President Donald Trump‘s administration is making significant revisions to the Endangered Species Act, prompting criticism from experts who say the changes will have a devastating effect on the wildlife that the law is supposed to be helping. The slew of changes was announced this week by the Department of the Interior, with Secretary David Bernhardt contending that, though this new implementation weakens the law’s requirements, it will increase transparency and effectiveness. But the move has drawn scrutiny, most notably the elimination of a “blanket rule” that automatically gives threatened species the same protections as endangered species. Bernhardt previously spoke out against the blanket rule, writing in a 2018 op-ed in the Washington Post that giving both classifications of species the same protections “places unnecessary regulatory burden on our citizens.” Other changes include the tweaking of language so that climate change will no longer factor into regulators’ decisions when making assessments. Regulators are also now able to take economic factors into consideration when deciding if a species should be protected. To view the full article visit People.
