What happened
The Trump administration Wednesday proposed changing the definition of "harm" in the 1973 Environmental Protection Act to exclude damaging the habitats where endangered species live, siding with businesses who view the current longstanding definition as a burdensome regulation that limits logging, oil drilling, mining and housing development. Under the proposed new definition, harm would refer only to activities that deliberately kill or injure an endangered animal, like hunting or trapping.
Who said what
Narrowing the definition of "harm" to exclude habitat degradation "makes sense in light of the well-established, centuries-old understanding" of the word, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service said in their proposed rule.
Habitat loss is the "single biggest reason that many species face extinction," The New York Times said. The proposed change "cuts the heart out of the Endangered Species Act," said Noah Greenwald of the Center for Biological Diversity, per The Washington Post. Kristen Boyles, a lawyer at Earthjustice, called the new definition "nonsensical both legally and biologically," allowing "a developer to drain a pond where an endangered species of turtle or fish lived, and that wouldn't be harm."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What next?
The public has 30 days to submit comments on the rule before it is finalized. Oil industry advocates applauded the proposal. Environmental groups vowed to challenge it in court, pointing out that the Supreme Court upheld the more expansive definition of "harm" in 1995.
-
Scientists want to use enhanced rock weathering to cool the EarthUnder the radar Rock dust could trap atmospheric carbon
-
Icarus programme – the ‘internet of animals’The Explainer Researchers aim to monitor 100,000 animals worldwide with GPS trackers, using data to understand climate change and help predict disasters and pandemics
-
Renewables top coal as Trump seeks reversalSpeed Read For the first time, renewable energy sources generated more power than coal, said a new report
-
China vows first emissions cut, sidelining USSpeed Read The US, the world’s No. 2 emitter, did not attend the New York summit
-
Endangered shark meat is being mislabeled and sold in the USUnder the radar It could cause both health and ecological problems
-
At least 800 dead in Afghanistan earthquakespeed read A magnitude 6.0 earthquake hit a mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan
-
How 'freakosystems' are becoming the normThe explainer Ecosystems are changing permanently
-
What do heatwaves mean for Scandinavia?Under the Radar A record-breaking run of sweltering days and tropical nights is changing the way people – and animals – live in typically cool Nordic countries
