1/5/2021

ENVIRONMENT/OIL/TRUMP ADMIN: “The Trump administration gutted protections for migratory birds on Tuesday, delivering a parting gift to the oil and gas industry, which has long sought to be shielded from liability for killing birds unintentionally in oil spills, toxic waste ponds and other environmental disasters…

Under the measure, which changes the way the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act is implemented, the federal government will no longer fine or prosecute companies whose actions cause the death of birds, as long as killing birds was not the underlying intent of the action. That holds true for accidents like oil spills and electrocutions on power lines — and also intentional or even illegal acts, like the spraying of a banned pesticide — as long as birds are not the intended target of the poison.”

-Lisa Friedman, “Trump Administration, in Parting Gift to Industry, Reverses Bird Protections,” nytimes.com, Jan. 5, 2020