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Climate
In 'Death Knell for America's Wildlife,' Trump Admin Guts Habitat Protections for Endangered Species
"If animals don’t have a place to live, they can’t live," said one critic.
Jul 10, 2026
President Donald Trump's administration on Friday paved the way for letting US corporations destroy the habitats of endangered species by rescinding a longtime interpretation of the Endangered Species Act.
As reported by The New York Times, the Interior Department and the Commerce Department announced that they were narrowing the law's definition of what constitutes harming endangered species.
Whereas the law has for decades been interpreted as protecting endangered animals' habitats from significant "modification or degradation," the administration said that offenders would have to directly injure or kill an endangered animal to be considered in violation of the law.
"The change could open the door for fossil fuel companies, agricultural interests, land developers, and others," wrote the Times, "to disturb or even destroy the habitats of vulnerable species."
The Endangered Species Act has been interpreted as protecting animals' habitats for decades, and that interpretation upheld by the US Supreme Court in 1995.
Environmental advocates expressed horror in response to the rule change, which they said would put endangered species at unprecedented risk.
Kristen Boyles, attorney for Earthjustice, vowed that the administration would face legal challenges for its rule change, which she said would jeopardize endangered animals' ability to "raise their young, or search for food."
"Let’s be clear: There is no support for the Trump Administration’s rule—no scientific support, no legal support, no public support," Boyles said. "We will see the Trump Administration in court."
Ben Greuel, wildlife campaign manager at the Sierra Club, called the rule changed "a direct attack on the foundation of the Endangered Species Act" that, if kept in place, would put species "on a path to extinction."
"This rule ignores that reality in an unlawful attempt to open the door for corporate polluters to degrade vitally important habitats, wildlife be damned," Greuel emphasized. "The Endangered Species Act is a bedrock law that must be followed."
Tara Zuardo, a senior campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity, pointed out that "habitat destruction is the number one threat to endangered species," while calling the Trump administration's new policy "a death knell for America’s wildlife."
"If animals don’t have a place to live, they can’t live," Zuardo said. "Spotted owls, Atlantic salmon, Florida panthers, and thousands of other species need protections for the wild places where they make their homes."
Andrew Bowman, president and CEO of Defenders of Wildlife, accused the Trump administration of embracing an "erroneous and nonsensical interpretation" of the Endangered Species Act that he vowed to challenge in court.
"We intend to fight back with the full force of the law," said Bowman, "to defeat this attack and innumerable others by the administration on the statutes and regulations that protect America’s cherished wildlife."
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Trump Accused of ‘Mugging’ Americans as War on Clean Energy Set to Cost US Economy $55 Billion a Year
“Trump is getting Americans coming and going. He’s forcing higher power bills on them by blocking clean energy, then he’s fattening the wallets of his cronies," said former Democratic Washington Gov. Jay Inslee.
Jul 10, 2026
President Donald Trump's obsession with canceling clean energy projects is bad not just for the climate, but for the US economy as a whole.
An analysis released Thursday by nonprofit green energy advocate E2 and conducted by consulting firm BW Research estimates that clean energy projects that have been shut down or downsized during Trump's second term would have added $55 billion to the annual gross domestic product (GDP).
The analysis finds that, in addition to delivering a hit to GDP, scrapping the projects lead to 470,000 fewer jobs, including 42,000 construction jobs related to battery storage, 33,000 construction jobs related to solar projects, and 28,000 construction jobs related to electric vehicle projects.
The cancelations will also hit governments' coffers, as they are projected to deliver a $12 billion annual reduction in tax revenues.
The report points to two big components in Trump White House's attack on clean energy: the Republican Party's 2025 budget law, which rolled back tax credits for clean energy programs, and the administration's own policies, including payoffs to companies to halt project development and a permitting ban on new solar and wind projects.
Bob Keefe, executive director of E2, said the numbers outlined in the analysis show that "making it harder to build clean energy projects means lost jobs, lost investments, lost electricity supplies, and lost local tax revenues."
