We want more extinctions, not fewer. Stamp out those species!!

The Trump administration presented a new plan to roll back regulations in the Endangered Species Act (ESA) on Wednesday, a move experts fear will accelerate the extinction crisis if adopted.

The proposed changes would allow the federal government more power to weigh economic impact against habitat designations, remove safeguards against future events – including the impacts from the climate crisis – and rescind the “blanket rule” that automatically grants threatened species the same protections as those designated as endangered.

Under the plan, newly listed animals and plants could face years without protections as details in tailored regulations are ironed out, delays that would only be exacerbated by the deep cuts to staffing at agencies charged with the work. The definition for “critical habitat” would also be narrowed, excluding areas that species don’t currently occupy, even if it was once considered their habitat.

The proposal is one of many attempts Donald Trump has made to dismantle critical wildlife protections in order to boost energy extraction and industrial access, even in the most sensitive and vulnerable wilderness areas across the US.

Does wildlife vote for Trump? Does wildlife give Trump money? Does wildlife try to overthrow the government on Trump’s behalf? No? Well then.

The proposal comes amid an extinction emergency, as the climate crisis adds new challenges to recovery for scores of species already close to the brink. Roughly 1m species are threatened with extinction, according to a 2019 assessment from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), including roughly 40% of amphibians, and a third of reef-forming corals, marine mammals and sharks. Insects, considered the bedrock to biodiversity and the foundation of most ecosystems on Earth, are in rapid decline. About 80% of insect species have yet to be identified and some are disappearing before they can be named.

Impacts to habitat can threaten a broader network of interconnected species and ecosystems. Landscape modification can trigger a devastating domino effect, where the loss of one species leads to the extinction of others that depend on it.

Blah blah blah. Does habitat put money in Trump’s pocket? Do species protect Trump from the law? No? Well then.