In a final act of indignity, Trump’s Department of Interior has proposed catastrophic roll-backs to the Endangered Species Act, a crown-jewel of the environmental movement that has prevented 99% of protected species from going extinct.
For all of us who love wild things and the planet, this is a a final straw, not unexpected; But amounting to a statement that no animal or plant or person is worth as much as a single dollar of polluter greed.
Trump and team won’t listen. They don’t care about people or the planet. But our comments in the public record can help stop this stupid, cruel, and disastrous rollback of our most popular environmental law. We have to believe that our voices count, and can be raised in chorus to drown out hate and extinction.
If you believe: Sign the petition to Protect endangered plants and animals.
First enacted in 1973, the Endangered Species Act has become one of the United States’ most popular laws and has been prevented several species, including the bald eagle, grizzly bear, and gray wolf, from going extinct. We need the Endangered Species Act to protect the most vulnerable plants and animals.
The implications of mass extinction are grave and we cannot afford to wait for the next president to undo Trump’s dangerous action that puts profit over people and the environment. And that’s where our actions, together, right now, can make a difference.
Democrats in Congress and outside advocacy groups are promising to challenge the new rules in Congress and in court. Action now that clearly shows the public is opposed to the Trump team’s rollback in protections is essential. If we speak up now, our arguments can be used by Congress to defund the DOI plan, and as evidence in court proceedings to overturn the Trump plan. But silence now is complicity in the death and extinction of countless of our plant and animal neighbors.
Don’t be silent now in the face of extinction. Sign the petition to demand our lawmakers prevent mass extinction by protecting the Endangered Species Act.