By Marcia Sowles
New Regulations Narrows the Protection for Endangered Species
On June 11, 2026, the Interior Department and Commerce Department issued a final rule rescinding the regulatory definition of the word “harm” to animals under the Endangered Species Act. See 91 Fed. Reg. 43300 (2026). For more than 50 years, the government had interpreted the word “harm” to include not only direct killing of endangered species but any significant “modification or degradation” of habitat that kills or injures them by impairing their ability to eat, shelter or breed. The Supreme Court upheld this interpretation in Babbitt v. Sweet Home Chapter of Communities for a Great Oregon, 515 U.S. 687 (1995). In the regulatory notice announcing the amendment, the government did not consider the scientific studies demonstrating how preservation of their habitat is necessary for the animals’ survival. Instead, the government based its decision on the purported “plain language” of the word “harm” – an argument that Justice Scalia had articulated in his dissent in Babbitt.
This amendment to the regulations is disheartening. As the Church of the Brethren recognized s in its 2018 Statement on Creation Care, “God commissioned us to be caretakers of all his earthly creation: plants, animals, seas, skies, and ecological systems, as well as all our neighbors (Genesis 2:15).” The removal of these habitat protections is expected to have devastating consequences for threatened and endangered species by opening the door for fossil fuel companies, land developers and others to disturb or even destroy the habitats of vulnerable species. As experts had noted in the rule-making proceedings, many animals are already running out of places to live. For example, manatees, which depend on healthy seagrass beds for feeding, could face increased threats from coastal development, dredging and pollution, all of which degrade water quality and destroy their food sources. Under the new regulation, the loss of seagrass, even if it leads to starvation and death for manatees, will no longer be considered harm under the Endangered Species Act.
On July 14, 2026, the Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club and other environmental groups filed a suit challenging the rescission. See Center for Biological Diversity, et al. v. Burgum, No 26-2474 (W.D. Wash.).
Energy Bills Relief Act
Caring for the planet intersects with many issues, including affordability. We should think about how we can use resources wisely to meet human needs in our community and protect the environment. Electric bills have increased more than 7.4% nationwide since last fall, with many states seeing a double-digit increase. Such increases have been especially difficult for low-income families with increases in food and housing costs and loss of subsidies for health care.
Unfortunately, the current Administration’s actions to deal with this problem is to promote the production and use of coal and other fossil fuels rather than renewable energy sources. In June, the Administration announced $700 million in new federal funding for the country’s struggling coal industry, including money that would help build the first two new coal-burning power plants in the United States in more than a decade. This was the latest in a series of extraordinary efforts by the Administration to promote the use of coal, the most polluting of fossil fuels. Earlier this year, the Department of Energy issued an order forcing five outdated and expensive coal plants which were scheduled to close to remain open. The President also signed an Executive Order this spring forcing the Department of Defense to buy more of its energy from coal generated plants. To make matters worse, the Environmental Protection Agency amended its regulation to scale back the limits on emission of hazardous pollution from coal plants. Last year, the “Big Beautiful Bill” increased the tax credits for the coal industry, reduced the royalty payments for production of coal on federal land from 12.5% to 7%, and mandated the opening of at least 4 million acres of federal land for mining. At the same time, it eliminated the subsidies and tax credits for renewable energy.
As the Church of the Brethren recognized in its 2018 Statement on Creation Care, coal and other fossil fuels play a major contributor to global climate crisis. See also 1991 Creation: Called to Care; 1991Resolution on Global Warming and Atmospheric Degradation; 2000 Resolution on Clean Air Principles; 2001 Resolution on Global Warming/Climate Change. We are called upon to “advocate for local, state, and federal actions to increase efficiency and use of renewable energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions while protecting the most vulnerable.” 2018 Statement.
Carrying forth with our 2026 Annual Conference’s “Imagine” theme, it is time to imagine legislative actions that can shift our reliance on fossil fuels towards renewal sources and reduce the energy costs for consumers. One such legislative proposal is the “Energy Bills Relief Act” introduced by Representative Sean Casten (IL-6) and Representative Mike Levin (CA- 4). See H.R. 1977. It is a consumer-focused approach that prioritizes expanding access to low-cost, clean energy. It seeks to accomplish this goal in four ways:
- Tax Credits and Efficiency: Restores tax credits for household energy improvements and boosts funding for the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP).
- Bill Assistance: Expands the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) for year-round utility relief and protects vulnerable families from power shutoffs.
- Ratepayer Protections: Requires states and regulators to ensure massive energy users (like AI data centers) fund their own infrastructure costs so residential customers do not pay for grid strain
- Grid Modernization: Streamlines permitting for renewable energy projects, prevents the President from canceling clean energy initiatives, authorizes funding to resolve critical electricity transformer shortages and improve planning between electricity transmission regions and ensure that neighboring regions can support each other with additional energy during emergencies.
See a more detailed summary of the bill here: https://seec.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/seec.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/the-energy-bills-relief-act-summary.pdf
The proposed Energy Bills Relief Act may not be a comprehensive solution to all aspects of our energy and economic problems, but it does provide a starting point and framework for reform. Although such legislation is not likely to be enacted in this Congress, we should take this time to consider and educate others on this bill and other possible reforms for supporting renewable energy and lowering the energy bills for consumers. As part of this discussion, we should make sure that the reforms provide necessary support for individuals and communities adversely affected by a transition away from fossil fuels in order to allow for alternative economic development and retraining. See 2001 Resolution on Global Warming/Climate Change. Also to ensure that such reforms can be enacted into legislation, we can support candidates for Senate and House that support reforms that support renewable energy and protections for consumer rate payers. This is not a time simply to lament the Administration’s actions promoting the use of fossil fuels – it is a time to imagine reforms and take steps that move us in the direction.