Queuing For Extinction? Why We Must Address the Shortcomings of the Endangered Species Act

Bald eagle — a bird of prey native to North America. Delisted in 2007.

In August 2019, the Trump Administration announced sweeping changes to the Endangered Species Act (ESA), slashing regulation that helps protect wildlife and plants from extinction.

The modifications make it harder to add species to the list and easier to remove those currently listed. They allow regulators to bypass long-term climate change goals and reduce existing protections for species that are deemed ‘endangered’, but not ‘critically’ so. The revisions open the door for continued oil and gas exploration by limiting the area of protected land. Although the Act may have been in need of some modernization, the current administration’s redraft is a step back, a short-sighted failure by a government focused on short-term economic growth versus long-term sustainability.

The announcement drew immediate legal action. Bob Dreher, vice president at Defenders of Wildlife, a non-profit which is part of a group of environmental organizations that just issued a lawsuit, said: “This will be a battle royal. You’re going to see a strong, strong movement opposing cuts to the ESA. I don’t want to sound overly confident or cocky that we’re going to defeat this. It’s going to be the fight of my conservation career.”