Thinking about building a hotel on a lovely beach where endangered sea turtles nest? Maybe doing a little oil and gas exploration in right whale territory? Or logging valuable old-growth trees where northern spotted owls like to perch? Thanks to a new move by the Trump administration, you may well be able to!
For most of its 53-year history, the Endangered Species Act has worked as a way to prevent all sorts of harm to species in the US that are on the brink of extinction. This has included obvious things like killing or trapping them or destroying their essential habitat. And it’s that last part of the definition that the Trump administration has now stricken from the Act’s interpretation.
Why is this such a big deal? Senior Vox correspondent Benji Jones thoughtfully explains just what is at stake with this one definitional change in the Endangered Species Act — which was, of course, wildly popular across both sides of the aisle when it passed.
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—Katherine Courage, deputy editor Future Perfect
