Birds are facing weakened protection under Trump movement

In a recharging of the first Trump administration, migratory birds are again facing weakened protection in accordance with federal legislation.

The handy problem: Should companies are responsible if birds are accidentally killed, for example in oil discharges or landfills?

The answer has made Ping-Ponded before and back in recent years in the various interpretations of the Law on the Treaty for Migratory Birds, one of the oldest environmental laws.

Now, as part of a great suspension of the legal opinion, made by the Interior Department, under President Joseph R. Biden Jr., the Trump administration prioritizes energy companies and other industries that do not want to be penalized when birds accidentally die due to their actions.

“Basically, it means that the service of fish and wild animals will not take measures against any private part that unintentionally kills migratory birds,” said Tara Zuardo, senior lawyer at the Center for Biological Diversity. “It’s devastating.”

If the opinion of the Trump administration had been in effect during the Deepwater Horizon oil leakage in 2010, she said, BP would have avoided about $ 100 million in fines, money that led to bird preservation.

The oil and gas industry has long said to be employed to protect migratory birds. “We are looking forward to collaborating with the Interior Department to promote common sense policies that protect both the wildlife and support the dominance of American energy,” said Scott Laumerman, a spokesman for the US Institute Petrol.

North American bird populations are suddenly decreasing, dropped by almost 30 percent of 1970. Scientists blame on a number of factors, including habitat loss, climatic changes, outdoor predatory cats, window strikes and decreasing insect populations. The deaths caused by industrial activities have not been identified as a leading factor, but the conservatives say that the protection of the law helps to maintain this way.

All 20 legal opinions issued during the Biden Administration were suspended. In addition to migratory birds, they refer to problems such as a dispute on the property of minerals in Northern Dakota and the ability of the federal government to take land in trust for Alaskane tribes.

J. Elizabeth Peace, a spokesman for the Interior Department, said the suspensions are temporary, to allow a comprehensive review. “This is a routine process that ensures the alignment with the priorities of President Donald J. Trump,” she wrote in a statement. “We will provide additional updates as the review progresses.”

But John Leshy, the general counselor of the Interior Department during the Clinton administration, said he believes that the width of the movement has no precedent. “I do not know any new administration that has ever done this – that is, it simply advised the decision makers not to follow the opinions of the existing lawyer, made in the previous administration, without checking us first,” he said. “I think they are encouraged by the opinion of the Supreme Court to sweep the presidential power.”

What is not new is the breaking of the law of migratory birds, which was adopted in 1918 and has wide implications for both commercial and environmental activity. Hundreds of species, whether they are huts or eagles, are protected by law.

In theory, the accidental death of the migratory birds, officially called “incidental taking”, has long been penalized under the law. But a number of contradictory decisions of the courts led to inconsistent application throughout the country.

In 2017, on the low days of the Obama administration, a long opinion of the general lawyer of the agency found that accidental killing were prohibited, according to “long -term interpretation”. But less than a year later, an opinion during the first Trump administration found that accidental killing were not forbidden. In 2021, Mr. Biden’s administration withdrew the opinion of the Trump era. Now, President Trump suspends Biden’s withdrawal.

In addition to the legal interpretation related to the accidental killing of birds, President Trump adopted regulations in this regard during his first terma much more mandatory action. However, President Biden has revoked.