The Trump administration’s plan to open over a billion acres of U.S. oceans to offshore drilling will increase climate-warming pollution, endanger marine life and coastal communities, and raise the risk of catastrophic oil spills.

It’s been an extraordinarily bad week for wildlife in the United States: in a few short days the Trump administration moved to destroy wetlands, accelerate logging, and drill for oil off our coasts and in the Arctic. They laid their cards on the table and the contempt for nature is palpable.

President Trump wants to expand offshore oil and gas drilling across more than 1.2 billion acres of U.S. waters. Opening up California, the Gulf of Mexico, parts of Florida, and large areas of Alaska to drilling puts coastal economies, communities, and wildlife at risk.

I knew it was coming. It’s still shocking. The Trump administration is taking away protections from up to 85% of wetlands. The result? They will be drainned, dug up, and filled with dirt. Wetlands filter our drinking water, they help prevent floods and droughts, they provide habitat for wildlife.

In 1947 Aldo Leopold wrote about the passing of another species of bird from this world: “It is a century now since Darwin gave us the first glimpse of the origin of species. We know now what was unknown to all the preceding caravan of ­generations:…” (cont.)

The Trump administration wants to open 13.1 million acres of public lands to coal mining—part of their broader attack on conservation safeguards. Tell the administration that public lands should be managed for people, wildlife, and future generations. https://on.nrdc.org/4mR4wOU

The IUCN's World Conservation Congress only happens every four years and so it's an important moment for governments, scientists, and advocates to come together and discuss the threats facing nature. At @nrdc.org we are sending a team to fight the places, plants, and animals most at risk.

In 2019 we had at least 6 Welcome Swallows living around my home. Now there's one. I'm observing this trend everywhere. We're losing small aerial insectivores because we're losing our insects. I urge everyone to keep records of Swallow and Martin numbers in localities. (image: Clinton Wood) #nature

Is this a tell that the Trump administration fears it may be on the losing side of the shutdown argument? One of the first things the Clinton Administration did was let the Parks close, in part to make the impacts of a shutdown more visible to people.

subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...

Conservation sssssuccess! 🐍

16 years after Smooth Snakes were reintroduced to a Devon site, surveys last year recorded 39 individuals, a 25% jump on the previous high of 31 in 2023.

www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happen...

This is obviously the answer, as it is (or was) in the Chernobly exclusion zone, where wildlife also thrived. It’s not that radiation is ok for animals, it’s just way way better than a lot of human disturbance: “The area is also fairly isolated from human activity because of the chemicals”

I’m looking forward to heading back to my hometown for climate week. Going home always reminds me of how much progress we’ve made —but these days it also reminds me of how quickly that progress could be lost.

"We probably are documenting a species that's on its way out. There are countless other species that are probably not going to be recognized before they go extinct."

Plants like the wooly devil depend on "good rain years," which are expected to become more rare thanks to climate pollution.