{"id":26141,"date":"2025-04-16T23:17:26","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T23:17:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=26141"},"modified":"2025-04-16T23:28:22","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T23:28:22","slug":"trump-administration-aims-to-redefine-harm-for-endangered-species","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=26141","title":{"rendered":"Trump Administration Aims to Redefine \u2018Harm\u2019 for Endangered Species"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><\/div>\n<p id=\"article-summary\" class=\"css-79rysd e1wiw3jv0\">Trump officials have proposed changing adecades-old interpretation of a key word in the Endangered Species Act, which would make it much easier to log, build or drill for oil.<\/p>\n<section class=\"meteredContent css-1r7ky0e\">\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\" data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Trump administration is moving to weaken the half-century-old Endangered Species Act by redefining the word \u201charm.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\"><a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/public-inspection.federalregister.gov\/2025-06746.pdf\" title rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">A proposed rule<\/a>, issued on Wednesday from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, would repeal a longstanding interpretation of what it means to harm imperiled plants and animals to exclude the destruction of habitat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The move is part of a plan by President Trump to increase drilling, logging and development in the United States, and to eliminate regulations that slow the issuance of permits.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Administration officials called the current definition of harm to endangered species overly broad, siding with businesses that have long argued that the language imposes a burden. They called for a more narrow interpretation, saying that species should be protected only from intentional killing or injury, like through hunting or trapping.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"Dropzone-1\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\" data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Habitat loss is the single biggest reason that many species face extinction. Environmental advocates said the changes would make it all but impossible to protect the forests, grasslands, rivers and other habitats that threatened species rely upon to survive. \u201cThe vast majority of imperiled wildlife listed as endangered or threatened under the ESA are there because of loss of habitat,\u201d said Andrew Bowman, president and chief executive of Defenders of Wildlife, an environmental group, using an abbreviation for the Endangered Species Act.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Bowman and others described the proposal as the most significant setback to date for the Endangered Species Act, which was signed into law in 1973 by President Richard Nixon.<\/p>\n<div class=\"css-kbghgg\">\n<div class=\"css-121kum4\">\n<div class=\"css-171quhb\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"css-asuuk5\">\n<div class=\"css-7axq9l\" data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-noscript\">\n<div data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-noscript-message\" class=\"css-6yo1no\">\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">We are having trouble retrieving the article content.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1dv1kvn\" id=\"optimistic-truncator-a11y\">\n<hr \/>\n<p>Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/myaccount.nytimes.com\/auth\/login?response_type=cookie&amp;client_id=vi&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F04%2F16%2Fclimate%2Ftrump-endangered-species-act-harm.html&amp;asset=opttrunc\">log into<\/a>\u00a0your Times account, or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F04%2F16%2Fclimate%2Ftrump-endangered-species-act-harm.html\">subscribe<\/a>\u00a0for all of The Times.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1g71tqy\">\n<div data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-message\" class=\"css-6yo1no\">\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Thank you for your patience while we verify access.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Already a subscriber?\u00a0<a data-testid=\"log-in-link\" class=\"css-z5ryv4\" href=\"https:\/\/myaccount.nytimes.com\/auth\/login?response_type=cookie&amp;client_id=vi&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F04%2F16%2Fclimate%2Ftrump-endangered-species-act-harm.html&amp;asset=opttrunc\">Log in<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Want all of The Times?\u00a0<a data-testid=\"subscribe-link\" class=\"css-z5ryv4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F04%2F16%2Fclimate%2Ftrump-endangered-species-act-harm.html\">Subscribe<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump officials have proposed changing adecades-old interpretation of a key word in the Endangered Species Act, which would make it much easier to log, build or drill for oil.The Trump administration is moving to weaken the half-century-old Endangered Species Act by redefining the word \u201charm.\u201dA proposed rule, issued on Wednesday from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, would repeal a longstanding interpretation of what it means to harm imperiled plants and animals to exclude the destruction of habitat.The move is part of a plan by President Trump to increase drilling, logging and development in the United States, and to eliminate regulations that slow the issuance of permits.Administration officials called the current definition of harm to endangered species overly broad, siding with businesses that have long argued that the language imposes a burden. They called for a more narrow interpretation, saying that species should be protected only from intentional killing or injury, like through hunting or trapping.Habitat loss is the single biggest reason that many species face extinction. Environmental advocates said the changes would make it all but impossible to protect the forests, grasslands, rivers and other habitats that threatened species rely upon to survive. \u201cThe vast majority of imperiled wildlife listed as endangered or threatened under the ESA are there because of loss of habitat,\u201d said Andrew Bowman, president and chief executive of Defenders of Wildlife, an environmental group, using an abbreviation for the Endangered Species Act.Mr. Bowman and others described the proposal as the most significant setback to date for the Endangered Species Act, which was signed into law in 1973 by President Richard Nixon.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and\u00a0log into\u00a0your Times account, or\u00a0subscribe\u00a0for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?\u00a0Log in.Want all of The Times?\u00a0Subscribe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26143,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26141"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26144,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26141\/revisions\/26144"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}