Grand Old Polluters. It will take decades to repair the damage they are doing to our environment, our wildlife and our public lands.
7
Tell me who in the current batch of Democratic contenders is an environmentalist? Most of the great environmental protections were enacted, willingly, during the nixon administration. The most recent president who expressed a love for the outdoors was reagan. (Both Californians may I add) I am not sure why none of the opposition to trump and the GOP has not seized on the environment as a campaign issue, I wish someone would.
@Christy I know when Trump supporters tell me how great he's been my reply will be facts about what is happening to our wildlife and public lands. Sad.
1
Incredibly, I am hearing from some Democrats how they "just couldn't vote for" one of the contenders. My reply is climate change, the Endangered Species Act, and the EPA.
5
The reader who titled the Trump plan to weaken the Endangered Species Act The Trump Extinction Act is SO correct. DJT is, among other things, careless and uncaring, and cares zilch about anything unless there is money or prestige for him involved.
I don't know what to say. My only thought/suggestion is for anyone who can to donate to organizations that help wildlife, animals, birds, like the Audubon Society and any other organization you can find and help in anyway possible . And also organizations that will fight Trump in his uninformed action regarding the ESA. I'm not connected to Audubon but am a member; became one after I bought a Hummingbird feeder last year. They are fun to have and also to watch them feed. He may be president but he is so lacking.
8
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
It would be tragic if it came to that but considering the business first view of Trump, America is a step closer to that reality.
22
With Trump's refusal to acknowledge climate change, humans have become an endangered species. And, in a world where everyone is encouraged to believe whatever they choose to believe, Trump can get by with it. In the near future, we will program the human mind in the computer based on a "survival" algorithm, which will provide irrefutable proof as to how we trick the mind with our ridiculous beliefs about what is supposed to survive - producing minds programmed de facto for destruction. These minds see the survival of a particular belief as more important than the survival of us all. When we understand this, we will begin the long trek back to reason and sanity.
See RevolutionOfReason.com
3
Eco-psychologist Bill Plotkin suggests that given the increasing disconnect between humanity and nature and the existential threat of the climate crisis, we need to rethink our understanding of nature. He calls for an “Eco-awakening, a recognition that it's impossible for humanity to be separate from nature.” The founder of the Sierra Club, John Muir, understood this: “We are children of nature. Brought into right relationship with the wilderness we would see that we are not a separate entity endowed with a divine right to subdue our fellow creatures and destroy the common heritage, but rather an integral part of a harmonious whole.”
For many of us, we were taught to see nature as nothing more than a convenient backdrop; the landscape upon which our real lives are played out. As a culture, our vision is so limited. As Wendell Berry says, as humans we won’t protect what we don’t know and love. Too many of us spend more time on our screens than in nature. We don't know our local habitats, let alone these threatened species. We are all made smaller when we do not protect the least of these. These endangered species are not "other." As St. Francis recognized, they are our sisters and brothers, deserving of our care and protection. There is no greater gift we can give future generations than care for the earth, including other species. Unsurprisingly,Trump can not see that he destroys the one thing that holds all life together, that gives all of us meaning, purpose and joy.
15
You forgot to add humanity to that list of animal and wildlife that will ultimately be threatened by this move to strip the Endangered Species Act of its relevance.
But then again, this proposal should surprise no on since this administration has already proven that it has no regard for human life.
28
I don't share the focus on how these threatened animals, plants and habitats belong to "us." But I understand the argument, since for many people, the idea of Nature and its creatures, forests, waters, and diversity of life as precious in their own right doesn't fit the idea of human proprietorship whereby everything on Earth belongs to us. Alas, as Safina says, the rest of the living world now "needs" its destroyer in order to be saved from the extinction, pollution and other bad things we are bringing and have already brought to this planet.
Trump embodies the worst elements in humanity. He is cruel and soulless. Putting his miserable self out of office is essential, but what he represents on a larger scale is more difficult to overcome. That said, I hope more people on the planet truly care about the life we share with our fellow earthlings than appears at this moment.
