President Donald Trump on Tuesday flexed his administration’s efforts to roll back longstanding legal protections for imperiled species and their habitats.
Earlier this month, the administration altered how the federal government would define the word “harm” as it pertained to the 1973 Endangered Species Act, rescinding an interpretation that historically included “any significant habitat modification or degradation that kills or injures wildlife.” (Note: The Supreme Court upheld the definition in 1995 after the timber industry challenged it.)
The change, which was proposed last year, is set to go into effect on Sept. 14.
Trump, in a post to his Truth Social platform, declared that his administration has now returned the ESA to “how it was intended to be.”
“For far too long, Radical Climate Activists attempted to hold our Great Country hostage by drastically and unreasonably expanding the intended scope of the Endangered Species Act. This was complete and total regulatory overreach by unelected bureaucrats!” he wrote.
“They treated Americans very unfairly by stifling the production of important resources like Oil, Natural Gas, and Timber, and blocking the construction of family homes and critical Infrastructure. Even our Military couldn’t train on land that was deemed ‘off limits’ to protect a little rodent!”
He went on to conclude, “While responsibly protecting our beautiful Country, the United States of America is going to BUILD again.”
A coalition of environmental groups led by the law group Earthjustice as well as the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community and the Squaxin Island Tribe have each filed lawsuits against the federal government over the change.
Experts have warned the change could be a “death sentence” to several species that “desperately need our help,” warning it could invite oil, gas, logging and other industries to seize once-protected land for a potpourri of projects that could harm wildlife.
Critics on social media were furious over the move on Tuesday, with one X user describing it as “comic book level evil” and another being particularly enraged by Trump’s “little rodent” line.
“They are going to kill innocent animals and destroy their environment. They’re going to destroy sacred land and national parks that have been protected for decades,” wrote @emkenobi.
“All these people do is destroy. Something has to be done to protect these animals and land. Someone needs to do something.”
And one user asked, “Literally what the hell do ‘Conservatives’ conserve?!? As someone who currently works in conservation, the gleeful joy by which he signs the death warrant on entire species crushes my soul.”