- 2 days ago
⚠️ Endangered Species at Risk? Here’s What You Need to Know. In this Breaking News edition of Tangelic Talks, co-hosts Victoria Cornelio and Jensen Cummings investigate the Trump administration’s controversial rule changes to the Endangered Species Act (ESA)—and why this shift in legal language may threaten decades of progress in wildlife conservation and climate action.
Breaking News: Trump’s ESA Rollbacks & What It Means for Wildlife & Climate
🔍 Key Takeaways:
✅ What “redefining harm” really means under the new ESA changes
✅ How habitat loss, indirect damage, and deregulation go hand in hand
✅ Real success stories of species saved by the ESA
✅ The dangerous ripple effects of cuts to NOAA, EPA & NASA Earth Science
✅ Global impacts: Why U.S. climate policy matters from the DR to the UK
✅ The broader implications for voters, communities, and the planet
📌 Timestamps
00:00–02:30 Hilights and Trump’s Environmental Agenda: Redefining ‘Harm’ in the Endangered Species Act
02:31–04:03 Legal Loopholes: How Language Changes Could Weaken Wildlife Protections
04:04–05:58 Environmental Deregulation: Enabling Developers & Polluters to Escape Liability
05:59–06:58 Climate Budget Cuts: NOAA, NASA & EPA Face Major Defunding Threats
06:59–08:26 Global Impact: How US Rollbacks Undermine Climate Leadership Worldwide
08:27–09:49 Ecosystem Collapse: Why Losing Pollinators and Keystone Species Matters
09:50–10:44 International Lens: How the World Sees US Environmental Backsliding
10:45–11:42 Politics vs. Science: The Dangers of Depoliticizing Climate Change
11:43–12:08 Ideological Regression: Returning to Pre-Climate Policy Era Norms
12:09–13:34 Legal Resistance: Earthjustice, IFAW & the Fight to Defend the ESA and End
📽️ Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tangeliclife/podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1Tp4UAU4FmUmKS4md9orvi
🍏 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tangelic-talks/id1789613381
🌐 Explore More Episodes: https://tangeliclife.org/tangelic-talks-podcast/
🌍 Follow Tangelic:
Website: https://www.TangelicLife.org
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tangeliclife/
Twitter/X: https://x.com/Tangelic_
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tangelic/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tangelic.org
💬 Your Voice Matters: Should the ESA be updated—or is it being dismantled? Comment your thoughts. Share your story. Let’s protect the planet together.
✅ Like • Comment • Share • Subscribe
🌱 Donate to support climate truth & justice: https://TangelicLife.org/donate
Breaking News: Trump’s ESA Rollbacks & What It Means for Wildlife & Climate
🔍 Key Takeaways:
✅ What “redefining harm” really means under the new ESA changes
✅ How habitat loss, indirect damage, and deregulation go hand in hand
✅ Real success stories of species saved by the ESA
✅ The dangerous ripple effects of cuts to NOAA, EPA & NASA Earth Science
✅ Global impacts: Why U.S. climate policy matters from the DR to the UK
✅ The broader implications for voters, communities, and the planet
📌 Timestamps
00:00–02:30 Hilights and Trump’s Environmental Agenda: Redefining ‘Harm’ in the Endangered Species Act
02:31–04:03 Legal Loopholes: How Language Changes Could Weaken Wildlife Protections
04:04–05:58 Environmental Deregulation: Enabling Developers & Polluters to Escape Liability
05:59–06:58 Climate Budget Cuts: NOAA, NASA & EPA Face Major Defunding Threats
06:59–08:26 Global Impact: How US Rollbacks Undermine Climate Leadership Worldwide
08:27–09:49 Ecosystem Collapse: Why Losing Pollinators and Keystone Species Matters
09:50–10:44 International Lens: How the World Sees US Environmental Backsliding
10:45–11:42 Politics vs. Science: The Dangers of Depoliticizing Climate Change
11:43–12:08 Ideological Regression: Returning to Pre-Climate Policy Era Norms
12:09–13:34 Legal Resistance: Earthjustice, IFAW & the Fight to Defend the ESA and End
📽️ Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tangeliclife/podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1Tp4UAU4FmUmKS4md9orvi
🍏 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tangelic-talks/id1789613381
🌐 Explore More Episodes: https://tangeliclife.org/tangelic-talks-podcast/
🌍 Follow Tangelic:
Website: https://www.TangelicLife.org
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tangeliclife/
Twitter/X: https://x.com/Tangelic_
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tangelic/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tangelic.org
💬 Your Voice Matters: Should the ESA be updated—or is it being dismantled? Comment your thoughts. Share your story. Let’s protect the planet together.