23
@Karen Davis What belongs to "us" is property: we, the public, are the owners of more than 400 million acres of grass and forest lands, national parks, monuments, wildlife preserves and archeological sites, rivers, watersheds and all the wildlife thereon. The land is owned by the federal government (taxpayers), funded by your and my tax dollars. This valuable property has been leased, sold, given away, in some cases stolen, looted and destroyed by powerful private industry (livestock production, mining and energy development). We are property owners of that land. If you don't know that, how can you fight for it?
29
@Ames I understand exactly what you are saying: I am not taking issue with it, but that was not my point in the comment.
1
Donald Trump and the Republicans do not understand the facts of life, Dr. Safina. They do not believe themselves to be a part of nature. In their anthrosupremacist world view, there are humans -- one one side -- and nature -- on the other. Therefore they see one side -- the natural world -- as a resource to be exploited for the exclusive benefit of the other, human side. This is a view shared and fostered by the evangelical Christian right. The biblical injunction to Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply and wield dominion over the earth and all creatures in it is taken quite literally and has leached into Republican ideology. Cherry-picked theology has become environmental policy to our vast detriment.
There really is no reasoning with people who believe as Trump and his administration and his Republican enablers do. Our only recourse is to resist them using as many tools as are available to us and in as many ways as we can, and to vote them out office.
28
Donald Trump and the GOP have as much desire to preserve and protect America’s public lands and wildlife as the Bundy brothers and their heavily armed co-conspirators had when they took over the public buildings at the Malheur national wildlife refuge in Oregon in 2016 and trashed them- absolutely ZERO. Heartbreaking doesn't begin to describe the destruction the Republicans are inflicting on our country.
43
What are all these conservatives conserving if they can't conserve the environment?
Perhaps it really is true that they only thing they wish to conserve is their own wealth and power.
After all, what else could explain Mitch McConnell's anti-democratic behavior other than protecting his wife's Chinese shipping interests and his stake in Russian aluminum production in Kentucky.
35
The Endangered Species Act has saved about 300 species from extinction. Enforcing the Act costs about $1.7 billion a year. There are about 6.5 billion species on land and 2.2 billion species in water.
For $1.7 Billion dollars, we could save one million people from life-threatening hunger. So its 300 species out of 8.7 billion or one million people out of 7.5 billion.
And keep in mind that dying of hunger involves far more suffering than being separated as a child.
@michjas
You ignore the larger picture. Preserving bio-diversity has become more important as species die out. It affects us adversely.
And really for the amount of money, we could take the waste of our war machine 10 times over and use that to feed the children. Instead we waste it on war and defense contracts that only make the rich richer.
Or we could do away with the massive tax cuts for the rich that don't help the rest of us in anyway. Just 1% of that trillion $ giveaway could feed those children.
At least the money spent on preserving species help us, unlike the tax cuts and 'defense' spending. We spend about 10 times what the next top 10 countries spend on defense.
And what's more with all the money spent on fancy toys for the military, they can't defeat a militia with far less weaponry and far fewer troops.We'd be better off feeding the children than wasting it on a war we obviously won't win.
37
@michjas, what are you thinking? If we don't slow down the current rates of destruction of natural ecosystems and species's extinctions, we will ultimately make human survival as a species more and more difficult - in the not so distant future! It's not as though human beings exist outside of and separate from ecosystems composed of plants, animals, insects, bacteria, etc. Ignoring our connectedness to all species is actually a prescription for human suffering on a colossal scale. Despite deluded and wishful notions of human exceptionalism, we are all in this together, michjas....
10
@michjas
Putting a dollar amount on this is the problem!
"It is clear that Congress intended to halt and reverse the trend toward species extinction whatever the cost."--Chief Justice Warren Burger (1977).
40
@Jeffrey. As a result, a $100 million TVA dam was trashed to save the snail darter, proving that advocates for endangered species know no bounds.
@michjas $100 million dollars can never equal 10 or 100 million years on Earth.
The photo of Trump's sons proudly holding a leopard they shot is all we need to understand where their father stands on protecting endangered wildlife.
