US states sue Trump over weakening of endangered species protections

What the report says

Attorneys general from 20 Democratic-led US states and Washington, DC, have sued the Trump administration over recent changes they say weaken protections for endangered species. According to Al Jazeera, the lawsuits were filed on Wednesday, less than two months after the Interior and Commerce departments issued final rules that could make it easier to develop land where sensitive habitats are located.

One case challenges the administration’s decision to narrow the Endangered Species Act’s definition of “harm,” a shift the states argue could reduce protection for habitat damage and open the way for activities such as mining and oil drilling in protected areas. A second lawsuit targets rules that, the states say, would remove some safeguards for newly threatened species and require officials to weigh private-company objections before designating critical habitat.

State officials framed the changes as an unlawful rollback of a landmark conservation law passed in 1973, which is widely credited with helping recover species including condors, grizzly bears and humpback whales. Washington Attorney General Nick Brown said the administration was undermining the law, while California Attorney General Rob Bonta argued the changes put wildlife and the environment at risk.

The Trump administration has defended the revisions as a correction to what it sees as regulatory overreach. Separately, environmental groups have also challenged the habitat-related change, underscoring the broader legal fight over how far federal protections for endangered species should extend.