Trump administration escalates attacks on our environment
Last month, the Trump administration escalated its attacks on our environment, changing the definition of "harm" under the Endangered Species Act, which was enacted in 1973 and has saved many species, including the iconic bald eagle and California condor, from extinction. For the last 53 years, it has been illegal to destroy habitats on which endangered species depend. Our government has now determined that habitat is not important to species survival. Perhaps they can all be housed in zoos.
There are only about 50 Rice's whales left in the wild, and they live exclusively in the Gulf of Mexico. Researchers from UCLA and other academic institutions tested the DNA from half of that population and determined that the Rice's whale is a distinct and isolated population, not a subspecies of the more numerous Bryde's whale, although there has been some inbreeding between the two species over time. Diana Aguilar-Gomez, who headed up the study, reports that about 4% of the DNA of the two whale species is shared.
Unsurprisingly, the Rice's whale population was devastated by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill back in 2010. About one-quarter of them did not survive that disaster. Rice's whales are huge, weighing as much as 30 tons and stretching more than 40 feet long.
Our Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is infuriated by the finding that this is a distinct (and endangered) species, since that interferes with plans to drill for oil close to the Florida coast in critical whale habitat. Florida politicians from both parties want to protect beaches from oil pollution, so drilling in shallow waters along the coast is understandably controversial. Lutnick maintains that the Rice's whale is not a species, and therefore does not need federal protection, or protected habitat.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration is seeking to repeal the Roadless Area Conservation rule, which protects over 45 million acres of national forest lands from logging, mining and development. Our President issued an executive order last month which shrinks two large national monuments in Utah - Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante - by 90%, so that coal and uranium mining can proceed in an area that has fragile petroglyphs and cliff dwellings. The administration also wants to proceed with oil and gas development around Chaco Culture National Historical Park in northwest New Mexico, threatening prehistoric dwellings in a fairly remote and pristine part of the Southwest.
Clearly, our public lands and critical habitats are under a concerted and vigorous attack, and the desires of large oil and energy corporations are the paramount priority of our current administration. Wilderness areas may soon be opened to industrial development, and national parks and monuments are no longer adequately protected. If we want to protect our resources and species and special places for future generations, we must mobilize. It is hard to exaggerate the extent of the threat.
Jay Davis is a retired Rapid City attorney
Photo: Rices’ whale, public domain, wikimedia commons
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