Could endangered species and other animals fare better under Biden?

With Joe Biden declared president-elect, many advocates and conservationists are hopeful that animals in the U.S.—wild, captive, and farmed—may become better protected. As with many policy areas, Biden declined to talk on the campaign trail about what his administration might do around safeguarding animals, and a Biden spokesperson did not respond to National Geographic’s request for comment on the subject. But many animal and wildlife advocates anticipate that initial efforts will involve reversing course on Trump-era policies, which they argue ushered in a dramatic regression in protecting animals. “Every administration comes in and undoes a little something, and you’re back battling something you thought you’d taken care of. But [these regressions] have been wholesale,” says Nancy Blaney, director of government affairs at the nonprofit Animal Welfare Institute . Blaney and others say the Trump Administration’s tenure has been characterized by regulatory rollbacks and a pervasive lack of transparency. After his first year in office, the League of Conservation Voters—widely considered a reliable appraiser of politicians’ environmental leanings—issued a statement : “If there was anything worse than an ‘F’, President Trump would get it.” According to the group, the Trump Administration’s rating never improved. As a long-time senator and two-term […]

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