✅ Like • Comment • Share • Subscribe
🌱 Donate to support climate truth & justice: https://TangelicLife.org/donate
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LearningTranscript
00:00The Trump administration proposing changes to the Endangered Species Act.
00:04A proposed rule change to the Endangered Species Act could redefine, excuse me, the word harm,
00:08potentially stripping protections for habitat destruction.
00:12The word harm is so important because we understand it in environmental law
00:17as something that happens even if it's as a proxy or a bypass,
00:21whereas this change would mean only intentional physical damage.
00:25A United States issue that's going to leak into the world.
00:28This is a Trump administration fight that's happening here.
00:48Welcome to Tangelic Talks, a podcast at the intersection of energy, equity, and empowerment
00:54with your co-host Victoria Cornelio and myself, Jensen Cummings.
00:58Today we're talking here's what's happening right now.
01:02The Trump administration proposing changes to the Endangered Species Act.
01:06A proposed rule change to the Endangered Species Act could redefine, excuse me, the word harm,
01:13potentially stripping protections for habitat destruction.
01:16Additionally, a budget proposal outlined dramatic cuts to agencies like the NOAA, National Oceanic
01:22and Atmospheric Administration and the EPA Environmental Protection Agency, as well as NASA Earth Science.
01:30All right, that kind of lays it out a little bit.
01:32This is falling under Trump administration's goal of attacking fraud, waste, and abuse.
01:38As they have stated, sometimes this looks like it's ideological.
01:42We're going to kind of talk about some of the facts of this case a little bit.
01:46So Victoria, start us off.
01:48The Endangered Species Act, tell us a little bit about it.
01:51What's the history of it and kind of what's being proposed here?
01:54Well, it's important to know that it was passed in 1973.
01:57So it basically requires the government to protect against harm or endangered species
02:04and their habitats being harmed.
02:06And the word harm is so important because we understand it in environmental law
02:11as something that happens even if it's as a proxy or a bypass,
02:16whereas this change would mean only intentional physical damage.
02:20So say a good example is say that a project has been approved in a certain area,
02:26but no one accounted for the fact that it was going to pollute the river.
02:30During the harm definition that we have now, you can prosecute that.
02:35If we change that, it means that only if the project intentionally meant to harm the river
02:41or knew that that was going to happen, then they can be liable.
02:44If they didn't know and they can just plead, oh, we didn't know, then that happens to them.
02:49Yeah, and it's important there when you're talking about the legality.
02:53Yeah, and then the ESA is so important as well because it has protected over 1600,000 species
03:00since it was passed, including the bald eagle, the gray wolf, humpback whale,
03:06all these animals that we see as super emblematic and important.
03:0999% of listed species have avoided extinction because of this act.
03:14So wanting to just pull it is a bit weird, especially harm.
03:19A lot of these species have been protected because the implication that harm can happen
03:24unbeknownst to us is really important because as new science comes in and as new research comes in,
03:30then we learn of new ways that we are harming the environment unknowingly.
03:33Yeah, especially you mentioned the bald eagle.
03:34I thought for sure that, you know, the MAGA crowd would not want to see the bald eagle,
03:40the symbol of America, put in harm's way in any way, shape, or form.
