OUR DAILY THREAD: The Thin Line Between Critical & Hypocritical Habitat
Even Hitler loved dogs
THE SET-UP: Donald Trump is one of only three presidents to not have a pet in the White House. Presidents James Polk and Andrew Johnson also didn’t have pets, although Johnson is said to have fed mice in the White House bedroom.
Could you ever imagine Trump befriending a dog, cat or a bird, let alone caring for a mouse?
Of course not.
Although it might seem rather picayune to point it out amidst his regime’s rampant corruption and intolerable cruelty, it is indicative of his general attitude toward animals and the natural world. For Trump, ecosystems are merely resources that haven’t been converted to dollars, and animals are just waiting for Eric and Don Jr. to convert them into trophies.
Yes, he’s expressed faux concern for whales and birds, but that’s not because he likes whales and birds. He just hates windmills, and he thinks people will respond to dead birds and disturbed whales. Frankly, he’ll say anything in pursuit of his vendetta against windmills, including the gobsmacking claim they cause cancer.
Ironically, his vendetta is traceable back to his environmentally destructive golf course in Scotland, which was opposed by many Scots. Trump was livid when an offshore windfarm was built within eyeshot of the course. He sued to halt the project, but ultimately lost his case before the UK Supreme Court.
Now, however, he’s got a hand-picked US Supreme Court that’s as hostile to environmental protections as he is … and he’s using that fact to run roughshod on the perennially popular Endangered Species Act (ESA).
Under rules his regime recently rewrote, it is still illegal to kill or directly harm animals listed under the ESA, but the habitat they rely upon to survive is no longer fully protected. That’s the greenlight ranchers, drillers and developers have been dreaming of for decades. The only caveat to the rule is that you cannot harm a species’ “critical habitat” if it literally leads to the extinction of said species.
Here’s new rule as described by a Department of Interior press release:
Critical habitat exclusions (Section 4(b)(2)): Revises the “critical habitat” designation process to follow the law and consider the economic, national security and other relevant impacts following the designation of any particular area as “critical habitat.” The revision also allows an area to be excluded from a “critical habitat” designation if that exclusion will not cause the extinction of the species.
In other words, they draw the line at cutting down a tree that’s hosting the last nest of the last Spotted Owl. Short of that, everything is negotiable. Maybe it’s the economic impact of a proposed sprawling data center, or the national security impact of the AI it’s hosting. So long as the diesel-powered graders do not destroy the last remaining nests of the last Attwater’s Greater Prairie-Chicken, no worries.
But it’s not just the ESA that’s being rewritten to match the President’s priorities. Amazingly, the Federal Aviation Administration just gave itself the power to trump a host of environmental regulations. Per Tech Times:
The Federal Aviation Administration published a proposed rule on Tuesday that would give it the power to waive requirements under 13 federal environmental and natural resource laws for every commercial space license it issues — including the Endangered Species Act, portions of the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Communities living near launch sites, tribal nations with ancestral ties to those lands, and wildlife advocates have 30 days to submit public comment before the window closes — and environmental groups are already vowing legal challenges.
Not surprisingly, the regime is using the rule-making process to create expansive new powers. Also unsurprisingly, that’s what conservative critics accused the ESA’s rulemakers of doing when the law was first implemented. Don’t hold your breath waiting for them to apply the principle universally.
Once finalized, the rule—which does seem to solve a problem SpaceX has in both Texas and California—will likely be tied-up in the courts though the Midterms. Should the Democrats take the House, it’s possible, perhaps even likely they will take up a new bipartisan bill from Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Mike Quigley (D-IL) that “would reverse the federal government’s decision to roll back the definition of ‘harm’ under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to exclude habitat destruction.” As a recent write-up from the Sierra Club noted:
“Habitat destruction is the biggest driver of extinction, and it was squarely in Congress's sights when the Endangered Species Act was passed,” said Ben Levitan, a senior attorney at Earthjustice, who is representing nine conservation groups suing the Trump administration over the change. “Everybody knew, just like everybody still knows, that if you want to save a species, it has to have habitat.”
It’s not going to be an issue in the Midterms, but the Midterms will determine the fates of many species and their habitats. Alas, they don’t get a vote. - jp
Endangered Species Act changes will strip already weak protections for https://www.cfpublic.org/environment/2026-07-27/endangered-species-act-changes-strip-weak-protections-plants
Federal rule cuts Canada lynx critical habitat in Montana by 43%
https://www.livingstonenterprise.com/news/federal-rule-cuts-canada-lynx-critical-habitat-in-montana-by-43/article_f0ce80bb-0352-5058-8bc8-4cc6d50f42be.html
Florida manatees could face greater risk under ESA rollback
https://www.keybiscayneportal.com/news_in_english/florida-manatees-could-face-greater-risk-under-esa-rollback/article_28d12171-41b0-50b6-ac4b-9563eac6ac56.html
NOAA Fisheries denies ESA listing for smalltail sharks
https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/noaa-fisheries-denies-esa-listing-for-smalltail-sharks
Experts talk about gopher tortoise threats amid endangered status from wildlife group
https://www.gulfcoastnewsnow.com/article/florida-gopher-tortoise-endangered-status/73288676
Battle swirls around fate of Mexican Grey Wolves
https://www.paysonroundup.com/news/battle-swirls-around-fate-of-mexican-grey-wolves/article_0c79fded-d954-4842-a877-12dae640991d.html
Endangered red wolves rebound in NC with four litters of pups born this year
https://www.thecoastlandtimes.com/news/endangered-red-wolves-rebound-in-nc-with-four-litters-of-pups-born-this-year-de41db02
Formerly endangered ospreys bounce back in record numbers in Pennsylvania
https://www.thedailynewsonline.com/news/formerly-endangered-ospreys-bounce-back-in-record-numbers-in-pennsylvania/article_202dc39c-7286-4986-a14c-c56b069d26ec.html
This Hawaiian Waterbird Is Making A Comeback. Should It Still Be Endangered?
https://www.civilbeat.org/2026/07/this-hawaiian-waterbird-is-making-a-comeback-should-it-still-be-endangered/
Colorado Parks and Wildlife Celebrates Razorback Sucker Recovery Milestone
https://northfortynews.com/category/news/colorado-parks-and-wildlife-celebrates-razorback-sucker-recovery-milestone/