Amid a dramatic extinction crisis, the Trump administration spent its four years in power adding fuel to the fire by undermining the Endangered Species Act and other laws that protect wildlife. The will of the voters hasn't stopped them either — just this week they announced rollbacks that will allow companies to avoid penalties when they cause unnecessary and preventable bird deaths. The Trump administration will continue causing harm while it still can — which is why we must be ready to fight back. Fortunately, Colorado Congressman Joe Neguse just introduced a resolution calling for the establishment of a National Biodiversity Strategy — a blueprint for reversing the Trump administration’s damage and protecting wildlife. Tell your member of Congress to cosponsor the resolution!
Congressman Neguse’s resolution seeks to set us on a path toward global leadership in the fight to save the nearly one million species threatened by extinction in this century. Implementing this resolution would mean preventing widespread pesticide use and its harmful impact on pollinators like bees and birds, and would protect the people who grow and consume toxic-sprayed foods. It’ll also help clean up lakes and rivers and preserve wild places like old growth forests that provide a long-term, low-cost source of clean air and water.
If established, a National Biodiversity Strategy could restore and fully realize the potential of the Endangered Species Act, which has prevented 99% of plants and animals in its care from going extinct. Destructive industries’ relentless attacks against the Endangered Species Act over the last four years are proof of its power. Grounded in a recognition that extinction is irreversible, the Act established what amounts to a bill of rights for the animals and plants with whom we share our world, with the basic right to continued existence being central to the law. There are few other laws with as strong a mandate as the Endangered Species Act — which is why it is critical we protect it.
We can’t delay. The Trump administration worked relentlessly to give polluters a free pass on their obligation to protect our species — we’ll need to work just as hard to undo their damage and take on the biodiversity crisis. Please join us in urging your member of Congress to cosponsor Congressman Neguse’s resolution and call for a National Biodiversity Strategy.
