OPINION

For 50 years, the Endangered Species Act has defined “harm” as not just injury to individuals but to the habitat on which they depend. By narrowing that definition, the Trump administration is leaving hundreds of species at risk of extinction.

By hatching a new definition of the word “harm,” the Trump administration has effectively killed the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

For 50 years, the legal definition of “harm” has included the destruction of habitat that sustains threatened and endangered species. But a new rule, finalized July 14, redefines harm as only physical damage to individuals. So, provided individuals of a listed species are not directly injured or killed by humans, it’s perfectly okay to destroy all habitat required for their survival, thereby rendering them extinct.…