Trump officials reveal plan to roll back regulations in Endangered Species Act

Experts fear plan, one of many attempts Trump's made to dismantle wildlife protection, will speed up extinction crisis

The Trump administration presented a new plan to roll back regulations in the Endangered Species Act (ESA) on Wednesday, a move experts fear will accelerate the extinction crisis if adopted.

The proposed changes would allow the federal government more power to weigh economic impact against habitat designations, remove safeguards against future events - including the impacts from the climate crisis - and rescind the blanket rule" that automatically grants threatened species the same protections as those designated as endangered.