98
@nzierler
That iconic photo neatly encapsulates the predatory, careless indifference of those arrogant, puny rich snots to wildlife and nature.
As a lifelong liberal, I know political conservatives who are pro-environment and find the Trump family an obscene tumor on the American body politic. I disagreee with them on funding social programs but they believe preserving nature is sacrosanct.
Where we differ is that they think environmental destruction is the fault of overpopulation in fragile areas which causes poaching, cutting down of rain forest, raising of cattle and planting of destructive crops like oil palm to feed their "irresponsibly large" families. They wink at destruction enabled by corrupt government minions lining their pockets through granting contracts to corporations that hack and hew. Rather, they blame the little guy for species extinction. They would happily see millions of poor people (especially if they are of color) starve in order to save a single noble species. That's the conservative mindset. There's something fundamentally distorted in their basic brain architecture.
4
Horrific. Remember everyone: the number one cause of species extinction/biodiversity loss is animal agriculture.
Boycott cruelty. Eat plants.
31
@JustInsideBeltway
Alas, you are mistaken. Animal agriculture has widespread, horrible impacts. Those are nevertheless small in comparison to the impact of industrial-style growth of plant crops. Of course some of those plant crops are destined for animal feed. The right way to address that is to go back to traditional pastoralism, which raised animals on land unsuitable for crops. There is a good deal of that still going on in the American West. Those operations have negative ecological impacts, too, but less so than blanketing Iowa with corn and soybean production.
1
The sickest, greediest people in the country now run the government.
Money is speech.
It shouldn’t be.
53
We can only hope a new administration will firmly embed environmental education in our schools. However that may not be enough to reverse all of the damage done by the current one.
22
It's unfortunate that the only outdoors the current president cares about is a golf course - manicured and fertilized to perfection, by all the undocumented people his company hires.
79
Crushing the Endangered Species Act and allowing pesticide makers & users to poison entire landscapes free of wildlife should galvanize you to do the opposite. We need to cherish biodiversity. Not only for the carbon-capturing power of healthy ecosystems, which by far beat any kind of human technology. But for the innate goodness in allowing other species to thrive.
40
I have no words of my own for the grief I feel, about everything. I'm exhausted from the news of the day. I'm exhausted from thinking about this climate crisis and so much death.
So I take some solace in poetry. That there are others who feel as I do, who love this beautiful world as I do.
The Peace of Wild Things
by Wendell Berry
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
85
oh quiet one that's so sweet. have you ever heard the song called Wild World by Laura Nyro in which she writes " animals-trapped by mans endangered soul- by science, sport and fashion"?
4
I work with the elderly, really elderly. They are appalled at their country decimating endangered species.
Perhaps they relate on a personal human level, really personal level.
29
People struggling to get by don't want to see their hard earned money go to endangered species. People with money to spare often donate it tp private wildlife charities. In fact, those charities spend more on endangered species than the federal government does. If people with money are willing to spend it, taxing people without much money may not be the best policy.
@michjas
What have taxes got to do with anything?
The ESA has nothing to do with taxes, it concerns regulatory actions.
The species on the ESA list are frequently sentinel species, canaries in the coal mine. Preserving these is equivalent to leaving the mine when the canary becomes ill. The benefit is to us more than to the individual species.
Spending money on captive breeding programs, your "charities", is of no use is regulation does not internalize the ecosystem costs of our actions as a society.
Trumps actions, left unchallenged, will gut the ESA to the live of being pointless. No doubt, that is his intent.
49
@Paul Fisher I get so many wrong replies to my comments because I try to come up with ideas that people overlook, challenging them to to think. Government in the US spends $1.7 billion on protecting endangered species --look it up.
1
Canaries in the mine as a way to describe to describe the importance of endangered species. One might think that could be a particularly cogent notion in, say, Kentucky or other “mining” states.
17
Dr. Safina's essay has demonstrated with specific examples the success of the Act and countered the narrative of these 15 politicians that the Act 'wasn't working'.
