20 US States Sue President Trump Over Rules That Could Threaten Endangered Animals

(President Donald Trump. Photo by Reuters)

A group of 20 Democratic-led US states plus Washington DC have sued the Trump administration over weakening protections for endangered animals.

The states filed two lawsuits on Wednesday after the government announced new rules that could make it easier for companies to develop lands where endangered species live.

Environmental groups have also sued over the same changes.

The first lawsuit argues that the government has illegally narrowed what counts as "harm" under a 1973 law designed to protect animals and plants at risk of extinction.

The law previously included threats to habitats as harm, but the Trump administration's new rule would allow mining and oil drilling in sensitive habitats as long as companies are not directly targeting specific animals.

The second lawsuit challenges two additional rules.

One removes broad protections for newly threatened species unless the government creates specific rules for each one.

The other rule requires the government to listen to objections from private companies before declaring areas critical habitats for endangered animals.

State lawyers say these changes leave endangered species with less protection than Congress intended when it passed the original law in 1973.

That law is credited with helping restore populations of animals like California condors, grizzly bears and humpback whales.

The Trump administration says environmental protections have gone too far and are blocking economic growth.

It promised to open protected lands to more oil exploration during the recent election campaign.

The administration argues it is simply enforcing the law as written and that previous rules expanded the law beyond what Congress intended.

Critics warn that weakening protections could push species to extinction and cause irreversible damage to the environment.