justaevolvedchimp1784617219

For fifty years, the rule was simple. Destroying an animal’s home is the exact same thing as hurting the animal.

Now, that rule is gone.

The Trump administration just rewrote the Endangered Species Act to change the legal definition of “harm.” Under the new policy, developers and private industries can bulldoze critical habitats for logging or drilling. As long as the animal doesn’t die immediately on the spot, it is considered perfectly legal.

In response, a massive coalition of environmental groups, represented by Earthjustice, just filed a federal lawsuit in Washington state to block the change. They argue the rewrite defies decades of scientific consensus and ignores the entire point of the law.

The government says the old rules were a trap that burdened businesses. Conservationists say the new ones will push imperiled species straight toward extinction.