It's particularly depressing to see Young, who's supposedly looking after 'Indian Affairs', supporting the removal of protection for sacred animals and plants. When do these white men feel powerful and rich enough?
39
@gf
Never. Power always needs more.
1
Pope Francis said not long ago about coal and fossil fuels. You harm the environment you harm humanity. Our churches are not on the same page with the Pope . Even his own American flock voted for the polluter Trump and the GOP . All very sad .
30
Unable to see the natural world with a sense of wonder and awe, the most unnatural man ever to hold the presidency plays at being a destructive god whose only intention is to destroy. He missed the boat from an early age. Growing up, I was always outdoors, he seems to have been deprived of that.
The outrage he inspires is evident in much of the comments to this beautiful column by Carl Safina.
Today, in my local paper, a letter to the editor was published. The writer was lamenting the inability of many of us to see how much better things are now under Trump. Self delusion must be a wonderful thing, but I plan to stick with reality and do everything I can to insure his defeat while there is still something to salvage. History will record the people reviled him.
50
Harry Truman had a sign on his desk “The buck stops here.” Trumps sign must read “Anything for a buck.” Trump can’t stop until the last eagle is dead and the last dollar has been wrung out of the Earth.
87
Is this related at all to the pipeline? Are there obstacles that this deregulation removes?
4
this is why trump is the best thing that could happen to the united states. by destroying us, the rest of the planet and all living creatures on it will thrive again.
5
Every species eventually becomes extinct. But why rush it?
5
Can the Times please provide a report on the state of our government?
The media provides a 24x7 megaphone on the outrage of his tweets, but if you read or listen carefully our government is being transformed (judges, human rights, corruption, environment, laws, etc.).
I’m horrified, but not surprised, by what he’s doing in plain sight and frightened by what is potentially happening behind the scenes. Please investigate and give us a full and in-depth report before the election.
52
I can't believe how easily these laws can be reversed....although I guess if the matter goes to court...these environmental laws may remain in force! I thought Trump said he would drain the swamp?? Isn't this what big corporations do? Course he said Obama wasn't born in the US so why believe a word he says !! Are there any Trump supporters out there to explain why they support this Administration ? They have to breathe the same air and drink the same water and live in the same country as the rest of us. Mexico never paid for the Wall. Kim Jung Un did not denuclearize or stop shooting rockets. We are paying the farmers and the tariffs on imports...the Chinese did not bargain at all . I don't get it...Trump supporters..now even our National Symbol is being threatened...what gives? Please explain ….what is there to support !! I still don't see any MAGA ??
24
I totally agree and am sick about this threat to endangered species and the natural world. Would love to see a follow up article with as many specific actions as possible that people can take, that would be genuinely helpful here. Thank you.
25
@Violet
The animals you like to eat are very likely introduced species. In words that Trump would understand, animal immigrants.
2
@Nick
That was meant as a response to Patrick McCord.
@Violet Great idea. A start is to support the NRDC, Earthjustice and the Sierra Club among a few organizations. Donate, take action and call your reps. They think we don't care if we don't say anything...
"A release from the Interior Department about the new rules was accompanied by endorsements from 15 Republican lawmakers and officials from the National Association of Home Builders, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the Public Lands Council representing cattle and sheep producers and the Western Energy Alliance, a group of oil and gas producers. There was no mention of the many excoriating statements issued by environmental groups."
So why, again, does the writer exclude livestock producers when mentioning mining, oil and gas drilling and development?
Expanding livestock production is exactly what the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the Public Lands Council representing cattle and sheep producers has in mind when joining with the Western Energy Alliance, a group of oil and gas producers, to undercut endangered species protection.
Livestock are all over our public lands and destroying what the mining and energy development execs haven't managed to: watersheds, biodiversity.
Does the Times require writers to leave them out? Or do editors simply not know the issue well enough to require that readers be educated about it?
I continually wonder at the Times reporting on this issue. It's as if livestock production is given a break, because so many people like eating burgers. And, oh. The Cowboy. Americans have a thing for cowboys.
