The “Energy Emergency” and the Endangered Species Act

All of those Executive Orders (EO) that Trump signed on his first moments in office contained horrors too numerous to mention or follow. I decided to look at just one part of one EO and collect the information I could about it. And here I am, sharing it with you.

The EO declaring an energy emergency is first of all, completely unnecessary. US domestic fossil fuel production was at an all-time high under existing laws. Energy produced in the US last year was about 75% fossil fuels and 25% renewables like solar and wind.

An important part of this EO is how it impacts the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). Both laws were passed as part of the environmental revolution of the 1970s.

Since the ESA passed, no listed species has gone extinct. This is despite the fact that species extinction is happening at a rate estimated to be between 1,000 and 10,000 times higher than the natural extinction rate.

In addition to protecting species, the ESA and MMPA protect the habitat the animals and plants occupy. This interactive map shows areas protected under these acts.

What will the EO do to these laws?

First, it prioritizes energy production over species protection. The assumption had been that endangered species had priority over economic activity, unless there were huge economic impacts, in which case the “God Clause” could be invoked and an exemption issued. This was a rare occurrence. The EO turns this idea on its head.

In fact, it demands that meetings take place every 30 days to put pressure on the agencies involved to grant exemptions to allow energy production.

These exemptions have 20 days for initial determination of eligibility and 140 days total to resolve. So endangered species might be thrown under the energy production bus in less than five months. Even when no exemption requests are pending, the committee must meet to identify ESA and MMPA “obstacles” to energy infrastructure.

Why should we care? These laws helped bring back the bald eagle, the grey whale, the sea otter and the gray wolf. Most of our medicines come from plants. Fewer than 5% of known plant species have been tested for medicinal benefits, and there are thousands of species that haven’t been named yet.

All parts of our ecosystem are interconnected, and each species loss has consequences that cannot be predicted.

Thanks for reading.

Image by Gerhard Bögner from Pixabay