AI Image
Trump’s sneaky plan to gut Endangered Species Act draws from 1995 Scalia dissent
arstechnica.com • • nation
Key Points:
- The US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) issued a memo directing staff to reinterpret the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to only prohibit actions intentionally targeting animals, allowing incidental deaths caused by private interests to be overlooked.
- This reinterpretation follows an earlier rule change removing habitat destruction from the ESA's definition of harm, sparking alarm among conservationists who fear it undermines protections for endangered species.
- The memo aligns with a dissenting 1995 Supreme Court opinion by Justice Scalia, which argued the ESA should only prohibit intentional harm to individual animals, not habitat modifications affecting populations.
- Legal experts and environmental advocates criticize the move as a significant weakening of the ESA, emphasizing that the law was originally intended to prevent harm to species populations, including incidental takings.
- The Trump administration faces lawsuits challenging these changes, with many experts doubting the reinterpretation will be upheld, as courts have historically supported broader protections under the ESA.