10
@Ames the number of cattle and sheep grazed on wildl western lands has decreased dramatically, feed lots and synthetic fleece have driven ranchers out of business, the ones who struggle oppose the ESA because the carnivores protected by the thousands eat and harass their animals and they aren't allowed to protect their cows and sheep.
@somsai Good. And I haven't eaten meat in the last four years. The whole Bundy thing moved me to that.
3
@som8sai Actually grazing is increasing especially on public lands and native carnivores and omnivores are keep in check for ranchers (killed by the thousands) by the government that also compensates people for any loss of livestock. Also grazed cattle eventually go to feedlots before slaughter.
2
One can only hope that the Dems select a candidate that's an effective kryptonite to this Trump individual... if his tormented administration isn't put out of its misery come 2020 the impact of having to endure 4 more years under that sociopath and his twisted cabal may well be irreparable.
29
@Skeptical Cynic
Eviscerating the Endangered Species Act by gutting regulations that make it effective is an underhanded, cowardly approach.
I propose that Donald Trump man up and arrange a diplomatic summit with the Endangered Species in order that a meaningful dialogue can take place between Trump and Endangered Species.
Conservationists, scientists ,wildlife photographers and others go out in the field on a regular basis to do important work.
If they can do this ,surely the President of the United States
can do so.
Melania Trump can accompany Donald Trump on his wildlife summit, wearing her "I don't care . Do you?" jacket.
1
And America shrugged.
17
Trump's war on the environment and endangered species harms us all. We're already facing mass extinctions and climate change, which he denies are occurring.
I can't recall any previous administration so blatantly favoring the interests of their grifter donors to the detriment of everyone else.
68
It’d be poetic justice if Trump went extinct following his denaturing of the EPA and environmental laws that are so very popular with the general public. His superpower invulnerability is falling apart as we watch, and as Fox News refuses to see.
26
Safina gets it. Trump couldn't care less, unless saving a species improved his image. Another vanishing species is the Responsible Republican. The bald eagle survives because people became active to make it happen. Translation: VOTE!
93
Not content w/ destroying the spirit of America & the values of our society, he's determined to kill us all by poisoning the environment & wreaking havoc on wildlife.
43
Being a corporate-inspired environmental Nihilist, who would rather have stuffed bald eagles on glitzy display in the richly paneled clubhouses of his golf clubs than soaring high above in the wilds, these unconscionable new rules come as no surprise. Have you ever read about, or seen in a photo, Trump participating in the splendors of nature? The outside world for him is only an “asset “ to brutishly, violently conquer and turn into a monetized, artificial contrivance. How many weekends has Trump spent at Camp David?
22
Does anyone really believe that if Democrats were in power, the juggernaut of industrial civilization would suddenly stop raping nature? Everything we do is dependent on the trashing of wild country. Every movement we make is powered by oil, gas, mined metals, engines, motors, electricity, and plastics. There are nearly 8 billion of us now, all grasping for houses, cars, food, foreign vacations, clothing, and entertainment.
Trump is a sick joke, that's obvious. But we need changes that are far more profound than anything that will happen when he finally, mercifully goes away.
We must radically reduce consumption levels and human population. And more than anything we need to get over the unbearably hubristic idea that we are the "stewards" of the planet. The only thing nature needs from us is to be left alone. We are an endlessly growing mass, and as such are literally the cancer of planet Earth. Climate change may turn out to be planetary chemotherapy. It is a heartless therapy and will destroy much else besides us. But once we're gone nature will continue on its way.
It sounds ludicrous but it's true: we need to basically dismantle industrial civilization, while there's still some wild nature left to save.
16
@Al
You had me until you used the word "literally". The word is reserved for those under 13 years old.
3
@Mark Shyres. He is using the word informally, which is acceptable. He is using it to convey strong feelings and emphasis.
1
I honestly believe Trump and his enablers are committing crimes against humanity with his environmental destruction policy. I'm guessing Trump and his rich buddies aren't concerned about the world they leave to their kids because they figure their kids will be rich enough to survive in comfort.
