The government of President Joe Biden announced on Thursday March 28 that it had reinstated certain measures to protect endangered species that had been removed by Donald Trump. Environmental associations, however, regretted that certain changes made in 2019 by the Republican president were left intact.
The measures taken concern the Endangered Species Act, a law from the early 1970s, which has become a benchmark for environmental protection.
The regulations released Thursday will reinstate protections for endangered animals, as well as language requiring that designation of a species as threatened be done without consideration of economic factors.
“Species face formidable new challenges, including climate change, fragmented and degraded habitats, invasive species and diseases”declared in a communicated Martha Williams, director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, which reports to the US Department of the Interior. “The Endangered Species Act is more important than ever”she added.
Missed opportunity
But several associations regretted that the Biden government did not go far enough. Certain measures adopted under Donald Trump and left intact today require “the almost total destruction of a protected habitat before it becomes a problem”or even the requirement of“greater scientific certainty than is sometimes possible in practice before being able to protect a species or habitat”criticized the Earthjustice organization.
“The Biden administration rolled back some of the worst aspects of Trump’s regulations, but missed the opportunity to end the nightmare Donald Trump created for wildlife”added Ben Jealous, of the Sierra Club.
According to many scientists, the world is going through a biodiversity crisis linked to human activities, for example through the destruction of species habitats or their overexploitation, and whose severity is comparable to the climate crisis.