Law & Policy Active Updated Aug 11, 2026
The Endangered Species Act habitat rollback
The Trump administration finalized a rule stripping habitat destruction from the Endangered Species Act's definition of harm, discarding the reading the Supreme Court upheld in 1995's Babbitt v. Sweet Home and opening more habitat where listed species live to logging, mining and drilling. Environmental groups and two Indigenous nations have already sued, with the rule set to take effect September 14, 2026. The fight is whether litigation delays or unwinds the rule before it takes hold.
The story so far
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Aug 11, 2026 Latest
The Trump administration stripped automatic Endangered Species Act protections for newly listed species, opening habitat that manatees and monarch butterflies depend on to industry. Earthjustice senior attorney Elizabeth Forsyth said the move prioritizes industry interests over science and risks sending imperiled species toward extinction. Crystal River, Florida, which draws 300,000 visitors a year to see manatees, now sits newly exposed to habitat loss.
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Jul 20, 2026
The Trump administration finalized a rule stripping habitat destruction from the Endangered Species Act's definition of harm, calling its reading the single best meaning of the 1973 text even though the Supreme Court's 1995 Babbitt v. Sweet Home ruling upheld habitat destruction as prohibited harm. Environmental groups and two Indigenous nations sued before the rule's September 14 effective date.
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