28
Perhaps Professor Safina has coyly inserted some Old Testament wisdom, writing that the "Act is our legal recognition of the stewardship responsibilities of our dominion."
I suggest between now and the election that Trump's religious base thumbs to the first half of their bibles to this verse from Jeremiah 2:7 "And I brought you into a plentiful land to enjoy its fruits and its good things. But when you came in, you defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination." If the country's preachers and their congregations truly followed their beliefs, Trump would be tossed out with the garbage.
Come on, Dems, let's get smart and do it right. Let's start addressing Republican voters on their own terms, and show them the hypocrisy and evil in this and in so many other areas. It will sink in! Which of the Dems has the guts and ability to address these voters directly?
22
@David your idea of challening trump's religious base with bible verses is very good. however, his religious base is a master at cherry picking the bible for verses that that fit their goals.
12
@David Yes, yes! Right. Excellent idea. Show the insidiousness of their actions and behavior. Only thing is, many I suspect, will deny, dismiss, and minimize what they hear, even if it is the truth. I think it might help to some degree and definitely is a great strategy, but for those whose identity is tied to their pre-held opinions, who have closed minds, who refuse to accept truth, these people- the enablers or "flying monkeys" (to NARC/Socio/Psycho types). In fact these types, will likely distort/manipulate the facts and paint their corrupt Republicans (and yes, their are corrupt Democrats too), as the "victims" - victim/blame shifting. All Narc/Socio/Psychopath like behaviors. Still, the truth needs to be told and I am a Truth teller ("whistleblower" "rock-the-boater"), and believe in justice for all. This can be an important mission for some of us to help change hearts and minds even if it the truth does fall on many deaf ears and is distorted.
1
Contact your representatives and everyone else you can and ask them to do the same. donate what you can to organizations the support laws protecting our environment. vote. this is war.
38
@L'historien
Too late. They've all been bought (no matter what they claim).
9
@Mark Shyres
It is not too late -- but it will take lawyers.
I support the Environmental Defense Fund and the NRDC - Natural Resources Defense Council. I'm sure there are other groups, too. These two have a good track record of suing to protect our laws, and are already active on stopping this setback on the ESA. In our litigious society, it's one of the few things we actually can do.
2
Trump and his extended family, minions, sycophants and enablers need to put on the endangered species list ASAP.
17
Hear! Hear! Dr. Safina!
9
Oscar Wilde wrote in “Lady Windemere’s Fan” that a cynic is someone who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
The present occupant of the White House is such a creature. The only things apparently driving him are his urge to topple the programs of previous presidents, particularly those of Barack Obama, and to “win“ by keeping the economy hopping, no matter what the long-term costs of his actions might be. Money, money, money, money—it’s the only topic that lights up his sagging face, his otherwise dead eyes.
As scientists and naturalist have noted repeatedly, it is almost impossible to predict the full range of each species in an ecosystem. The 45th president does not care, because these other species do not generate direct income for him and his venal family/political allies/beneficiaries.
He’s like a tick, an organism that close studies have found few meaningful purposes for, other than to feed other organisms. I hope habitat loss shrinks the range of this individual, an outlier to our North American subspecies, and starves him of his prey.
18
@Cast Iron . Who is working behind this character? What insidious powers are pulling the strings behind this ruthless un-empathetic joke of a leader? I think he is a frontman for even worse actions and manipulative control of the public behind the scenes.
1
They’re too distracted by fantasies of infinite power and money to understand that they’re pointing the guns at their own heads, too—and the gutless fools are laughing, believing they’re really putting one over on the rest of us.
I’m ready for intelligent, compassionate people to run the government.
Stewardship says it all. Stewardship of this planet, this country, the next generations. We have a responsibility.
20
And next on his Endangered hit list... Brown v Board of Education, Plyler v. Doe, and probably a new version of the 3/5ths Clause when census counting citizens on welfare and in Section 8 housing.
16
The Obama administration issued the ruling that every wind or solar power company can butcher 4,200 bald eagles a year with no questions asked. (And no, cats don't eat bald eagles.)