03:45So that's a little surprising to me, actually.
03:47Yeah, you would think.
03:48Okay, the rule itself.
03:50Talk about some of what potentially can happen because of these potential kind of rule changes,
03:56these proposed rule changes, and then we'll talk a little bit about budget.
03:59Well, it mostly just means that developers, extractive industries, polluters in general,
04:04they're just going to face fewer restrictions, which some would argue they already face quite
04:10lax restrictions as it is.
04:11So even opening that pool wider seems a bit counterproductive.
04:16And it just means that when operating near and dangerous species,
04:21if their actions aren't seen as direct harm, then they can't be,
04:25they can't be prosecuted, they can't be held liable.
04:27And harm, like, go into that a little bit.
04:29So the developers, extractive industries, as far as harm goes, here's something,
04:38I think about this in the context of, like, carbon credits, where you can basically buy
04:42the opportunity, we've talked about this before, to continue to pollute as long as somebody else
04:48is not polluting and you buy their good works that then offset your impacts, right?
04:54So this has happened with habitats quite a bit as well, where a developer goes in and destroys
05:01a habitat, but they build another habitat somewhere else.
05:04Does that actually work for these animals?
05:06Can they just pick up and move and then be fine?
05:08Yeah.
05:09So basically what it means is that developers, extractive industries, polluters,
05:13they can all face fewer restrictions when operating near and dangerous species,
05:17if their actions aren't seen as direct harm.
05:19And when we talk about direct harm, is that knowingly, something is happening
05:24and we're just choosing to ignore it, or we're going ahead knowing this thing's going to happen.
05:29Whereas retroactively, a lot of projects have been made, and you can check out in the blog
05:34post for some examples of this, of projects that have been greenlit, and then either new research
05:39or new things start happening in the environment.
05:41And we noticed, oh, actually this project that was greenlit five years ago is causing not direct harm,
05:48but it is still harm, right?
05:50And the restrictions are already lax as it is.
05:54So making them even more chill is a bit counterproductive to what the whole mission
05:59and the whole justification for doing this is, I would say.
06:02Understood.
06:03All right.
06:03So budget proposals, some of the key points here, let me just read these off for you.
06:09So we're talking about cutting NOAAs, the National Ocean Service, by 50%, cutting in half right there,
06:17eliminate Sea Grant climate research and education, move the National Marine Fisheries Service
06:23under the Department of the Interior, slash the EPA staffing to 1980s levels.
06:28We're going back in time here.
06:30And then reducing NASA's Earth science programs.
06:34So again, I mentioned this at the top end of this, but it's about
06:39government overreach.
06:40It's about eliminating efficiencies and the fight for fraud, waste, and abuse.
06:44These are the stated reasons for something like this.
06:47Again, critics are on the other side.
06:49These are not about efficiency cuts.
06:51These are ideology.
06:52This is about targeting climate science, environmental protections, agencies with oversight
06:58to allow, again, a completely different ideological stance on the climate on endangered species to kind of take hold here.
07:10So from these levels of the budget cuts, some of these rule changes, Victoria, let's zoom out a little bit
07:16as far as what are the wider implications here.
07:19What are the impacts that we think that this might have on obviously the United States role,
07:26but potentially even its role as an international player on the global stage?
07:31I mean, it's pretty scary.
07:32And if that's not clear yet, just think about all these very important organizations and departments
07:41of the United States getting cut.
07:43It will limit the U.S.'s ability to monitor climate change, to enforce environmental regulations,
07:49protecting dangerous species.
07:51But bigger than that, respond to extreme weather events, which we know are coming.
07:55And we've seen them come already as global warming begins and continues to spike.
08:01Globally, the U.S. stepping back sends a signal to other nations, potentially weakening
08:06international commitments to biodiversity and climate action.
08:09So it's not just something that at home it's going to be an issue, but a signal is being sent
08:16that the environment is not really top of mind.
