On This Earth Day, Get Out and Fight Against Trump’s Greed and Destruction

Since the day U.S. President Donald Trump took office, his administration has relentlessly pursued an agenda that puts the profits of his billionaire allies above the well-being of the American people and our environment.

Trump’s strategy seems clear: Do so much damage so quickly that no one can focus on one issue for long before something else draws attention away.

Yet Earth Day reminds us that our public lands, wildlife and, climate are priorities among the flurry of broad and harmful executive actions.

Wildlife Under Siege

The latest in Trump’s onslaught of attacks on our environmental protections came just days ago with a proposed rule change on endangered species.

Trump wants to gut the very core of these protections: preserving crucial wildlife habitat, even though habitat destruction is the primary driver toward extinction for most animals. Instead, Trump would limit what it means to “harm” endangered species to killing or hunting animals directly.

Endangered species rollbacks are just one of far too many Trump orders and actions that chip away at hard-fought protections for people and the planet.

If Trump gets his way, logging, mining, drilling, developing, or polluting the lands where animals live or breed wouldn’t be considered “harm” to imperiled wildlife. With such reckless action, we could lose endangered species like grizzly bears entirely, while species that have bounced back because of these protections—including bald eagles—could head back toward extinction again. It’s just not possible to protect animals and plants from extinction without protecting their natural home.

This comes after Trump already cut funds to life-saving international elephant and rhino conservation programs and fired thousands of workers across federal agencies who ensure endangered species are protected throughout the country.

Endangered species rollbacks are just one of far too many Trump orders and actions that chip away at hard-fought protections for people and the planet.

Attacking Science

Trump’s attacks on science and efforts to tackle climate change began on day one of his presidency, when he moved to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris agreement, an international treaty to limit climate-warming emissions.

Trump escalated his war on science with a plan to defund crucial NASA research and climate science. Trump forced the removal of government websites that map climate, pollution, and offer environmental justice resources.

Then Trump took steps to revoke the government’s basis for tackling climate change, a finding that greenhouse gases endanger public health and the environment.

Without leadership from the White House, we will have to rely on state leaders to take action on climate change.

Chopping and Burning Natural Resources

Trump’s greed is on full display with his efforts to expand and prioritize oil, gas, coal, mining, and logging operations on public lands.

Trump just unleashed the chainsaws on our national forests with a goal of ramping up logging and road building on public lands. This will pollute the drinking water of 180 million Americans and clear the forests that many wildlife species need to survive. Cutting down older, fire-resilient trees will also make wildfires worse.

The Trump administration declared a so-called “emergency situation” in 59% of our national forests. This is a phony declaration concocted to reduce protections against industrial logging and offer up about 112 million acres of national forests to become timber. Instead of majestic landscapes, we’ll be left with more flammable clear-cuts, polluted waters, and extinct species.

Trump promised to “unleash American energy” by offering up our public lands for oil, natural gas, and coal extraction. He’s eliminating protections and rubber-stamping approvals without environmental review or air pollution permits for oil and gas processing facilities.

It seems nothing is too sacred or precious to sell off for parts. Trump could even open up the Grand Canyon area for uranium mining and is likely to eliminate at least two national monuments, the Chuckwalla and Sáttítla Highlands national monuments in California.

Gutting National Treasures

In addition to the weakening all of these protections, national parks, national monuments, and public lands have taken other major hits from Trump’s mass layoffs, office closings, and freezing funds. Trump has gutted all the necessary resources to keep these spaces functional, yet is still requiring the public to have access.

Our beloved parks can’t operate or remain open without the necessary staff and Park Rangers to keep visitors safe. Even when normally staffed, an average of 11 visitors die each year at the Grand Canyon alone. What will happen now as Trump is willfully putting visitors at risk?

Rising Resistance

Like Trump’s harmful environmental moves, many other administration actions are deeply unpopular. Trump’s approval ratings are only getting worse. So people are rightfully taking to the streets to peacefully oppose the administration’s damaging policies and to say “hands off!” our planet, our home.

Our organization is fighting back in court. We will use every legal tool at our disposal to halt the Trump administration’s implementation of these reckless environmental actions. State lawmakers should rebuff the dismantling of our environmental safeguards and protect their lands, wildlife, and our climate.

Americans who see the greed behind Trump’s actions can get out and peacefully protest this Earth Day and call on their congressional representative and senators to fight back and rein in this lawless administration. We can’t lose hope. Today, we build momentum and fight for a greener future.