So that means that 30 companies can, no question asked, finish off ALL the bald eagles in the US in a year. Whether you like your bald eagles roasted by solar thermal or chopped by wind turbines, you won.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wind-energy-permits-raise-kill-limit-bald-eagles/story?id=38881089
There was a comment period, but every nature lover agreed to finish off the eagles, and the measure was adopted.
The whole point of electing a Democrat in 2020 is to have all birds and bats butchered.
For the New Green Deal proposes nothing less.
What bird, do you think, could survive forests of giant cutting blades?
Or, when a little bird follows a roasting bug in the focal line of a solar thermal plant, what eagle wouldn't follow the roasting bird and roast itself?
The bird roasting Ivanpah solar plant uses more and more natural gas
https://www.pe.com/2017/01/23/ivanpah-solar-plant-built-to-limit-greenhouse-gases-is-burning-more-natural-gas/
and ignites itself
https://www.wired.com/2016/05/huge-solar-plant-caught-fire-thats-least-problems/
without producing as contracted
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/601083/ivanpahs-problems-could-signal-the-end-of-concentrated-solar-in-the-us/
So, if you want to have bald eagles go the way of the dodo bird, vote the Green New Deal.
Else go for Trump.
@novoad...You may be able to blame Hillary and her Emails for this...but you can't blame Obama! He wasn't even a legitimate President. He wasn't born in this country !! To add insult to injury..Obama was always playing golf...whereas...true to his word Trump hasn't had time...too busy working on deals and making...you guessed it....MAGA !! Tired of Winning? I'm tired of Losing!! I haven't seen any MAGA yet...or as the interfering Russians would say...I haven't seen any MAGA...N'YET !!
11
@novoad
Actually your figures are quite exaggerated, it is way less than 5000 killed a year. By 10.
The real figures are for every 1 killed by wind, nuclear kills 15 times more and carbon kills about 2000 for every one by wind.
So if one wished to actually save the birds, going to wind would save far more.
4
@Skip Moreland
Wind is a disaster for birds. It slaughters on migration and dispersal paths when populations are condensed and deaths amplified. There are also no accurate counts made on wind situated in ocean sites.
1
Ready to riot. I've had it.
36
@Kate Somerville so am I!!
6
You can’t say we didn’t see this coming as we elected a leader that doesn’t go outside and doesn’t appreciate nature. Thats not a partisan statement, that’s just what it is.
People didn’t see the sum total of what would actually happen if we prioritized the goals of business and a “good job” over all else.
Will this change? If you step out of your bubble and read the polls, all signs point to a harder path to victory for democrats than before. Don’t think it’s a sure thing.
70
@JH
WE. DID NOT elect this vicious ,racist to the Presidency
Of the USA.Others angry and facing loss of home and jobs.
Nothing is a sure thing, however people who believe in
Democracy will work hard to see Trump is obliterated
From our Government no matter how long it takes and you can bet on it.Rarely has anything been accomplished
That wasn’t believed in.Look at Trump he believes and his
Side kick Steven Miller believes in their filth and they are
Tearing us apart, while the Republican Party watches,
Silent and ignorant.
2
@JH Many of us saw it coming. But outside interference, cheating and an outdated electoral process overturned the will of the voters. This is the evil that resulted.
4
Not caring for our environment and its fate is symptom of our arrogance as a species. So many people just do not see the connection between our survival and the quality of our ecosystem. These are people who may even care about their own children and giving them advantages, but betray them by not considering what their planet will be like when it is irreparably damage. The preservation of species is not only about a few large animal species, but about every aspect of the intricate system of life that nourishes us and supports our survival. We have so much to give and appreciate about our world, but the tragedy of people like Trump and his shortsightedness may leave all of us without a livable world.
95
@just Robert
People don’t know because they are not taught. The most common cause of extinction is habitat loss. If every homeowner used native plants exclusively in their landscape we could restore the habitat of thousands of plants and animals nationwide. An easy solution that anyone can shoulder. Too bad they don’t teach it schools.