08:20And a lot of environmental activists have worked to make climate change, one, not as a political issue
08:27as such, but more as a national agenda issue that we need to tackle, no matter which way you come at it
08:33from whatever side of the spectrum you're in.
08:36But also it's something that affects absolutely everybody.
08:40It doesn't really matter who you are.
08:42So these organizations are really important for keeping your finger on the pulse of what's happening,
08:47what can be done, what kind of protections do we need.
08:50And endangered species isn't just something that is like, oh, this really cute animal.
08:54It's necessary for the balance of the ecosystem.
08:56If the ecosystem is out of balance, things start getting out of balance and then everything
09:01is out of balance.
09:01You can see a lot of research on, for example, why bees and mosquitoes are so important to the balance,
09:07right?
09:07They're such a small thing, but they're really important.
09:11So we start losing pollinators, we start losing food.
09:15Yeah. And rolling all these things back, even just like rolling back education on these things,
09:20you know, so you don't want people to know what's happening.
09:22You don't want people to be equipped to deal with it.
09:25It's just a lot.
09:27Victoria, can you zoom out even a little bit and give us some personal perspective
09:33or some of your perspective from a global position, right?
09:36Because this is very much a United States issue that's going to leak into the world.
09:42This is a Trump administration fight that's happening here.
09:46From you, coming from the Dominican Republic, you're in the UK now.
09:51What is the world viewing when they see something like this happen within the United States,
09:57within the Trump administration?
09:58Can you give us some of that perspective?
09:59I mean, I'm going to pull from what happened when Trump pulled out of the Paris Agreement.
10:05And what that allowed was for the UK and the EU to take some leadership in climate action,
10:12climate initiatives and policies.
10:15So I would like to think that something similar is happening here.
10:18I think at least here in my side of the world, in the UK and the EU,
10:23the US isn't seen as a key player in climate change.
10:26They are very much a country that should lower their emissions and they do have a severe impact
10:35on our CO2 levels and global warming stakes and things like that.
10:40But in terms of action and solutions, I don't think they are seen as favorably as they used to be.
10:46However, coming from a country like Dominican Republic, which has a lot of ties to the US
10:50and a lot of political, let's say, dependency on it, as a lot of Latin American countries do,
10:58there is something to be said that the decisions made in Washington do affect how we personally
11:04might view something like climate change that isn't a political issue, quote unquote,
11:08but it's more of a social economic issue of disaster risk management and that sort of thing.
11:14And one of the reasons that if we move climate change away from the national agenda
11:18is that suddenly it's not as important. Voters aren't voting depending on climate action and
11:23climate policies. Voters aren't clued in on what's happening or what's being done. Funding
11:28isn't available for national programs and research. So taking it away from the spotlight that it used
11:35to have is really important. And what worries me is that this move of defunding, but also wanting
11:43to overhaul things that have been accepted since Nixon is a bit like, why are we going backwards on
11:49something that we seem to have some understanding on, you know, especially when you see those like
11:551980s levels or cutting these things down back to before this ideological shift that's, that's
12:03happening right now, I think is clearly and potentially problematic. All right. A lot more to come,
12:10I think on this topic, we will, we will stay aware of what's happening in this space, potentially some
12:16updates coming. This is a new format for us with the, here's what's happening right now as we want
12:21to be understanding the current affairs, some of the breaking news. So look out for these shorter
12:26episodes coming up in the future as well. As always check out tangeliclife.org, the accompanying blog
12:33post to this episode will have a lot of information and resources so that you can understand more of
12:41what's happening in this space as these potential rule changes, budget cuts, this reformation happens
12:50under the Trump administration. You'll see some stuff from earth justice, which has a response to
12:56this ruling. There's some legal action happening as well. IFAW is another organization, the Wildlife
13:04Conservancy Society, and you'll see some of what's happening around U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services
13:11as well on the blog post. So definitely check that out. For Victoria and I, appreciate you all.
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