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https://theconversation.com/how-redefining-one-word-strips-the-endangered-species-acts-ability-to-protect-vital-habitat-287348>
"It wouldn’t make much sense to prohibit people from shooting a threatened
woodpecker while allowing its forest to be cut down, or to bar killing
endangered salmon while allowing a dam to dry out their habitat.
But that’s what the Trump administration is doing by changing how one word in
the
Endangered Species Act is interpreted: harm.
For 50 years, the U.S. government has interpreted the
Endangered Species Act
as protecting threatened and endangered species from actions that either
directly kill them or eliminate their habitat. A new federal rule change,
announced July 10, 2026, keeps the first part – protecting against the direct
killing of the species – but removes habitat destruction.
That matters, because most species on the brink of extinction are on the
Endangered Species list because there is almost no place left for them to live.
Their habitats have been paved over, burned or transformed. Habitat protection
is essential for their survival.
As an ecologist and a law professor, we have spent our entire careers working
to understand the law and science of helping imperiled species thrive. We
recognize that the rule change could green-light the destruction of protected
species’ habitats, making it nearly impossible to protect those endangered
species."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