22
@just Robert
Species would be worthy of preservation if they did not nourish humans and support our survival. Animals have value in and of themselves,
12
@Martha Grattan
While I support the use of native plants, the planting of native plants by every homeowner will not save forests that stand to be bulldozed to make way for construction, or save endangered species.
Sea turtles don't nest in homeowner's yards, nor do alligators, gray wolves, alligators or marine mammals.
While it can only help for people to plant native plants and to do all that they can , the efforts of individuals can not afford the protections that the Endangered Species Act did.
19
Contrast the Trump administration with Theodore Roosevelt, a Republican president, who would have been a strong supporter of the Endangered Species Act, and appalled at the proposed changes by the current administration. Roosevelt compared all wildlife to " old masterpieces " and criticized the " unintelligent butchers" , who threatened animals with extinction. He spent his entire political career fighting business interests that threatened wildlife and their habitats. Using the simple words "I so declare it ", he used his presidential powers to create 51 federal bird sanctuaries and 4 national game preserves.
21
@Don Shipp....One things for certain. If Trump loses in 2020....then American Voters came to their senses...If he's reelected...it means there are a lot more ..let's just say...challenged ...American Voters among us. That is sure a sad scenario to think about!! Vote Blue No Matter Who 2020 !!... MAGA?? You've got to be kidding!! The first step toward MAGA would be removing Trump from the Presidency !! The air might clear up ...from then on !! I'm breathing easier... just thinking about it !!
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I’m not even surprised by this. It’s totally in Trumps character. In fact I’m surprised it took him so long.
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“Nothing is more priceless and more worthy of preservation than the rich array of animal life with which our country has been blessed.” --Nixon
Even this statement is rather ignorant of the fact that we are blessed with a rich array of plant life, too. In fact, this diversity of plant life provides the unique habitat that allows for the presence of the rich array of animal life. Not enough people understand the interdependence of plants and animals....not just for endangered species, but for our own human species. Genetic diversity that is represented in the diversity of species, is a form of intelligence and knowledge that can not be understood or recreated once it is lost. It is of utmost importance to protect every little bit of it that we have left in this time of unprecedented extinction. Please let us know how we can fight against this.
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@Jessie Paul
Landscape your property with native plants. You will be amazed at the variety of birds and interesting insects that show up.
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This administration is so beholding to energy interests that if oil and coal reserves were found in Arlington National Cemetery drilling and mining permits would be issued without delay. Maybe Congress can pass some legislation that will allow for the manufacture of plaques to be places where nature and wildlife existed.
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As we find ourselves in Times of Trouble, the compassionate counsel of Carl Safina deserves increased national attention. Here's hoping he appears on Sunday news-talk programs and is profiled by PBS, NPR and other venues.
For Donald J. Trump, whose life has been a never-ending train of lawsuits, more and more are necessary in when trying to curb cruelty, arrogance and destructive folly.
Further investigations must not be delayed.
Doug Giebel, Big Sandy, Montana
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@Doug Giebel
That's why we must fight back with lawyers! I support the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).
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I think we should call it by it's proper name: The Trump Extinction Plan. He is doing irreparable harm to endangered animals, the planet and to the human race. And Republicans are cheering him on.
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The Trump Administration is a Threat to Endangered Species? That's nothing - it's a Threat to Americans! From denying Climate Change, to softening EPA rules to attacking Obamacare - this administration is an existential threat to everything inhabiting our country.
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@KEF
I would say more like a threat to all life on Earth.
Too bad they can't pay their way, as it seems to be expected by these grifters. It's just business after all. Money to be made, what do we care about anything else in existence, right? Contempt is a mild word to describe the way these misanthropes regard anything that gets in their way.
Oh well, who needs a healthy planet with and abundance of species habitat anyway? We do, while the gop is obsessed with total destruction. Vote them all out.
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Beautiful photos and words of delicate, irreplaceable nature.
We can only save ourselves and other species by voting in record numbers to put thoughtful human beings into authority.
As long as Greed Over Planet rapaciousness remains in political power, species will die for pollution profits.
Don't let your children grow up to be Republicans.
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