Wildlife Protections in the US

Source: http://thehill.com/

The Endangered Species Act was created in 1973 and signed by president Richard Nixon. The ESA act lists the exact amount of species that were in danger of becoming extinct, and gives them the protection they deserve to help their survival. Laws to accomplish this goal have been followed up until this year, because President Donald Trump has acted on the federal level to remove certain protections to gain more commercial benefits.

Recently, the US Fish and Wildlife services who has acted under the Trump Administration's surveillance has denied the protections for the Pacific walrus. Aside from the denial of the Pacific Walrus being an animal becoming extinct, 25 other species who were qualified to be in danger of extinction by Obama, have been denied the right to be protected as well.  This is an example of how Trump's future goals is going to end with environmental laws in order to gain economic strength.

According to Carmichael- the Executive Director of the National Religious Partnership for the Environment- "Protecting the environment and strengthening the economy are not mutually exclusive - in fact, studies have shown that permanent protection for our public lands actually drives economic growth."Preservation of species does not ruin our economy in any way because they are not dependent on each other, so if our government is putting less regulations of wildlife, it does not mean that our economy will all of a sudden rise. 

Given that humans are the #1 responsible for the cause of the disappearance of species, it is imperative that we act together to combat animal extinctions. 

So what did Obama do to take action in solving animal trafficking and illegal wildlife trade:

1. Obama had created a law called: Eliminate, Neutralize and Disrupt Wildlife Trafficking Act (law in which it is easier to convict prosecutors of crimes in the US)

2.Big companies such as: Google, JetBlue, Ralph Lauren, and others have shown interest in cooperating and committing themselves into fighting against wildlife trafficking. 

3.Trans-Pacific Partnership was the first trade deal to address the illegal wildlife trade


How Trump is promoting the destruction of wildlife:

1. "Trump has called for new oil and gas drilling on public lands and in waters", which could completely ruin habitats and prohibit species to migrate in case they had to. 

2. The Republican Legislators have passed several laws in which it has made it harder to list species as threatened or endangered.

3. Building the Wall between the US-Mexico border would restrict the diversification of about 111 species of wild animals who live in this ecosystem because the wall would: destroy migratory routes, destroy habitats and make it harder for animals to hunt their prey.