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For Immediate Release
Contact: Email:,nrdcinfo@nrdc.org

Trump Administration Exacerbates Extinction Crisis

Federal government torpedoes Endangered Species Act against popular public opinion

WASHINGTON

The United States Department of the Interior and the Department of Commerce approved new regulations that weaken the Endangered Species Act today.

Following is a statement from Rebecca Riley, Legal Director for the Nature Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

"Over the objections of nearly everyone, the Trump Administration has eviscerated one of our nation's foundational environmental laws. Poll after poll shows Americans support the Endangered Species Act as a lifeline to the wildlife it protects. The Administration ignored the hundreds of thousands of objections from scientists, wildlife experts, and the American people who overwhelmingly support the Endangered Species Act."

"The impacts of this action are bad enough on their own--but the decision also signals continued willful ignorance from the Trump Administration about the looming impacts climate change will have on the American landscape. Many parts of the Endangered Species Act could be helpful in taking a more forward-looking perspective on climate impacts to wildlife, but that seems like an impossibility from this president."

"Science must guide our decisions, not dollar signs. We shouldn't use economic factors to decide whether a species should be saved. We're facing an extinction crisis and the Administration is placing industry needs above the needs of our natural heritage."

NRDC works to safeguard the earth--its people, its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends. We combine the power of more than three million members and online activists with the expertise of some 700 scientists, lawyers, and policy advocates across the globe to ensure the rights of all people to the air, the water, and the wild.

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