"Add it all up and it’s clear," Keefe added, "that federal actions to stop clean energy are costing all of us—consumers, businesses and our national economy—big time."
Michael Timberlake, director of research and publications at E2, commented that Trump's policies are "hitting exactly the kinds of projects America needs most: domestic manufacturing, battery storage, solar, wind, and electric vehicles."
“The losses go far beyond the direct jobs announced by companies," Timberlake said. "Every cancelled factory or power project means fewer construction workers on site, fewer suppliers filling orders, fewer dollars flowing through local economies, and fewer tax revenues for schools, fire departments, roads, and public services."
A Friday report in The Guardian similarly highlighted the economic damage being done by Trump's war on clean energy, with a particular focus on the Trump administration's unprecedented policy of paying energy companies to relinquish leases for offshore wind projects they had already purchased.
Jenny Rowland-Shea, senior director for conservation policy at the Center for American Progress, told The Guardian that the administration is "trying to snuff out an entire form of energy," which she said was a particularly irrational thing to do when Americans' utility bills are spiking.
"It’s at a time when the United States needs more energy," said Rowland-Shea. "As people’s rates are going up for electricity, as we see data centers gobbling up more energy."
Former Democratic Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, whose 2020 presidential campaign focused heavily on combating the climate crisis, accused Trump and his administration of "mugging" the American public by forcing them to needlessly pay more for energy.
“Trump is getting Americans coming and going,” said Inslee. “He’s forcing higher power bills on them by blocking clean energy, then he’s fattening the wallets of his cronies—all with billions of our tax dollars.”
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'Like Putting a Flat Earther in Charge of NASA': Trump Appoints Climate Denier to Key Climate Post
Putting an "utterly unqualified" person like Matthew Wielicki in charge of the National Climate Assessment, said one critic, “would jeopardize the integrity of one of the nation’s most important climate science resources.”
Jul 09, 2026
The Trump White House has quietly reconstituted the US Global Change Research Program—but that doesn't mean the administration has turned over a new leaf on combating the climate crisis.
According to a Thursday report from Politico, the administration decided to bring the USGCRP, which tracks the impact of manmade climate change and produces the country's National Climate Assessment report, back to life just a little more than a year after terminating its funding.
But there's a twist: A source has confirmed to Politico that the USGCRP is now being headed by Matthew Wielicki, a former University of Alabama geochemist and self-described "professor in exile" who frequently attacks climate science in social media posts.
In his role, Wielicki will be in charge of writing the National Climate Assessment, a congressionally mandated report outlining the impacts that climate change is having on US infrastructure and the economy.
In an interview with Politico, Wielicki revealed that he's been soliciting ideas for what to include in the next National Climate Assessment from X, the social media website owned by Elon Musk that is notorious for being awash in right-wing propaganda and scientific misinformation.
In the past, noted Politico, Wielicki dismissed climate research entirely, arguing that a "significant portion of the climate science literature is nothing more than stamp collecting," while suggesting that scientists are fabricating data to give a false impression of a warming planet.
Dr. Carlos Martinez, senior climate scientist for the Climate and Energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, wasted no time blasting Wielicki's appointment.
"Reconstituting the UCSGCRP only to place the National Climate Assessment under the auspices of an utterly unqualified climate science denier," Martinez said, "would jeopardize the integrity of one of the nation’s most important climate science resources."
Martinez emphasized that the National Climate Assessment "is not a political document" and is "supposed to be developed through a rigorous, transparent, multi-agency scientific process involving federal experts, external scientists, extensive review—including by the National Academies—and public input."
Ryan Katz-Rosene, professor at the School of Political Studies at the University of Ottawa, said Wielicki's appointment "sadly... is not a joke," and that it was "like putting a Flat Earther in charge of NASA."
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'Climate Change Is Here': Wildfires Ignite Across Europe Following Deadly Heatwave
Blazes mobilized hundreds of firefighters over the weekend and scorched a total of 42,000 acres in Spain, France, and Portugal alone—an area two times the size of Manhattan.
