Trump condemned for ‘evil’ policy decision on endangered species | indy100

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US president Donald Trump has been called a whole host of things as a controversial American politician, but one policy brought forward by his administration has seen him accused of doing something “just plain evil”.

Last Friday (17 July), the US Department of the Interior announced that it would reform the Endangered Species Act with respect to its “threatened species protections” and “critical habitat exclusions”.

A press release reads: “The blanket rule [under section 4(d)] created a default for all ‘threatened’ species that incorrectly treated them as ‘endangered’, unless an exception was made with a specific 4(d) rule.

“Moving forward, a ‘threatened’ species will be appropriately treated as ‘threatened’, not ‘endangered’, and the [U.S. Fish and Wildlife] Service may tailor a customized 4(d) rule to better suit each species.”

It also says revisions to the critical habitat designation process will see it “follow the law and consider the economic, national security and other relevant impacts following the designation of any particular area as ‘critical habitat’”, and allows for an area to be excluded from being designated a ‘critical habitat’ if that exclusion “will not cause the extinction of the species”.

Doug Burgum, secretary of the interior, said: “For too long, the Endangered Species Act has been weaponized to stop almost any new project in America, driving up costs for families, weakening our competitiveness, and undermining our national security.

“At the same time, results have fallen short. Nearly 97 percent of species ever placed on the list remain there today. Success should be measured by species recovery and delisting, not by adding more species to the list.”

A couple of days later (on 21 July), and the non-profit Humane World for Animals said it would sue the Trump administration over changes to the Endangered Species Act if it doesn’t reverse them within 60 days, with its CEO Kitty Block writing in a blog post that the 4(d) rule “has been instrumental in granting protections to threatened species before they slip too far down the perilous slope towards extinction”.

“Without it, newly listed threatened species will not automatically be protected from killing, harassment or other harms under federal law. To abandon such a commonsense approach could make it far more difficult to save them.

“That’s why, earlier today, we and a coalition of conservation organizations, represented by Earthjustice, put the USFWS [U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service] on notice that we’d see the agency in court if it does not reverse this decision in 60 days,” she said.

And Humane World for Animals aren’t the only one criticising the move.

Content creator Jared Shult tweeted: “I swear he wakes up and decides to do the most evil s*** possible”:

“Never beating the ‘just plain evil’ allegations,” commented Castlevania director Samuel Deats:

One X/Twitter user wrote: “He literally finds a way to out evil himself everyday”:

And another simply asked: “Why”:

When approached for comment, the White House redirected indy100 to comments made by Bergum and Department of Commerce secretary Howard Lutnick in the aforementioned Department of the Interior press release.

Bergam said: For years, federal agencies abused the ESA to obstruct lawful land use and burden American families and businesses. That approach turned routine activity into a regulatory trap, drove up costs that impacted people’s lives, and expanded federal authority beyond what Congress intended.

“This action restores common sense, respects private property, provides much-needed certainty for landowners and follows the statute Congress actually passed.”

And Lutnick added: “President Trump is rescinding overly broad and burdensome regulations that have restrained our fishermen for too long. We’re returning the ESA to its foundational purpose to ensure legitimate conservation goals are met without sacrificing economic growth and American prosperity.”

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