We knew that this would be coming. And here it is.
In what would be a seismic shift, the Trump administration is quietly moving to strip a core protection of the Endangered Species Act. At the center of the change is what it means to “take” an endangered animal, something that has long been prohibited under the act. Under a new interpretation of the law’s language outlined in the memo, the accidental killing or injury of an animal would no longer be considered illegal; only actions specifically intending to target an animal would. The change would be transformative because, in the United States, the killing of endangered animals almost always happens incidentally, in the course of economic activity. Catrin Einhorn reports. (NY Times)