Jul 05, 2026
On the heels of a deadly European heatwave, fierce fires erupted in Greece, Spain, Portugal, and France over the weekend, raising fears for a summer of extremes as the effects of the climate emergency become ever more apparent.
The blazes mobilized hundreds of firefighters and scorched a total of 42,000 acres as of Sunday in Spain, France, and Portugal alone—an area two times the size of Manhattan.
" Climate change is here, we are living the consequences and it is only the start of July," French fire service Colonel Eric Belgioino told the public, as Agence France-Presse reported.
France
Multiplication des #wildfire🔥(feux de forêt) ce dimanche en France.
Quatre foyers, dont trois hors de contrôle, sont désormais visibles simultanément depuis les satellites. À eux seuls, ils ont déjà parcouru l'équivalent d'environ 3.500 terrains de football. @zoom_earth pic.twitter.com/qpdrct7AmA
— Guillaume Jauseau (@GJauseau) July 5, 2026
One of the fires raging in the South of France forced organizers of the Tour de France to close the third stage of the race to the public on Monday, as Reuters reported.
The fire has consumed 6.18 square miles in Southern France and put two people in critical condition.
"An exceptional fire calls for exceptional measures for the tour," race director Christian Prudhomme said, according to Reuters.
As of Sunday, seven departments in France faced "very high risk” for fires, as temperatures were expected to reach highs of 100-104°F across the south, as Anadolu Agency reported.
Spain
🇪🇸 🔥 Firefighters tackle wildfires menacing Spanish tourist hotspot
Wildfires in Catalonia have burned over 2000 hectares of forest, prompting regional authorities to ask residents of 10 municipalities to stay at home, including in popular tourist hotspots such as the Platja… pic.twitter.com/Dal7mlAJlu
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) July 5, 2026
Across the border in Spain, a fire in Costa Brava burned through over 5,400 acres in a 48-hour period, according to AFP. The flames led to shelter-in-place or evacuation orders for nearly 50,000 people.
The Catalunya fire service said on Sunday that firefighters "worked tirelessly throughout the night to consolidate the perimeter of the La Bisbal d'Empordà forest fire, which is now stabilized."
Portugal
A large wildfire near Vouzela in central Portugal spread overnight across three municipalities, burning over 2,400 hectares, injuring six people and forcing village evacuations, with nearly 1,000 firefighters and eight aircraft deployed to tackle the blaze https://t.co/GzfxgDSGiq pic.twitter.com/v5KgKj9IPt
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 3, 2026
Another blaze ignited in Portugal's central Vouzela area on Thursday.
It burned through 30,000 acres and required the work of 1,200 firefighters before it was partially contained as of Sunday.
Greece
🇬🇷🔥 Not only are Europeans dealing with deadly heat, there is also a fire threat.
Check out this video from an overnight fire in the Oreokastro area of northern Greece.
So far, 2 factories have been destroyed, and evacuations have been ordered near Thessaloniki.
Writer:…
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) July 5, 2026
In Greece, two fires erupted on Saturday and Sunday.
The first, in the Oraiokastro suburb of the country's second-largest city of Thessaloniki, compelled evacuations and shelter-in-place orders when it overtook a recycling plant and released dangerous smoke into the air, The Associated Press reported.
“The smoke contains volatile organic compounds that irritate the eyes and throat, as well as carcinogenic substances such as benzene, dioxins, and furans,” Dimosthenis Sarigiannis, professor of environmental engineering at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, told ekathimerini.com.
The inferno also damaged multiple homes and businesses, Oraiokastro Mayor Pandelis Tsakiris told the country's state broadcaster.
The second blaze ignited on Sunday west of Athens, according to AP, and 210 firefighters worked hard to control it before the sun set and firefighting planes would be grounded.
The European fires follow a heatwave that scientists said would have been "virtually impossible" without climate change caused by the burning of fossil fuels, and spark concerns that the continent could see a devastating summer for fires.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez noted that the fire season had started one month early, according to AFP.
As fire Colonel Belgioino said: "The season is going to be long for the soldiers fighting fires. You have to help us."
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